Isand66's blog

     The summer will be here before you know it, although with the rainy and cold sub 50 degree weather we had the last couple of days it's hard to believe.  It is nice though to see some of our flowers start to bloom with many more ready to be planted today and tomorrow into the garden soil weather permitting.

I've been so busy at work the last few weeks it has been difficult to have time to think about baking anything creative.  I've had this bottle of Crema de Tequila sitting on my desk just asking to be used in a bread.  I received this as a gift from one of my vendors after I noticed a poster he had printed with several different tequila on it with this being one of them.  It tastes similar to an Irish Crème but slightly different due to the tequila versus whiskey.

I thought what else goes well with tequila but limes so I added some Persian Lime Olive Oil that I recently picked up from a specialty store which carries a whole assortment of olive oils and vinegar.  My wife and I just visited yesterday and bought some maple balsamic, blue berry balsamic, and several infused olive oils.  Certainly some of these will be incorporated in future bakes.

I learned from the past that when using a liquor it is best to keep it at 50% or less for the liquid element or it will affect the rising power of the levain and you end up with a brick.

I created a starter using French Style KAF flour, oat flour and Kamut flour and used the same flour combination for the final.

The final bread came out a little dry due to the fact that since I baked this as one big loaf and I forgot to lower the oven from my usual 450 degrees F. it took longer than expected to bake thus drying out a bit too much for my liking.  You can definitely taste the tequila in this bread along with a subtle hint of lime from the olive oil.

The crumb turned out a little dense but that is too be expected when using a liquor in bread.  Overall though the bread has a nice chewy crust and pleasant taste that goes well with some cheese and olive oil.  A nice fresh mozzarella and tomato salad would go well with this bread as well.

Levain Directions

Mix all the levain ingredients together for about 1 minute and cover with plastic wrap.  Let it sit at room temperature for around 7-8 hours or until the starter has doubled.  I usually do this the night before.

Either use in the main dough immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 day before using.

 Main Dough Procedure

Mix the flours, tequila and most of the water (leave a little to adjust after the autolyse) together in your mixer or by hand until it just starts to come together, maybe about 1 minute.  Let it rest in your work bowl covered for 20-30 minutes.  Next add the salt, starter (cut into about 7-8 pieces), and olive oil and mix on low for a minute.  Add the rest of the water unless the dough is way too wet.   Mix on low-speed for another 4 minutes.  Remove the dough from your bowl and place it in a lightly oiled bowl or work surface and do several stretch and folds.  Let it rest covered for 10-15 minutes and then do another stretch and fold.  Let it rest another 10-15 minutes and do one additional stretch and fold.  After a total of 2 hours place your covered bowl in the refrigerator and let it rest for 12 to 24 hours.

When you are ready to bake remove the bowl from the refrigerator and let it set out at room temperature still covered for 1.5 to 2 hours.  Remove the dough and shape as desired.  I made 1 loaf using a wicker basket.  Place your dough into your proofing basket(s) and cover with a moist tea towel or plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray.

The dough will take 1.5 to 2 hours depending on your room temperature.  Let the dough dictate when it is read to bake not the clock.

Around 45 minutes before ready to bake, pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees F. and prepare it for steam.  I have a heavy-duty baking pan on the bottom rack of my oven with 1 baking stone on above the pan and one on the top shelf.  I pour 1 cup of boiling water in the pan right after I place the dough in the oven.

Right before you are ready to put them in the oven, score as desired and then add 1 cup of boiling water to your steam pan or follow your own steam procedure.

After 1 minute lower the temperature to 450 degrees(if making 1 large miche style loaf, lower to 425 F).  Bake for 35-50 minutes until the crust is nice and brown and the internal temperature of the bread is 205 degrees.

Take the bread out of the oven when done and let it cool on a bakers rack before for at least 2 hours before eating.

Some of the flowers are starting to bloom, so per Evon's request here are some photos of my gardens.

