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Pain Au Levain

Profile picture for user mike_1_berry

This is my everyday Pain Au Levain that I use for sandwiches etc. The crumb is a little tight on this one as I am still experimenting with retarding times in my new fridge. 

450gr white flour

50gr Wholewheat

325gr Water

100gr Levain

10gr Salt

 

1) Autolyse without the salt for 30 minutes

2) Add salt and 10gr water then stretch and fold for 5 minutes

3) Bulk fermentation for 3 hours with stretch and folds

4) Retard in fridge for 10 hours 

5) Bake 45 minutes on a baking stone @ 410f (convection oven)

Mini baguette to test the sourdough waters

Profile picture for user kendalm

Its been 3 weeks I think this starter may be ripe now (also made a small batard) both popped pretty well.  This is just a simple 123 formula using two starter mixed evenly (one a rye and the other a basic white flour starter).  Levain build yesterday for about 4-5 hours followed by 12 hour bulk at just under RT - about 68f, saw about 1.5x rise around 10pm and decided to refridgerate until am.  7am completed the bulk at RT ~74f for 2-3hrs until double.  Shape and rest for 1.5 hrs then bake.  Nice thing is theres very little tang and the crust is not overly tough, qui

Sprouted Buckwheat and Quinoa Sourdough with Toasted Black Sesame Seeds

Profile picture for user Danni3ll3

Like others, I have been reading Trevor's book and hoping to improve the openness (is that a word?) of my crumb. So I worked on a few things while making this loaf. I probably should have changed only one thing at a time but impatience and all of that. So my changes were:

1. My levain builds: I went from 1:1:1, 1:0.6:0.6, 1:0.58:0.59, 1:1.4:1.76 to 1:1:1.2, 1:1.8:2.25, 1:2.5:3.19. Instead of tripling in 4-5 hours, it took 10-12 hours to slightly more than double. I am rethinking this way of doing things.

From great lamination to crappy rise (boohoo)

Profile picture for user kendalm

One thing you can rely on in baking is disappointments especially in the wake of progress.  Last week I was ecstatic at seeing my croissants showing semblance of good structure.  So going into the next bake I am sure I can improve.  Take extra special care in lamination (note the profile, this is so far the nicest profile cut I have produced) but come bake time I can see but minute 2 or 3 they juat aren't getting the oomph needed to really puff the inerds - as is shown in the snapshot - dangit ! 

 

15 Percent Whole 7 Grain Sourdough with Potato Flakes

Profile picture for user dabrownman

 Lucy is back to work but she isn’t happy – not one little bit. She just started to get back into the swing of things when they announced that 800 million jobs worldwide will be eliminated by robots in the next 12 years.  Lucy thought she did important stuff but she is mostly an esily replicable pet and baking apprentices will be the 2nd to go - after pets.

Atta with raisins

Toast

So I've moved half-way around the world and am now getting used to baking in a new climate, but more importantly, with a new oven.  It's certainly taking a bit of getting used to.  I've also started using bannetons for proofing, which give a nice shape & texture to the bread.  I've noticed a chewier crust, but I'm not sure if that's due to proofing in bannetons or the new oven - the trouble with changing two variables at once!

I've settled on a regular recipe for bread with atta flour, which involves preparing 3 bowls simultaneously:

Thanksgiving update

Toast

I did two batches of FWSY overnight brown modified to be (approximately) 50% whole wheat. (I also took a similar loaf out of the freezer to make into stuffing which turned out fantastically!)

The first batch was turned into rolls. The flavor was good, but I didn't spend enough time shaping them... they didn't rise nicely. I used some of the leftovers to make a french toast casserole (i.e. lazy man's bread pudding).