A New & Improved Method

Since I started working with white dough, I’ve come to recognize the importance of gluten development in bread. Whole grain dough tends to be stiffer even when fully hydrated, which gives a delusion that dough mixing is neglectable. Wrong. I was so wrong! Two rounds of 3 minute mixing and 1 set of lamination contributed enormous elasticity and extensibility. The dough felt completely different and it does show in the crumb.

30% Sprouted Sorghum SD

Sift out the bran from dough flour, reserve 27 g for the leaven. Soak the rest, if any, in equal amount of whey taken from dough ingredients. 

Combine all leaven ingredients and let sit until ready, about 5 hours (29.5°C). Roughly combine all dough ingredients. Ferment for a total of 4 hours (27.8°C) or until quite proofy. Construct 2 rounds of 3 minute Rubaud mixing at the 20 and 30 minute mark. Do a set of lamination at the 40 minute mark. 30 minutes before shaping, do a set of coil fold. Shape the dough then put in into a banneton directly. Freeze the dough for 30 minutes then retard in the fridge for 9 hours.

Preheat the oven at 250°C/482°F. Score and spritz the dough then bake straight from the fridge at 250°C/482°F with steam for 20 minutes then without steam for 25 minutes more or until the internal temperature reaches a minimum of 208°F. Let it cool for a minimum of 2 hours before slicing.

Sorghum tastes pretty mild. Not really much to be excited about. It makes the crumb a tad dense and dry as well… It’s too early to judge though. Let’s see how it performs in wheat/spelt dough later.

Last week’s bread. No freezing and thus slightly over-proofed.

 
Collapsed in the oven 

Because of the increased extensibility, there’s a higher tendency for the dough to spread out in the oven. Letting it become quite proofy before shaping improves its strength. Yet, this leads to another problem of over-proofing… Freezing it briefly before the retard helps solve the issue by lowering the dough temperature.

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Spicy grilled chicken breast with pan grilled zucchini & bell peppers, and potato rosti

Dry brined

Shrimp & spicy chorizo paella, rutabaga & leek casserole, pressure cooked pork chop braised in a tomato-carrot-onion-caperberry sauce, and pan grilled asparagus & brussel sprouts with boiled eggs & diced red peppers

Tomato herb (rosemary & thyme) soft bread

Huge thanks to my friend who kept bugging me to work the dough more :)