Mr. Toad's House

It's Memorial Day this weekend believe it or not.  Doesn't feel like it's almost June, but it is certainly time to grill some hot dogs and hamburgers.  I hate using store-bought rolls since I know I can make ones myself that are far superior.

My wife insists that the only rolls worthy of using for hamburgers and hot dogs must be light white bread rolls.    I have been real busy at work so it's been difficult to find time to bake as much as I would like so a quick yeasted roll recipe would have to do.  With that in mind I adapted a recipe from Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Dayand added a few twists.

I decided to add some parmesan cheese powder and some dried chives just to make it a little interesting.

I used the overnight retardation method which helps build some extra flavor.

I must say that overall these came out nice and flavorful and were perfect for our hamburger and hot dog dinner the other day.

Directions

Mix flours with yeast to combine.  Next add remainder of the ingredients keeping about 30 grams of milk back.  Mix on low-speed or by hand for 1 minute and let the dough rest for 5-10 minutes to absorb the flour.

Add the balance of the water if needed and mix for another 4 minutes.  The dough should come together and be scraping the side of the mixing bowl and be nice and fairly smooth but still tacky.

Remove the dough to your work surface and knead by hand for 1 minute.  Do about 3-4 stretch and folds and put in a well oiled bowl or container with a cover.  Put it in your refrigerator immediately.

You can keep it in your refrigerator for about 24 to 36 hours.  I ended up baking it in the morning so it was only in my refrigerator for around 14 -15 hours.   The dough should double while in the refrigerator.

When ready to bake the rolls or bread, take it out of the refrigerator and immediately weigh out your pieces or loaves and shape as desired.  I made simple round rolls and some hot dog buns.  I think it is time for me to buy a hot dog pan since I can't seem to get the size right and ended up with gigantic size hot dog rolls.  Next, let them rise for 1 hour on a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

After 45 minutes turn your oven up to 350 degrees F. and prepare your rolls as desired.  I beat 1 whole egg mixed with a little water and put an egg wash on each roll.  At the 1 hour or so mark pop them in the oven with steam and turn once after about 15 minutes.  These should take about 25 minutes to cook thoroughly.

Let them cool on wire rack for at least half an hour before digging in if you can wait that long.

 Ever since I baked my first "Pillow Bread" last month I've been wanting to try baking this again with some modifications.  I wanted to use a 24 hour bulk retardation instead of baking it on the same day and I wanted to add some onions as well.

I also decided to use some of my apple yeast water in the levain and in the final dough but not as a rising agent.  Instead I  just to add some extra flavor and soften the crumb.

I also changed up the flour combination a bit using some Spelt flour in place of some of the Kamut flour and also in the levain.

I used a chopped onion and mixed it in with the sour dough levain build along with some Yeast Water which ended up adding a nice subtle sweet onion flavor to the final bread.

I cut the amount of yeast in the final dough slightly to compensate for the bulk retardation.

The final bread turned out excellent with a nice open crumb and crisp crust.  While the crumb is not as open as the last bake it actually is better suited to using for a nice sandwich or to dip in olive oil.  I like the flavor profile very much and the addition of the spelt and onion as well as the overnight bulk retardation really makes this one a winner.

Levain Directions

Mix all the levain ingredients including the chopped onions together for about 1 minute and cover with plastic wrap.  Let it sit at room temperature for 6-10 hours or until the starter has doubled.  I let it sit overnight and used it in the final dough in the morning.

You can use it in the main dough immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 day before using.

 Main Dough Procedure

Mix the levain with the water and add the flours, and yeast and mix for about 1 minute.  Let the dough rest for about 20 minutes or longer.  Next add the salt and mix in your mixer for 2 minutes on low, and 2 minutes on medium .  This differs from the original procedure which required you to mix for over 6 minutes increasing the speed all the way up to high.  I'm not sure if maybe that may have helped pump some more air into the dough so next time I may go back to that procedure and see the difference.

Take the dough out and place it in a clean oiled bowl and leave uncovered for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes do a stretch and fold and cover the bowl.  Let it rest for another 10 minutes and do an additional stretch and fold and immediately place back in the bowl, cover it and place in the refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours.

