52nd bake, 06/09/2021. 25% WW durum. 40% WW red.

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idaveindy on 10 Jun 2021 at 09:56

June 9, 2021.

So I've been playing a lot with stone-ground WW durum. It makes great flatbread/chapatis at 100%, and great egg-less noodles at 50% mixed with 50% Golden Temple white/red bag durum.

I wrote somewhere, that anything over 33% WW durum in a leavened loaf bread just doesn't seem to be workable.  It becomes a brick, or a rubbery sponge.

Mariana mentioned that there is a popular Russian flour mix that uses 25% durum, so I thought I'd play with that number.

Plan:

  • 500 g total flour.
  • 25% WW stone-ground durum, Patel brand. $.40/pound. $8 per 20 pound bag.
  • 40% Bob's Red Mill WW red wheat, stone-ground.
  • 15% Golden Temple durum, white/red bag. Has some bran, but not much.
  • 10% KA bread flour.
  • 10% Arrowhead Mills organic AP.  Bought it on sale. Need to use it up. Clumpy. Needed sifting.

Started with 350 g water.

Let it rest several hours.

Pulled off 40 g of dough and set it aside to make a chapati. (Needed to add flour to it.)

Worked in 16 g water.

Worked in another 16 g water.

Worked in 57 g of cold 100% hydration starter, last fed 6 days ago, but stirred every 2 days.

Worked in 6 g of plain olive oil.

Lots of hand kneading.

Bulk ferment. Several stretch and folds.

Shaped.

Proofed in banneton.

Baked in a Lodge 10.25" cast iron pan with two short handles, in a counter-top toaster oven, Ambiano brand, from Aldi. 450 F. Total 42 minutes.   A 9" diameter baking stone was placed on the lower burner guards, under the oven rack.  Cast iron pan was sitting on the oven rack, lower position, so there was air space between the pan and the stone.  Pan and stone were pre-heated at 450 F., the oven max.

Used bottom heat only for first 35 minutes. Loaf was not covered with anything. To brown the top, I used bottom and top heat for the  last 7 minutes, rotating the pan 90 degrees every 2 minutes to keep it even.

I did not keep meticulous records, so the timings may not be accurate.

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Came out great. Cooled it for 90 minutes, tried some. Excellent crumb. Top crust okay. Bottom crust over-baked, almost burned.  Plan is to reduce heat next time to 425 after the first 10 minutes.

I had to give it away to a neighbor or I would have eaten it all in one sitting.

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Mariana and the Russians are right.  25% WW durum is good.