STIR THE POTS

Sprouting

In just a few months I will be taking a Artisan baking course at SFBI. I signed on with the encouragement of fellow bloggers/bakers, MC and Susan. It wasn't hard after an interview I had recently with it's founder Michel Suas.

So when I saw both Susan and MC making a sprouted wheat grain bread from a whole grain workshop they both attended, I really wanted to try it. A while back, I had tried a sprouted grain, rather unsuccessfully. It left me worried of the biological hazards I might hatch for failing to follow the steps word for word!

I had seen the formula first via Susan's adaptation. Since then, I have been checking on MC's progress in workshops on her blog. When she finally posted the formula for her adaption of this recipe, MC posted her niece's version on her French language site. My French is just as bad as my German, so I asked her to post it in  English, and she did. Merci, MC!

The recipes are almost the same, but I adapted from both bakers, switching back and forth on my browser. In the end I made my own changes. First, I didn't sprout wheat. Instead I used Kamut, a distant relative of modern wheat. In MC's nieces version she omited the fruits and nuts for caloric reasons. But you only live once, so I say go for the whole thing or nothing! 

I used mixed berries, cherries, raisins, and pecans instead of walnuts, as in Susan's version, though I was leaning for almonds. In both recipes, there was either the option of using a fruit juice or molasses. Lacking juice, I used pomegranate molasses brought back from my trip in Istanbul, a gift from my host Dilara.  Instead of orange zest in Susan's, I added candied orange peel I had intended for a Easter bread but somehow missed baking. I also cut the recipe in half, to make to small loaves weighing at around 450g. Surely I will make the whole recipe the next time, as it's quickly disappearing!

Sprouted Kamut, with fruit and pecans:

Based on Keith Giusto's Power bread, from Wild Yeast and Farine-MC's adaptions.

300 g flour
200 g ground sprouted kamut berries
175 g water
10 g salt (My scale isn't that accurate as the one Susan has!)
30 g Pomergranate molasses
100 g mature 125 %-hydration sourdough starter
 1 pc. of finley chopped candied orange zest (a must)
65 g dried mixed fruit, (I had a bag of Trader Joes mixed berries)
65 g coarsely chopped nuts (Pecans)
boiling water (for dried fruits)

My method was virtually the same as both Susan's and that of MC's niece, so I am being a bit lazy and not posting! Besides I am off to work and have no time, life of a chef! So go and check the respective posts, you will get better advice, I did!

This is a wonderful bread; light, chewy, full of flavor. Good plain or with cheese and fig jam, foie gras, butter, anything!  Make it - that's an order!

And it's going to Susan's  Friday episode of Yeast spotting!

Roggen, rye, segale, siegle, it's alive!

My latest experiments in rye bread have been relatively good. I took out my notebooks from school and followed my archaic notes, going for a 70/30 percent rye-wheat combination loaf. Both my teachers, David Norman and Nick Greco had shared duties teaching us the different parts of the course. David was a numbers man, Nick a hands on baker. We would get formulas from the handbook, but most often got a more personal lesson, with each teachers own variations and experience filling in the blanks.

This particular rye was sort of a generic test bread with which we fiddled to get the look and feel in differences and handling of rye and wheat. There also was a 50/50 combination , but I felt challenged with a higher percent of rye! The first loaf was miserable. My levain was a bit tired and wasn't sufficiently fermented so it gave no life to this waste basket specimen! Feeling a bit like I was getting snake eyes, I left my starter feed, bubbling for a good eight hours. Getting home after a long shift, I proceeded to make the dough. It's a quick rise; a bit of yeast for boost and the lively rye got it on its feet in no time. Actually the notes read "10 min first rise! Shape." I chose a loaf pan rather then a round banneton. Then I allowed it to rise for for about 35-40 minutes, in which time I  pre-heated my stove. By that time the loaf was peaking at a clip over the edges of the pan. I popped it into the oven with a slash and spray! What a emerged was a light and lovely loaf.
 

