Here is today's bake. Based on Tom Cat's semolina filone recipe. AP flour in the poolish, and a 50/50 mix of whole rye and whole spelt in the main dough.
Refrigerated bulk ferment with stretch and folds. Dough was very easy to handle with wet hands. Final proof after shaping in the microwave with cup of warm water.
The is the best tasting bread I have ever made. Crumb is moist, relatively open and shaggy; what I wanted and expected. This is my new default recipe. Will start to add seeds to it for the next experiments.
Do you have a shot if the crumb? I love the bold bake on it.
Here is the crumb, where I broke the loaf by hand. Thanks for the comments.
Sorry for the 90 degree rotation of the photos. Still learning how to post pictures to this site.
When I post pictures, they sometimes come out sideways on this site. I haven't figured out why yet.
That is a nice fluffy loaf from what I can tell. Too bad the net hasn't evolved to the point that we can send each other samples.
Ooooh, yummy! Spelt and rye is a good combination. What kind of seeds were you thinking of trying?
So, is your poolish AP flour, water and a bit of commercial yeast? And did you also add a bit of yeast to the final dough? How long did you ferment the dough? That makes such a difference in the taste.
Lazy,
Thanks for the comments. The recipe is the one from this site. 1/16 tsp of yeast is in the poolish, and another 1/4 tsp in the dough. The poolish was 150g AP flour. I could have used rye or spelt, but I am working on changing only a few variables with each bake. I have iterated on this recipe for a few years and I know what it does under different conditions.
I have some sunflower and chia seeds from Germany that I will try. I have never used seeds in bread before so it will be interesting. The rye and spelt are also from Germany, part of the loot I brought back from an extended work project.
The poolish was made last night, and was around 12 hrs old when it went into the dough. The refrigerated bulk ferment was around 5 hours. The final proof was around 1 1/2 hrs. Baked at 405 for 45 minutes, with a handful of ice cubes thrown in at the start of baking.
out of your dough so be sure to hydrate them before going into the dough. And don't be alarmed when the form a gel, that is normal for chia seeds.
Thanks Danni. I need this kind of information before I bake a loaf with seeds. What about sunflower or rye chops? Do these need to be hydrated before adding to the dough?
I toast and for me, soaking is optional. Rye chops (I had no idea they were called this. I learn something everyday), I don't have a clue about. My instinct would be to soak them.
I toast both sunflower and pumpkin seeds (pepitas) for use in bread. Other seeds I use are sesame, flax (they need soaking, same as chia) nigella and caraway (those last two generally for rye bread).
I'd put rye chops in the same category as cracked wheat or steel-cut oats, and either cook them or at least soak them good. I now like rye flakes even better. I soak them and they kind of disappear into the bread, leaving it very creamy and moist but with a great rye taste.
I have some left over from putting on the outside of a loaf but I don't really like how they look when I use them that way so this is a great way to use them up. Thank you!
Another version. Today's bake based on Tom Cat's formula. Poolish was unchanged, white AP flour. Dough was 100g each of whole spelt
, whole rye and rye chops. Additions included 2T each of sunflower and sesame seeds, plus 1.5T chia seeds pre soaked for 4 hours in around 1c water to make a gel.
The chia seed water was not counted in the formula; the dough was a little loose but did not create problems. Will slice in a couple of hours after it cools.
Just the kind we like arond here. They have to be tasty too. Well done and happy baking
Thanks dabrownman. My first loaf with seeds, I'm pretty excited about it!
Here is the crumb. Something between open and creamy. It is delicious, and my daughter's favorite so far. It could have used 15 minutes longer baking time and a little longer cooling before slicing. To me the chia seeds didn't bring anything to the party. Next bake will include pumpkin and flax seeds. The sesame seeds were prominent and good. Probably could have used another tablespoon of both sesame and sunflower seeds. Happy baking to all.
Full disclosure: what I referred to as rye chops is actually Roggenschrot, which I brought home from Germany last month. I may be under the mistaken impression that the two are equivalent. I am not 100% sure about this.