When you are ready to bake, take it out of the refrigerator and shape it gently into a boule and proof in a well floured basket or bowl and cover with a moist towel or plastic wrap and let it rest for 2 hour or so.  The dough will only rise about 25 to 30% since it already has risen in the refrigerator.

In the mean time pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees F. and prepare it for steam.  I have a heavy-duty baking pan on the bottom rack of my oven with 1 baking stone on above the pan and one on the top shelf.  I pour 1 cup of boiling water in the pan right after I place the dough in the oven.

This bread does not need to be scored so when ready to bake, place it on  parchment paper on your peel and then add 1 cup of boiling water to your steam pan or follow your own steam procedure.

After 1 minute lower the temperature to 450 degrees.  Bake for 35-50 minutes until the crust is nice and brown and the internal temperature of the bread is 205 degrees.

Take the bread out of the oven when done and let it cool on a bakers rack before for at least 2 hours before eating.

This post has been submitted to the Yeast Spotting Site here: http://www.wildyeastblog.com/category/yeastspotting/.

    I just finished up the last of my decadent cream cheese rolls so it was time to bake a more healthy hearty bread but one that is not too heavy either.

I decided to try a double starter which I've done in the past.  My first inclination for this bread was to try an experiment and make all of the flour come from the pre-ferment but I chickened out at the last moment and only upped the starter amount slightly from my normal formulas.

I converted my AP starter after refreshing it into 2 distinct starters at close to 100% hydration.  The first starter consisted of durum flour and French style KAF flour and the second was hand ground (with my coffee grinder that is) Einkorn ancient wheat mixed with my AP seed starter.

For the main ingredients I added some additional Einkorn flour, French, Durum, potato flour, rye chops and Toasted Wheat  Germ for some added nuttiness.

The dough was quite sticky after mixing but came together quite nicely.

The final result was a surprisingly sour dough but in a good way with a nice nutty whole grain flavor.  I did not sift the Einkorn flour but used the entire ground flour which you can really taste in the final bread.

You will notice a big hunk of one of the breads in the final photo has gone missing.  I would say the alligator ate it, or one of my apprentices, but alas it was my wife who upon returning from shopping thought it was a good idea to lop off a nice chunk before I had a chance to photograph it.  At least she seemed to like it, or it could have been because it was the first thing she had eaten all day.  I guess I will never know.....

Levain Directions

(Note: the formula below lists the levains as 2 steps but they are 2 different levains not one.)

Mix all the levain ingredients together for #1  and #2 for about 1 minute and cover with plastic wrap.  Let it sit at room temperature for around 7-8 hours or until the starter has doubled.

 Main Dough Procedure

Mix the flours, rye chops, wheat germ and water (hold back about 50 grams for now)  together in your mixer or by hand until it just starts to come together, maybe about 1 minute.  Let it rest in your work bowl covered for 20-30 minutes.  Next add the salt, starters and olive oil and mix on low for a minute.  Add the rest of the water unless the dough is way too wet.   Mix on low-speed for another 4 minutes.  Remove the dough from your bowl and place it in a lightly oiled bowl or work surface and do several stretch and folds.  Let it rest covered for 10-15 minutes and then do another stretch and fold.  Let it rest another 10-15 minutes and do one additional stretch and fold.  After a total of 2 hours place your covered bowl in the refrigerator and let it rest for 12 to 24 hours.

When you are ready to bake remove the bowl from the refrigerator and let it set out at room temperature still covered for 1.5 to 2 hours.  Remove the dough and shape as desired.  I made 2 loaves free form and placed them onto my bakers linen and covered them up.

The dough will take 1.5 to 2 hours depending on your room temperature and will only rise about 1/3 it's size at most.  Let the dough dictate when it is read to bake not the clock.

Around 45 minutes before ready to bake, pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees F. and prepare it for steam.  I have a heavy-duty baking pan on the bottom rack of my oven with 1 baking stone on above the pan and one on the top shelf.  I pour 1 cup of boiling water in the pan right after I place the dough in the oven.