My next bread was a formula from our Italian bread section at school, a pane di segale con pancetta. Literally a rye with pancetta. On my visits to Arthur Ave. in the Bronx, I had seen a loaf of this bread displayed in a window of a now shuttered bakery. It's a rustic rye, with a 85 percent hydrated wheat biga, studded with pancetta which I slightly cooked. It's enriched with a bit of olive oil. Though I never made this in class, the idea of fatty pork in a rye loaf, well what can I say, sounded too good to pass up!

Rye is, and has been, a mystery to me, but knowing it and eating it as much as I do, I find it even more peculiar that it's not being baked here by more bakeries and bakers. Most of my references for recipes come from Germany, Switzerland and France, where it is celebrated. The most difficult part is finding the various grain, chops, meals, and flours for the various formulas. That makes it especially hard to bake the same sort of loaf, but I won't give up that easily! These are my first steps. Now to translate the various books and formulas, I have to understand the mystery of rye.

This post I will enter for the one year anniversary of Yeast Spotting. Susan of wild yeast shares the various her venue with all who bake, a noble cause!

Pruneaux et noisette

Since trying a prune and hazelnut bread at Montreal's Olive et gourmando, I have been craving it. The recollection on my palate lingered and most recently a fabulous example of such a bread was showcased on my friend MC's fabulous blog. After she made it  I just had to give a try.

I found this formula on a French baking forum on which I was once a member, giving me access to the professional formulas.Though my starter is usually active and refreshed twice daily, I had it stored over the Memorial Day weekend in the fridge. So when I returned, my starter was a bit sluggish and I decided to make this adaption of the pruneaux and noisette bread with a bit of yeast, just for safety sake!

I gave my  friend Susan a shout and she helped me set up a spreadsheet for it. When  I finally got around to making it, it was well worth the effort. I took a bit of liberty, adding more prunes as it seemed light, and I love prunes so much! The yeast did make the rising time a lot shorter. But, all in all, the flavor of sourdough was still there and it has a good shelf life, most likely the addition of butter and milk in the dough as well some sugar.

Most likely, I will make it again and perhaps give it a go with just levain for the next bake. In the mean time, I am spreading some butter and prune lekvar on another slice!

A bread challenge (or making a hamster take to seeds) a collaborative post

This is the first time I have invited a guest blogger on my site, Susan who is one of my favorite bread bloggers, she inspires, teaches and alway's bakes beautiful bread. Lately I have been sending her all sorts of formula's and decided to ask her to join in my quest to make a loaf well known to most German forum bakers as "Herr Süpke's Schwarzer Hamsterbrot." Do you know why it is called hamster? Because it looks like hamster food?" Susan asked, but I had no idea except for the fact Herr Süpke's looked good, and all the other bakers on various forums were baking it, that was my reason for wanting to give it a go.

 

Jeremy's take on this tale

I never liked competition while working in kitchens. Given it's a crazy business, there is already enough stress to go around. Who needs to fight for first prize? But every so often I'm inspired to challenge my skills as either a cook or as a baker. Usually it's a recipe that isn't the usual old pain au levain, a holey ciabatta or baguette. Sometimes you find a great looking loaf, with recipe written in a vaguely familiar tongue you had spoken as a child, only you don't have more then a five-year old child's vocabulary as an adult or less! 

All to say I've found a new challenge; a German home-baker's holy grail of seeded rye bread. Baker's percentages and numbers are already a chore, but to decipher German, find similar ingredients and then approach a recipe by no other then the blogger/baker, Wolfgang Süpke, and think you can make his reknowned Schwarzer Hamsterbrot, you got to have some chutzpah.

Well, this bread is more than a bit daunting. Multiple soakers and grains, various flour, sourdough, some yeast. And it demands a myriad of different times that add up to one challenge. I didn't want to go alone again, the last batch went to the garbage pail! So I sent off e-mails, queried the Master baker on his site, and found a message than from no other then Nils, my go to and go between with Herr Süpke.

Nils filled me in to some of what was going awry with my rye! Still I was on shaky ground and needed some company. Maybe another hand in the mix, someone who can guide, coach, push and inspire me to new baking heights, yes I found someone who fit that role, namely I needed Susan from Wild Yeast. I've sent her all sorts of S.O.S's for spreadsheets, not to mention requests to answer easy questions that I should already know. Finally admitting my total lack of true bakers focus, it seemed high time I got off the fence and start training like I was going to the Olympics or something.

