This is the Miche from Peter Reinhart's “The Bread Baker's Apprentice” (BBA). I followed the instructions Reinhart provides, with the following modifications:
- I used “Organic Type 85”flour from Central Milling as the high-extraction flour.
- Rather than using 100% high-extraction flour, I substituted 10% Whole Spelt flour in the final dough.
- I did two S &F's at 1 and 2 hours into a 3 1/2 hour bulk fermentation
- I pre-heated the oven to 500ºF with a baking stone and the oven steaming apparatus recommended by the San Francisco Baking Institute. I bake with steam at 450ºF for 25 minutes, then turned the oven to convection bake, set the temperature to 425ºF and baked for another 40 minutes. (This is a higher effective temperature than Reinhart calls for, because of the convection setting.)
It produced a boldly baked, high risen loaf with a dark, crackled crust. It has a wonderful aroma.
The crust stayed crunchy as the bread cooled. The crumb was dense, which was not surprising at this hydration level, but it was not as well aerated as I had hoped. The crumb was somewhat chewy, and the flavor was wheaty and moderately sour. There was no grassy-bitter flavor.
Poilâne said that the flavor of his bread was best on the third day after baking. I'm taking some of this loaf to San Francisco for a taste comparison to the Miche that brother Glenn baked today, and we'll see how the flavor develops over a day.
David
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I think I'll try that formula, too.
OK, David, I suppose it was inevitable that we'd bake the same bread on the same day at some point. But posting our blogs within 6 minutes of each other ?!?!?!
Yours is much darker (convection heat, as you note) and sprung much more than mine (better steam? better oven? better skill?).
I do love the flavor of the CM Organic Type 85.
Beautiful loaf. Enjoy!
See you tomorrow.
Glenn
I did a doubletake last night when I first opened your BBA miche posting, David, and it came up empty. Went back to the home page, saw Glenn's post on the BBA miche - and did a double doubletake. Checked back here and yours was up. My head was spinning. :-)
Figured either a) preplanning, or b) Snyder telepathy at work!
Stunning miche. I love the color of the crust. Still don't understand what causes the crackling.
Have a great week playing with sourdough!
Lindy--
Sorry, if it muddles things more for me to answer on David's blog,
It wasn't pre-planning or telepathy. It was the flour. I got us each a bag of Central Milling's Organic Type 85 flour when I visited Keith Giusto's Baking Supply a few weeks ago. The right flour for a Miche. So we each embarked on a miche-adventure.
I do have to say that posting our blogs about the same formula within minutes of each other does bloggle the mind.
Glenn
Oh, I think it's terrific that you both baked and posted within hours (minutes?) of each other, Glenn. The brotherhood of bakers in action!
Looking forward to hearing how the bread compares, once David gets there.
David
That's a higher profile than I'm generally able to obtain, but the crumb looks like miche crumb to me. I've never seen one that was very open and I think the combination of flour type and hydration normally yields a pretty dense bread. Beautiful looking loaf.
Larry
The high profile can be attributed to the effective lower hydration - the flour was pretty thirsty - and especially tight boule shaping.
David
David that is a beautiful loaf. I remember the very first time I made this bread, I felt like screaming, "TODAY I AM A BAKER" There is something humbling about baking the famous Poilane miche. I will have to try it with your adaptations.
Hi david,
I was at the poilane bakery in Paris recently, and purchased one of his famous Miches to eat during my stay. I can tell you that the crumb you have is a VERY close approximation to the real deal. Great looking loaf... congrats!
ben