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I tried the Rye Porridge bread from Tartine 3 the other day. I like this bread a lot - it provides a very nice sour-ish rye flavour with the texture of a good wheat levain. Very moist crumb and the bread benefits from sitting for 24 hours before slicing it. I followed the recipe but did not add any nuts or nut oil as Robertson makes them optional and I don't particularly like nuts in my bread. I also changed the method. I was not having much success with Robertson's methods (room temperature bulk ferment with a long shaped proof in the fridge; always over-proofed).

I've been working with the same formula for my sourdough, changing one thing with each bake and taking notes. The basic formula is as follows. 

300g levain

350g flour

200g water

10g salt

The perfect opportunity presented itself this week for me to make no-measure bread. We're staying in a timeshare for a week (Lake Okanagan Resort, for those of you in BC Canada), and I was getting itchy (not baking for a week?!), plus we needed fresh bread. I wanted some fairly plain bread, nothing fancy but with a good crust and creamy open crumb, and good flavour.

So, let's see what we have on hand - an oven, mixing bowls, roasting pan, one glass measuring cup and a set of measuring spoons. Off to the grocery store to buy supplies:

Seems many things come in spurts on the TFL.  We are always looking for something new and interesting to do on the bread front.  Recently, we have seen a few Pain di Altamura breads with the odd folding of the dough a few minutes before baking.  The most interesting thing is this folding.  The bread itself is a straightforward durum wheat one but the look of the weird lump of bread you end up with is its calling card.

Pane Tipo di Altamura

14 April, 2016

David Snyder

My bake of Pane Tipo di Altamura on March 31 yielded a good looking loaf with very nice texture. However, the flavor was unexciting, except when the bread was dipped in olive oil. I thought it should be more flavorful.

      Usually with this list of ingredients I would either make a soaker or a porridge but instead I decided to add some crunch to the bread.  I used a combination of rolled oats, barley flakes, and cracked wheat and simply added them into the flour mixture of French style KAF, fresh milled whole wheat and fresh milled whole rye.  I added some dehydrated toasted onions for a little extra flavor as well.

I also coated the outside of the dough with malted wheat for an extra level of crunch.

Yes.  I know.  I've posted these before.  But I decided to post a video of baking these lovely baguettes from the time that they come out of retard until they come out of the oven.  Less than a 4 minute investment of your time if you care to watch it.

alan