I pretty much followed the instructions that I had found on several sites, and translated it as best I could with my widget translator and  Google.

   " S c h w a r z e r   H a m s t e r "     Seeded bread with rye sour
 
 Sourdough :   ( proof   1 5 - 2 0  Hrs . )
 1 2 5   g   R ye flour   (medium rye)
 1 2 5   g   W at e r
 1 0   g   sour
 
 grain soaker :
 5 0   g   R ye grain whole
 5 0   g   Spelt o   r   K a m u t  grain
 i n   1 5 0   m l   W a t r  soak for .   3 0   M i n .  then  3 0   M i n .  boil ,
 strain  
 
 soaker :
 ( 1   hour soak )
 1 6 0   g   Pumpkin seed ,   Sunflower seed ,   flax ,   S e s a me
 1 6 0   g   W a t e r
 
2 hours at   )
 1 1 0   g   Rye meal
 220  g   W a t e r
 
 ( soak for 15 mi n )
 5 0   g   Rye flakes     
  5 0   g   W a te r
 
 Final dough :
 2 5 0   g   Rye sour
 1 3 0   g   White whole wheat flour
 1 2   g   salt
 1 0   g   yeast
 Bread spice, coriander, fennel and caraway(optional 1 tbsp)
 grain soaker, seed soaker
 
 
 Mix  -   2 0   M i n .   rest ,   knead briefly to shape  -   Bread pan   1   k g lightly greased  and covered with sunflower seeds
 Dough is proofed for  6 0   M i n .    B a  k e d   484 F   lower to        400 F  -   bake for  .   6 0   M i n .

1. Rye sour was awakened after a long dormancy in my fridge, neglected of course. Susan told me I should get it nourished and ready for a Saturday bake.
2. Rye sour activated, two days of feeding found it vibrant and bubbly!(It's alive!)
3. Friday I fed the sour to the proportions stated, next morning I went out and was having lunch when Susan called me an asked me how I was doing on the Hamster!(I was behind schedule, uh oh!)
4. So I quickly gathered the rest of my grains, soaker and proceeded with the formula. My rye meal was not cooked, but instead I poured boiling water over it and let it soak up and cool overnight.
5. seeds were soaked, probably less time then the should of been, but I was throwing caution to the wind, I was on a tight schedule and I wasn't missing the bus.
6. I used spelt flakes also 15 minutes.

I mixed with a paddle on my kitchen aid, had a mashed potato consistency dough, a short 20 minutes rest, then I  placed it into a 10x4 inch pan, when I suddenly realized that too much multitasking and rushing around I had forgotten to mix in my cooked grains! After remixing I returned the dough to the pan and let it rise a little more then an hour, it didn't look like it was moving, so I just re-heated oven and popped it in a 485 F oven for 1 hour, with a lowering of the temperature at about the 28th minutes to about
390 F. To my surprise the loaf had a bit of rise and some irregular cracks in the dough, but a nice golden color, I couldn't wait to see Susan's!

Susan's take on this tale

Well, Jeremy wasn't kidding when he said this was a daunting bread! I love to eat dense German-style seeded breads like this, but I don't have much experience baking them, so I was happy to have the company, to learn, plan and commiserate.

If nothing else, the timing of all the different components was crazy-making:

Rye sour, fermented about 18 hours -- done.
Rye meal, cooked and cooled overnight -- got it.
Rye and farro grains, cooked and cooled two hours ahead -- OK.
Seeds, soaked one hour -- check.
Rye flakes, soaked 15 minutes -- yes.

Another step outside my comfort zone came when I realized that the final dough has no added water; all the water in the formula comes from the soakers. I generally adjust the amount and temperature of the final dough water to control the consistency and temperature of the dough, so I was nervous.

As it turned out, the dough seemed just the right consistency, but a little on the cool side (about 72F). So I extended the first fermentation to 20 minutes instead of 15, and the final proof an extra 15 minutes beyond the recommended one hour. Even so, the dough rose only a bit in the proof, but still may have been over proofed, as it rose virtually not at all during baking.

