adjustable whole wheat / bread flour oat loaf

Profile picture for user GaryBishop

I've been making variations on this loaf for years starting from this recipe from txfarmer. With my tiny pan I've been able to pick up the pace often baking every 2 or 3 days. 

I've now got something that I really enjoy. It is soft, sour, strong enough for thin slices, and tastes great. Besides all that it is easy to make. I've even quit using my mixer. 

 

 baker's %grams    
total flour100%200 50%ww fraction 
total liquid78%156    
       
preferment + 10%100.0%200.0 100%hydrationextra for waste
starter10.0%20.0    
ww flour50.0%100.0    
water50.0%100.0    
       
soaker + 5%42.0%88.2   extra for waste
oats14.0%29.4    
hot water28.0%58.8    
       
       
final dough212.1%424.2    
soaker42.0%84.0    
preferment100.0%200.0    
water0.0%0.0    
olive oil8.0%16.0    
honey10.0%20.0    
ww flour0.0%0.0    
bread flour50.0%100.0    
salt2.0%4.05/8tsp5.9g/tsp
yeast0.10%0.21/16tsp3.15g/tsp
       
check flour100.00%200.0    
check liquid78.00%156.0   

 

mixed preferment and soaker evening before. It more than doubles by morning.
mixed in the morning. S&F 3 times at 15 minute intervals.
into pan in oven set for 100F with light off averages 90F.
baked when dough gets to top of pan, about 2 hours. Started in cold oven set to 350 convection for 45 minutes.
5" tall. Good color, structure, softness and flavor.

You can get a live version of the Google Sheet here. The bold numbers are intended to be adjustable.

I mix it by hand in a bowl. Maybe 5 or 6 gentle folds at each interval.

Too sour for your taste? Just drop the amount of preferment, the other numbers will adjust.

Want to bake a larger loaf? Just set the flour to 0.2g per cubic centimeter. I bake in my 10x10x10 pullman pan without the lid because I like the domed top. You'll need to scale it down a bit if you want a flat top. It will easily scale to larger pans. 

Don't want to use sourdough at all? Just set the preferment to 0 and up the yeast to about 1%.

I'm using KAF starter and flours. I refresh my starter about every 2 weeks. 

Could you clarify the size of your Pullman pan? 10x10x10 sounds like a cube, and your bread doesn't look cube-ish, lol. Thanks in advance!

Mary

That looks great Gary, well done.  The crumb looks light and soft, thanks for sharing your methods with us.

Benny

This formula is hardly different from what I started with from txfarmer but I've spent years looking for sour in all the wrong places. It turned out for me that I could get exactly the flavor I want by tuning the preferment size, yeast amount, and rising temperature. 

I have combined many ideas from here on TFL. Bulk ferment in the pan. Easy folds. Higher temperature bulk to foster lactic acid. 

The tiny pan was the key to making it fun because I could tweak often enough to stay focused and didn't anguish over loaves gone wrong. 

This is a great forum.

Great looking bread!  Nice slicing contraption, too.  Both guides the knife and catches the crumbs!  Looks like it's maple.

A nice looking loaf, Gary. Similar to the Approachable loaf formula, but with some interesting extra tweaks like the oats.

Are they standard oat flakes or steel cut?

 

Lance