The Discard Loaf

Toast

I needed to refresh two starters, a whole wheat and a rye, and being a positively parsimonious sort of fellow I was reluctant to send 200g of perfectly good starter down the drain. I also needed a new loaf of sandwich bread. What to do? Oh, what to do? Well, I did a discard loaf.

In all fairness I should at this point provide a 'trigger warning' for sensitive sourdough folks. I did use some IDY. However, I offer in mitigation the fact that all flour used in the loaf and the starters was whole grain and home milled.

Another trigger warning for the 'hands on' folks is in order. A 20-year-old KA mixer was involved. In mitigation I offer the fact that the loaf is 30% whole rye and throw myself on the mercy of the court.

The starters, one made from whole hard white wheat and the other whole rye and weighing 200g each were pulled out of the fridge while the water for my coffee was coming to a boil. A couple of hours later they were close to room temp and after stirring them down I spooned out 100g from each and mixed the discards together in a small bowl.

While they were getting re-acquainted (they're distant cousins) I milled an additional 100g of rye and 300g of hard white wheat into the KA's bowl and added 1/4 tsp of Ascorbic acid. Using the paddle I mixed the flours and the Ascorbic together and then slowly drizzled in 260g of warmed, filtered water. 

At that point I was exhausted and took a 30 minute coffee break. Thoroughly re-invigorated at the end of my break I used the paddle to mix in 30g of honey and, when it was integrated, the 200g of discarded starters. Because it was break time I poured another cup of coffee and put my feet up (actually my feet stayed on the floor and I sat my butt down).

Break over I sprinkled 1 tsp of IDY on the dough, rolled up my sleeves (catching a cuff on the dough hook can have serious consequences) and proceeded to knead in the yeast and work up a cohesive dough that would hang together on the hook. Then it was the dough's turn to rest for 10 minutes. Just so it wouldn't get bored I sprinkled on 9g of Pink Himalayan Salt.

When that break was over the dough once again waltzed with the hook while the salt chaperoned. Just before the ball was over I mixed in 20g of ghee.

When the dough had almost doubled I shaped with a few stretches and a roll (on the cutting board - not in the hay), plopped it into my 4x4x9 Pullman pan and took another break. 

The pan was lidded when the highest part of the proofed loaf was even with the upper rim of the pan and placed into a cold oven set to 350f. Thirty-six minutes later the lid came off and the loaf spent 10 minutes picking up a light tan.

Crumb shot

that is one gorgeous loaf !!   What is the make/model of your pullman pan and is it coated with something at purchase or what do you oil it with to keep the dough from sticking ? I need a pullman pan so I can make a loaf as lovely as yours. c thank you

Thank you for the compliment. The pan is a USA Pan small Pullman measuring 4x4x9. I purchased it on Amazon but a quick check of the link listed it as unavailable. It is still available from the King Arthur Flour site, https://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/pain-de-mie-pan-pullman-loaf-pan-9 , but their price is higher than the price I found on Amazon Prime. The pan has a non-stick surface and I have used it without lubrication a time or two. But I'm the kind of guy that would wear a belt and suspenders so I generally give it a light coat of ghee or shortening. I really like the pan because there's only two of us in the household so the big 13x4x4 Pullman is wretched excess. If you leave the lid off you can bake a domed loaf. The KAF site has a recipe for AP or Bread flour for this size pan but working with fresh, home milled whole wheat I find I really need to use more flour than they call for; It makes for a denser loaf but I don't care. If I go to all the trouble to chew something I want it to be worth the effort.

The pan is available in that size on Breadtopia and they have a wait list for the larger size. I order my grains from them and they have free shipping over $75 so I will wait a bit and get enough to get free shipping from them . I always use PAM ....I know it's an aerosol and I'll probably die from it but like you I remember when we had a teeny tiny TV with tubes and we were the first family in our WHOLE town to have any TV LOL !  I like to chew my food as well...I do still have my own teeth...born with them not purchased and I will be using your formula on the first go round. Thank you and I love reading your posts...." smiling"  caroline 

Ah yes, tiny TV's, test patterns, the National Anthem at Sign Off. The fact that I can recall almost half of the last century does, at times, depress me. When I show up at my polling place I wear a big red white and blue button that says, "I Like Ike". Some of the older poll workers are amused. 

I'm inclined to spare you the ordeal of parsing through the excess verbiage of the original post for a recipe. Here ya go:

100g of Hard White Wheat starter at 100% hydration

100g of Rye Starter also at 100% hydration              

Both of the starters had been kept in the fridge and refreshed in the last week. Neither had developed significant 'hooch'. Both were mixed together in a small bowl.

I then milled 100g of Rye and 300g of hard white wheat into the bowl of the KA mixer. I added 1/4 tsp of Ascorbic acid and blended the flours and acid using the paddle attachment. I continued using the paddle as I added 260g of water to the bowl. The flours, acid and water autolyzed for 30 minutes.

The next additions were 30g of honey and the 200g of starters mixed in with the paddle until fully integrated. At that point the dough was rested for another 30 minutes.

Following the rest 1 tsp of Instant Dry Yeast was sprinkled over the dough and kneaded in using the mixer's hook. The kneading continued until the dough began to cohere, roughly 15 minutes, including frequent scrape downs of the dough from the sides of the bowl.

At that point I sprinkled 9g of Pink Himalayan Salt on the dough and gave it 10 minutes of rest.

Then the hook was used to knead in the salt and, after about 4 minutes, the 20g of ghee were kneaded in.

The dough fermented on the counter about 1 hour until almost doubled in volume. It was then shaped and placed in the Pullman pan taking care to see that it started out level and extended to the pan's ends.

When the highest point of the proofed dough was even with the pan's rim the lid was placed on the pan.

The pan was placed in a cold oven on a rack in the middle and the oven turned on with a setting of 350f and baked for 36 minutes.

The lid was removed and the bake continued for 10 minutes to brown the top of the loaf. I did not slice the bread for about 24 hours.

 

 

 

 

ADY and a Kitchenaid! How can you live with yourself! ?

Nice loaf by the way! I bet it tastes awesome!

Thank you Danni. Funny thing about loaves - the better they start out the quicker they become just heels. I suppose some people are like that, too. 

as a fellow baker of all things discard, love the waste-not ethic! as an attorney, especially love the excessive verbiage! ?