I had such high hopes for this loaf, and it was flat and ugly! So I cried for a few minutes and then decided that even flat loaves deserve a chance.

Now after baking for an hour (25 minutes at 485F and 35 minutes at 390F) and cooling slightly, the de-panned bread was very wet on the bottom. Replacing it, without the pan, into the oven at 200F for another 45 minutes dried it out nicely.

It was torture to wait until the following day to cut into it, but I knew that loaf needed all the help it could get, and rye breads do benefit from a day of sitting around. And you know, when I did finally get my teeth into that ugly duckling loaf, it turned out to be a swan after all. Dense, yes, but moist and tender too, with just enough crumb to bind the seeds and whole grains together. My husband said it reminded him of savory fruitcake (and yes, that's a good thing, since I do make a very nice fruitcake, even if you don't believe there can be such a thing!).

Jeremy Here again!

Thanks to Susan I found a willing baking partner, in the end I liked the taste of this bread, although with my grains, I still think they could be cooked more, maybe because my mix included Kamut grain,it kind of has a bite! All together, it's a good bread and I hope Susan will come back and try some more of these lesser known rye breads, if I can get them translated!

1.2.3 Going with the Flo!

Every so often I get the bright idea that I can make bread with my sourdough even when it is past its prime or hasn't achieved that peak maturity after a feed. If you follow my posts on bread, there is a chance you will notice my moniker, the "lazy baker." Though I aim to improve my baking skills with stalwart techniques and methods, I'm either too lazy or just get home from a long work shift but push through, still wanting my pain quotidian for breakfast the next day!  So I jumped at a formula from fellow baker, Flo Makanai, who has a hurry-up bread making method called 1.2.3.

Posted on her site in French, and on The Fresh Loaf in English, it's designed to make bread for those in a pinch. I followed her exact weights, but varied my proofing method, due in part because I came home around 10:00 in the evening. My stock levain was looking cold,had very few bubbles or anything to give the impression it was even alive! My other two levains, rye and liquid, were no help either; the rye has=d been completely neglected and the liquid levain was very bubbly though the hydration was too high. Of course, I could have adjusted it but who wants to do the math that late at night? So knowing I risked hazard using my lifeless 100% hydration stock levain, I built up my loaf with the 1.2.3 method.

Flo suggested using various flours, mine included the following: Spelt, rye, kamut, barley and wheat. If I was going for it, I decided to go for broke, using as many as I could. Waiting for the initial rise, I hadn't reckoned how late at night it was getting, so I left the dough out in the cool kitchen. Yes, it's Spring here, but still cool. The bulk ferment took around five hours. My cat woke me up at the crack of dawn, thankfully, and the dough was well risen. So I shaped it, let it rise another two and a half hours and popped it into the oven....waited...and well, it was perfect!

Hopefully Flo will have some more ideas up her sleeve for some great baking ideas, maybe with different hydrations in levain, whatever she endeavours to discover and share, I am a willing guinea pig, this is an awwesome loaf, can't wait to let it cool and try it!

 

Blow out - a few mournful sighs and then suggestions on getting your baking right

So many times you get the notion that your loaf, which you expended a long time nourishing with care and love, has to be put aside for a bit of slow time in the fridge retarding.  Of course you expect all the buttons of perfection have been pressed. Which means you expect it to come out perfectly. All to say that it's a painful blow when, in the end, it turns out less than a perfect God-like creation and more of a "B" movie monster, say of the power a distorted giant turtle head popping out it's head. (For inspiration on such imagery, let's blame it on the over abundance of bad religious movies on television this weekend).

Soooo, frustrated by the lack of a perfect loaf, (specimen above), I sought sage advice and a few pointers from a fellow home baker. With both patient mentoring and skills of one of those elementary school teachers who tried to teach a stubborn student like me, she has taken mercy on this "lazy baker", and  offered a few hints that I possibly forgot during my bread baking classes. 

Specifically,(Miche);

1.) Put in retarder (50F) at room temp immediately after shaping for 16 hours, then 2 hours at room temp, then bake.

OR

2.) After shaping proof 3 hours at room temperature and put overnight in cooler (not retarder), then bake right away.

