July 28, planned bake #1: 65% Whole Grain Porridge Bread

With the freezer stock down to a few rolls, a couple of slices of pumpernickel, and some milk bread, I was more than happy to see that the forecast for the 28th was for 21 deg C, with clouds and showers.  We don't have air conditioning, and heating the oven to 240 deg C or higher for multiple hours leaves the main floor unbearable when the outside temps are in the 30's, as they had been for too many days.  With hopes for a day where I could bake semi-comfortably, I pulled out some of my durum and rye main starters and started building some levains.  The plan was for a large porridge loaf, along with a smaller 100% whole wheat loaf to supply us with enough for the weekend and upcoming week, and maybe a half-loaf for the freezer.

I did plan on taking advantage of the higher temps earlier in the week for building more acid / sour in to the levains, and the plan was to do all of the dough mixing on Thursday, ferment in the fridge, and then shape and proof for a Friday morning bake.

The big porridge loaf was my first priority (we love the moist, dense crumb for sandwiches that taste cool and fresh all day long), so I got the porridge going first using isand66's method:

LEVAIN:
Use 4g of 65% hydration rye starter from fridge and gradually build up to highly active 81g of 80% hydration levain (45g of rye / 36g water). Plan to use shortly after peak.
Use 4g of 65% hydration durum starter from fridge and gradually build up to highly active 81g of 80% hydration levain (45g of durum / 36g water). Plan to use shortly after peak.

PORRIDGE:
Toast 20g each of millet, steel-cut oats, oat bran, wheat germ, rolled oats, rye flakes, and barley flakes over medium heat.
Add 280g of boiling water to 40g of dry milk powder and 60g of sour cream. Whisk until fully blended. Set aside extra hot water.

Remove pan with grains from heat, and carefully pour in about 3/4 of the hot water mixture. Stir until it is fully absorbed.  Add the rest of the liquid, and return pan to medium-low heat, cooking until reaches soft and creamy consistency. Add more water (60g this time) if needed.

Remove from heat and set aside to cool to room temperature.

AUTOLYSE:
Mix together 105g of freshly milled whole hard red wheat, 150g of whole spelt, 105g of freshly milled whole rye, 300g AP flour, 7g red rye malt, and 453g of water in to a shaggy mass. Cover and let rest for 2 hours.

DOUGH:
Add both levains and 13g salt to the autolyse. Knead for about 10 minutes (minimal gluten development), then cover and let rest for 20 minutes.
Knead again (about 300 turns) up to medium gluten development, adding water if needed. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
Transfer dough to wet work surface, and do 2 full sets of stretch-and-fold. Roll in to tight ball, cover, and let rest for 30 minutes.
Weigh out the now cooled porridge to determine how much water was used. Spread out dough on wet work surface, and spread out the porridge over top as evenly as possible. Incorporate the porridge using a few sets of letter folds. Do a dozen or so slap-and-folds if needed to get it fully incorporated. Transfer to clear fermenting container, cover, and let rest for 30 minutes.
Do two more sets of stretch-and-fold in the container on 30 minute intervals, then transfer container to the refrigerator overnight.

PRE-SHAPE, SHAPE, PROOF, BAKE:

Once dough has fully fermented in the fridge, transfer it to a clean work surface and pre-shape in to a tight boule. Cover and allow to bench rest for 30-60 minutes.

Lightly dust work surface and top of boule with flour, then flip, de-gas, and stitch / shape in to final loaf shape. Transfer to banneton, cover with damp towel, and allow to proof.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F with roaster inside.

Once dough is fully proofed, score then transfer to roaster. Bake covered at 450 degrees for 25 minutes, then uncovered at 425 degrees for 35-40 minutes (to internal temperature of 200-202 degrees). Turn off oven, leave door ajar, and let loaf rest in oven for 10 minutes before moving to rack to cool.

Do not cover loaf until it has fully cooled (at least 6 hours) and do not slice until next day.

This one ended up being a high enough hydration to be a challenge for me to shape - especially with the large amount of dough.  I didn't get the tight skin that I would have liked, so scoring didn't go very well, but the oven spring and bake all indicated that I was pretty close on being properly fermented / proofed.

The crumb was everything that we love --- moist, with a good chew to it, and wonderful for sandwiches:

While I do enjoy the crisp little bits of millet in there - as well as the visual appeal - I have to admit that I believe that millet is the "cat hair" of grains --- even years after the last time you had it in the house, it will seemingly appear out of nowhere into the middle of your kitchen floor, or living room, or....

So - the shaping challenge was fun, but no time to linger on it since there was still more baking to do...