Yesterday my long awaited Hamelman 'Bread' book arrived.
I am reading with interest that the author recommends an autolize with only flour and water.
When reading through the daily updates, I see that normally bakers autolize including the levain.
This is what I usually do and I get great results, but I'm keeping an open mind.
Which method is better? Is there difference in outcome of the bake?
My opinion only…..As someone reminded me a bit ago there are lots of ways to make bread and if you are getting the results that work for you in your kitchen then that is a method that does work.
What I find important isn't so much the method - taking it as it is printed on the page only but understanding the logic behind the method. That understanding allows me to make decisions myself on how to achieve the outcomes I want. An autolyze effects dough is several ways so it all depends on what you are looking to achieve by using one.
When I autolyzed/rested my doughs, which I did to allow my 100% whole grains more time to absorb the liquid in my recipe, I always added the leaven because of the mixer I was using and the texture of my leavens. I got great results but also had to make time changes in bulk proofing times. By adding the leaven to my flour and water fermentation was happening too due to the leaven addition.
(Getting technical here to keep vocabulary similar I would not say what I was doing was an 'sutolyze'. I would label it a 'rest' period due to the leaven I added. In baker's vernacular an autolyze includes only the flour and water.)
I have found that experimenting in my kitchen tells me directly what is happening and leads me to the results I am seeking. You know what results you get now so you might want to try doing it differently and seeing what happens.
I think of baking books as providing me with a reference point. Not something stamped in stone. I use the directions as guides and seek to educate myself about the science involved. This has happened naturally for me since I bake using freshly milled whole grains. I have always had to adapt recipes/formulas since most are written for people baking with BF or AP.
Have fun and trust your baking instincts.
Janet
you are correct - if it's not broken, don't fix it. We love the way my breads turn out, and family and friends I give bread to are very happy, too.
You mentioned another one of Hamelman's points: freshly milled flour - needs to oxidise for 3 - 4 weeks to turn it into 'ready' flour for baking. I was thinking about that when I read about it this morning. I only use bought flour, so it doesn't apply to me, but lots of people on TFL mill their own flour and seem to be proud of the freshness of it.
I guess, there is a lot of theory out there and it comes to what everybody is comfortable with and what works for them.
Some of his recipes he does include the levain in the autolyze and in others not. Check out the Vermont Sourdough vs the Pain au Levain.
I am still reading the beginning of the book. Thought I read it thoroughly; the pages before the recipes look interesting to me. Will get to the VS and the PaL later! Looking forward to it.
and a gem. in every way. He is a master and a great teacher.
where the discussion about autolyze with and without a preferment is discussed in depth: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/comment/317567#comment-317567
Autolyse without levain for 30 min. Then I incorporate the levain without salt and let rest for another 30 - 40 min. Then add the salt etc...
Only flour and water should be involved in the autolysis process (minimum of 30 minutes). "The Bread Builders" was the source of my epiphany for building great sourdough - develop the gluten before adding levain and finally the salt. This method allows sour levains to be used in making San Francisco Sourdough French Bread.
I think Hamelman's book is a classic "hands on the subject" and belongs on the "used book" bookshelf of those of us dedicated to baking that perfect loaf...,
Wild-Yeast
with this term invented by Professor Raymond Calvel. The first link is one i like that really explains what is ffoing on in layman's terms and the 2nd one is more directly related to Calvel's book and inetrpretations.
http://www.abreadaday.com/?p=1159
http://artisanbreadbaking.com/techniques/autolyse/
Generally speaking autolyse is flour and water (liquid) only and the salt and levain are added after the autolyse period if making a SD bread. If you add levain the flour and water it is now fermenting. If you add salt is it now fermenting slower.
.If you are making straight dough using commercial yeast and beating the heck out of it using a commercial mixer Clavel says you would be better off just dumping the yeast and salt in with the flour and water from the beginning
Happy baking
I also lke lesson 5 number 8 Autolyse on TFL itself.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/lessons/tentips_8_autolyse
So much to read, so much to learn.
I really appreciate all your input.
What a great community!