*Just remember those times are specific for a miche  formula and size; your times might vary depending on your formula and size of your loaf

 Retarding dough is a process I am still trying to work out, at least what works best for my schedule and for the best bread.There are several sources you can find varying methods, it seems everyone has an opinion or variant.

Moral of the story?  Spend a couple minutes of your time jotting down notes. Maybe insert a thermometer in your dough. And check the flour and water temp. Capisca?  All these simple steps can make for a better loaf, even better then the ones you consider your best!

Proofing Sheet: A simple tool for a better bake.

Mmmm, sounds good! (or "how to follow a recipe or not!")

There isn't a day that passes when I am not thinking of a loaf I want to make, and this is one of them. But caution should not be tossed into the wind when you're baking or cooking. Reckless abandonment is not a recipe for success. It''s more likely a dud for the heap!

Recently I followed a thread on Dan Lepard's site for a malted raisin and porter ale bread. Who doesn't  like the sound of those combinations? I was so enthralled, I did a quick "kind-of-read" of the instructions, bought a bottle of Porter ale, made the feed of my levain and proceeded to follow the formula without taking the time to really focus on the details. What  I should of done was actively read the instructions, which means getting out a pencil (or a spreadsheet) and taken a better look at the advice given for this variant of the original formula.

It's always fun thinking you have lots of experience baking and letting your hair down so you can be  able to toy with a recipe. A tweak here a tweak there. But don't fool yourself; the end product can get away if you haven't crossed your T's and dotted the i's! All to say that even in the course of making the said loaf, all indications were pointing to a brick fruit loaf, had I failed to add more liquid to a semi-arid looking effort.

Remembering my baker friend Nil's advice, I added enough water till the dough has the consistency of mashed potatoes. This brought the loaf back in time from the clutches of the garbage bin. It's cooling down now. The other test is whether it tastes good. Given how I've written this post without waiting to find out, you can tell how exciting this bread was to me. May it turn out well for all!

Lesson learned, here are some tips I pass along:
1. Basic parameters,(here are some good ones from Dan Lepard, I copied from his site, could'nt find the original thread)

Dan Lepards parameters:
Regarding the formulas used, I simply have in my mind an understanding of certain parameters that force ingredients to stay within certain proportions. These are the things we know:

To a kilo of strong white flour...
1 litre of liquid makes a thick spoonable batter
1 1/2 litre makes a thick pouring batter
2 litres makes a thin pouring batter
750ml makes a very soft dough
650ml makes a medium soft dough
600ml makes a firm dough
550ml makes a very firm dough
500ml makes a very dry dough

Add time to the mixtures above, anything from 10 minutes to 100 hours and changes will be observed. Over the past 12 years, I have experimented without countless approaches to ingredients, then observed, photographed, written and filed the results obsessively, all to try and understand what happens with different combinations. I don't think of it as "winging it" because of this emphasis on recording what happens - measuring and noting every ingredients that's added. Call me the alchemist of dough.

Golden rules and some scratch pads:

2. Do the math,(I hate it but it works)
3. Gather your ingredients, make sure you got what you need first.
4. Schedules, important!
5.Take notes, paper is good but if your like me remember your last mistake!
6. Have fun.

Bauernbrot, good for the city folks too!

A couple of years ago when I was visiting my sister in Switzerland, her friend offered me a chance to see a farming family tradition of bread baking in a wood fired oven.

My sister woke me up around 4:30 in the morning and walked a country path, through dark woods, all this to see up close my first  bauernbrot, a common farmer loaf of mixed flours and starter. The story of the family itself was intriguing, but being able to watch a traditional bread being crafted was really a special treat.What I found most remarkable was the wood burning oven and the antique Artofex mixer they used to make dough in, it's arms looking less like arms, and more like birds feet. 

The method in which they made this particular loaf was somewhat unorthodox, using only one bulk fermentation. The dough was dispatched with speed, cut unceremoniously with a large kitchen knife, then plopped into a rough shaped loaf straight to the oven and baked. It was quite a surprise, as the loaf didn't seem to take any beautiful shape. Rather it was, and looked, a bit heavy. Maybe that was the intent. Or as someone explained, perhaps it was to save using a lot of wood, though I think the oven would have stayed fairly hot while the bread could of been afforded a nice second rise?

