Summer Baking (and 80% Sourdough Rye)

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blackhatbaker on 7 Sep 2014 at 13:01

Hello, everybody! This is my first blog entry on TFL, so I figured I ought to give some pretext as to who I am as a baker. I thought a good way to do this would be to show some loaves I baked this summer.

Semolina bread

 

Miche, Pointe-à-Callière

Vermont Sourdough

Bâtard from Baguette de Tradition dough (from Jeffrey Hamelman's Bread)

 

Tartine Bread

 

White Levain Bread

A mix of semolina, rye, whole wheat, and a teeny bit of AP

More Semolina Bread

Ciabatta (Jim Lahey's)

More Vermont Sourdough

More Tartine Bread

And finally, 80% Sourdough Rye (from Hamelman's Bread), that I baked today. It has my initials on it; I made it with some extra dough.

Some loaves that I didn't get pictures of but really enjoyed are: a loaf of 100% whole wheat (naturally leavened), Tartine baguettes, and another miche that I baked. Also some veganized Tartine croissants.

Hope you all enjoy the photos! Now I'm back in school (8th grade), so I better finish my homework!

Many are from books, but the semolina, rye semolina wholewheat, and white levain were improvised. They were loosely based on the Tartine Bread process.

Happy baking!

Hi, blackbathbaker, and welcome to TFL

Those look very good! nice work, especially for attempting at 80% sourdough rye.

Keep posting

Khalid

I will hopefully post once or twice every weekend. The 80% sourdough rye was quite challenging, especially considering it was my first loaf of rye. Looking back, I feel a longer proof would have been good, and maybe a little more water. 

Thanks Khalid,

 Blackhatbaker

 

It was a great summer of baking. So sad it is over; I can only bake on weekends now. But I'm happy as long as I'm baking.

Happy baking,

Blackhatbaker.

Only being able to bake on the weekends is not solely the lot of the 8th Grader.  Your loaves look pretty good. You certainly have a decent variety. Are you happy with the holes and the crumb, or are you looking for something different?

You're right, I was quite lucky to bake all summer, and grew very spoiled from it. Baking on weekends is a satisfying routine that always brings me joy, so I can't complain about that. The crumb is never as good as I hope it will be, but that's OK. In April, I got the perfect crumb, and it drives me crazy that I can't get it again. The crumb is sort of like the bread's finger print, always unique. I did like the crumb on the semolina bread, though.

Happy Baking,

Blackhatbaker

The best advice I can give (not having taken it myself) is to take notes of every bake so that when you get what you think is a great result, you can repeat it.

Notes ought to include things such as:

1) Time and temperatures - for the last feeding of the starter, the creation and use of the levain, the mixing of the dough, and the proofing.

2) How tangy was it?

3) Was the crumb soft and tender or rubbery.

4) What was the oven spring like/how did the finger poke test do before baking.

It is possible that your April success was due to the ambient temperature being just right for the amount of time you bulk ferment and/or proof.  And that the summer months were warmer, requirng things to be done a little quicker as a result (unless cooler water were used to lower the dough temperature).

Everybody says  to watch the dough and not the clock; however, sometimes that is easier said than done. And keeping notes of times, temperatures and results can definitely help us better understand things and then take steps to reproduce those perfect loaves when we finally get them!

Thanks for the advice, David! I should have taken more notes that day, but I was still new to baking, and that loaf just sort of happened. I'll make an effort to take more notes, and hopefully I'll get another perfect loaf someday.

(By the way, the loaf was a bâtard of Tartine basic country bread)

The country loaf was basically the first loaf i successfully baked. I have a number of them on my blog. I found that following his directions with time and temperature generally gave excellent results. 

Good luck!

This was the loaf. By the way, Tartine Bread is my favorite book, and Chad Robertson is my idol. Remember the crumb shot on the first page, in black and white? Soooo gorgeous.

 

Thanks Ian! Time and passion can make a great baker out of anyone, and bread is something I really feel passionate about. What I love about this site is that it us a place where everyone shares a passion for bread! I'll keep posting my bread-adventures, wherever they go.

Keep baking, and keep posting,

Blackhatbaker