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Aug. 11, 2022. 98th bake.

Added some ground "chocolate rye malt."  I.E., malted rye that was roasted to a dark color and has a chocolatey almost coffee-like aroma/flavor. Purchased, as whole kernals, from a home-brewing supply store, then ground in a coffee/spice grinder.  (It's malted/roasted so it is not as hard on the grinder as raw kernals.)

Wanted to try making a mostly lean but soft sandwich loaf for my wife to try.  Did a slight variation on my semolina bread hearth loaf.  Subbed a little more AP in and added 5% WW.  Also increased the EVOO just a bit.  

Sliced about a third of the loaf after 3 hours of cooling and was really happy with it.  Wonderful aroma and very soft.  Will see how it ages over the next few days.

Wanted to have a light rye bread for sandwiches and of course some extra flavor and crunch from things like seeds and nuts are always welcome. I had considered doing a sweedish limpa rye with sunflower or even a 100% rye but stumbled across this recipe from Reinhart's Bread Baker's Apprentice and figured I'd give it a try. The original calls for some commercial yeast and can be baked on the same day the dough is mixed. It is also shaped completely differently in the book.  I decided to omit that yeast and treat it as a normal sourdough with an overnight cold rise. 

My past.  I did post this before, way back in 2016, in the wake of all the chatter on TFL about pane di Altamura.  And just in the past few days Benny and Caroline have been posting semolinas, just about my favorite subject when it comes to bread.  Benny's was his take on the Altamura bread, which, although the original Altamura bread has an odd beauty all of its own, on its best days looks like something Victor Frankenstein might have left aside in a large glass jar.

Still same formula and times. I did one extra set of folds to develop the gluten even further because of Semola. I also proofed them a full hour before baking. I also took Kendalm’s advice on shaping and am well- pleased with the improvements on that “ score” which is also better. Better color which has always been good but really love this bake. Better grigne throughout scoring. 

Aug. 6, 2022. 97th bake. 

Oh my. This is the bread I've been looking for. 

I couldn't wait and ate a slice before taking photos. 

This is the 5th loaf in this series, (4 pan loaves, 1 boule) and I finally have it dialed in. 

I’ve had this bake on my list for sometime.  I saved the recipe when I read through his book months ago along with a couple other of his recipes.  I have to say that we quite enjoyed the texture and flavour of this bread.  Very rustic with a new chewiness and that nutty sweet flavour that durum semolina has.  I used semola rimacinata flour as is typical for this bread from what I’ve read.

Everything the exact same just added more Semola Rimacinata . Incredible crackling out of the oven. Gorgeous grine. Crumb shot in a bit. 

M

 Not quite as open with the increased Semola but given the incredible flavor and crust I’ll take it. 

The top crust is too flimsy, but, man-o-man, this is tasty. The discard with IDY worked a wonder.