For my part, being a city dweller, my only hope of visiting a farm within the city limits would have to be at any of the Green Farmers' markets during the weekend. So to welcome spring here in the city I decided to take a crack at making a similar loaf, the inspiration coming from Zorra's version, by way of Deichrunner's Küche post and finally from Herr Süpke, this particular loaf originating from among his repertoire.

I followed Zorra's adaption except for some different flour from the original formula. My  version was totally sourdough, with a long proof to get the starter and sponge rising overnight. I lowered the hydration in the final dough as Zorra suggested, and used  spelt my sister had sent me from Switzerland, Dinkel Ruchmehl which is a high extraction flour. Also, I gave my dough a long five hour bulk ferment, with one single fold. Shaped round, I allowed about two and a half hours of proof and retarded the dough to the refrigerator for about 5 or 6 hours and straight into the oven.

The combination of wheat, white whole wheat, spelt and rye makes for a multi-flavored tasting bread, with a nuttiness that makes for a good combination with cheese, butter and most likely, some good ham. As they say in Germany, "schmeckt gut!"

Whether it was luck, serendipity, or the Bauernbrot's Gods paying me a visit, this morning I awoke to the chirping of birds outside my window, bringing back memories of the quiet path to the farm to see the bread taking shape.

A slow loaf for a fast paced life!

Baking bread is a slow process. It requires delicate calibration of time.  More often than not, time constraints seem to work against me. To put it simply, to schedule around baking doesn't work easily to a chef's schedule!  To address that issue, I have been fiddling about with a formula of a friend, baking instructor Boris Gaspar whom I met at Sourdough.com.au.

This particular formula was an exercise demonstrating how to construct a bread recipe. He uses a typical German method of constructing a formula.

I fiddled a bit with the flour in the final dough, adding in some of the last of my naked barley from Wales. In addition, I added some dinkel rüchmehl or high extraction spelt from my dear sister, some freshly ground rye and topped it off with some bread flour. Boris uses malt in the formula, but seeing how it's already added in most American flour, I skipped that.

I first mixed the pre-fermented pizza dough and let it rise a good 12 to 15 hours. Sorry Michel, no notes! I found the time in the evening after work, around 9 p.m., hand mixing it and allowing for a long first rise, with a couple folds in-between.Then I retarded the dough till morning.

In the morning when my cat woke me up at around 5:30 a.m., (no need for an alarm clock!) I removed the dough, shaped it into a batard and then into the banetton. Refrigerated it till around 11:30, when my wife took it out from the fridge. I arrived home about 4 hours late from work, but the dough was fine, I quickly pre-heated my stove, slashed and burned!l

Voila!

                                    
    Formula: Boris's formula                        Date:  06/27/07       
                                   
        Grams                                                                                  Grams
    Desired Dough Yield:    1103                Pre-ferment weight:            275
                                   
                                                                                                 Percent
                                                            Pre-fermented flour:            25%
                                   
                                   
                                   
            Overall Formula                          Pre-ferment                Final Mix
    Ingredient   FW    Percent  Grams      Percent    Grams    Percent      Grams  
                                   
    white flour  x      100             665            100     174                             491
    malt            x     0.45                3            0.5         1                                2
    water          x    63.15            420           37.6       65                            355
    salt             x      2.25              15                                                         15
                                                                  20        35                    
                                   
             Total:    165.9%            1103       158.1%    275                             863
                                   
                                                                                                         Grams
                                                                                       TFW:            1103
                                                                            Dough Yield:            1138
   

Notes:    In this loaf I used 75% Bread flour 10% was rye, 10% high extraction spelt and 5% naked barley.

                                      

Update: Bread from a box

Okay, admittedly I was thinking this bread would be awful, but actually it's really nice. Not that I will buy it again, but...this product could lead a person to want to bake better bread. If you're really busy and just happen to be passing an IKEA, try it. You never know!

This has a nice crumb, a good chewy mouth feel. Sounds like a wine tasting, huh? Honestly, the the flavor is there, and it's from a box!

Good work Finax!