Right before you are ready to put them in the oven, score as desired and then add 1 cup of boiling water to your steam pan or follow your own steam procedure.

After 1 minute lower the temperature to 450 degrees.  Bake for 35-50 minutes until the crust is nice and brown and the internal temperature of the bread is 205 degrees.

Take the bread out of the oven when done and let it cool on a bakers rack before for at least 2 hours before eating.

 A few weeks ago I made some potato rolls using the Tangzhong  process and they came out excellent.

I decided I needed some rolls for some hot dogs and sandwiches for the week so I used the same process as before but this time I used some cream cheese and heavy cream as well as whole eggs and butter to really try to come up with a tasty and soft roll.

Just to pretend these rolls were a little healthy I used some spelt and Kamut flour along with the bread flour.

I mixed these up the same way as last time but cut back on the total mixing time and it didn't seem to make much of a difference.

The final rolls came out nice and fluffy and soft but with a ton of flavor.  I honestly can't stop eating them which is not good.

The final result was a nice soft crumb, crisp crust and tasty roll.

Formula

Note: Tangzhong consisted of 50 grams Bread Flour and 250 grams heavy cream.  I included this in the overall formula below.

Levain Directions

Mix all the levain ingredients together for about 1 minute and cover with plastic wrap.  Let it sit at room temperature for around 7-8 hours or until the starter has doubled.  I usually do this the night before.

Either use in the main dough immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 day before using.

 Main Dough Procedure

Prepare the Tangzhong.   Use a  5 to 1 liquid to solid ratio (so 250g liquid to 50g flour) and mix it together in a pan.  Heat the pan while stirring constantly.  Initially it will remain a liquid, but as you approach 65C it will undergo a change and thicken to an almost pudding like consistency.  Take it off the heat and let it cool before using it in your recipe.  Some people will refrigerate it for a while but you can use it right away as soon as it cools..

Mix the flours, Tangzhong and milk together in your mixer or by hand until it just starts to come together, maybe about 1 minute.  Let it rest in your work bowl covered for 20-30 minutes.  Next add the salt, starter (cut into about 7-8 pieces), and walnut oil, cream cheese and butter  and mix on low for a minute.   Mix for a total of 6 minutes in your mixer starting on low-speed and working your way up to speed #2 for the last 4 minutes.  Remove the dough from your bowl and place it in a lightly oiled bowl or work surface and do several stretch and folds.  Let it rest covered for 10-15 minutes and then do another stretch and fold.  Let it rest another 10-15 minutes and do one additional stretch and fold.  After a total of 2 hours place your covered bowl in the refrigerator and let it rest for 12 to 24 hours.

When you are ready to bake remove the bowl from the refrigerator and let it set out at room temperature still covered for 1.5 to 2 hours.  Remove the dough and cut into equal size pieces and shape into rolls.  Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and cover with moist tea towels or plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray.

The dough will take 1.5 to 2 hours depending on your room temperature.  Let the dough dictate when it is read to bake not the clock.

Around 45 minutes before ready to bake, pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees F. and prepare it for steam.  I have a heavy-duty baking pan on the bottom rack of my oven with 1 baking stone on above the pan and one on the top shelf.  I pour 1 cup of boiling water in the pan right after I place the dough in the oven.

Right before you are ready to put them in the oven, using a simple egg wash brush each roll and sprinkle on your topping of choice.   Next add 1 cup of boiling water to your steam pan or follow your own steam procedure.

After 1 minute lower the temperature to 425 degrees.  Bake for 35 minutes until the crust is nice and brown.

Take the rolls out of the oven when done and let them cool on a bakers rack before for at least 2 hours before eating.

 I love nuts....some say I am nuts....well, I'll leave that up to you to decide but I think my wife has already made up her mind :).

My favorite nuts are pecan and walnuts with pistachios coming in a close third.  I have been wanting to make bread with nuts in it for a while, but since my wife detests nuts I have not baked one for a while.  In any case it was time to take the plunge and incorporate both of my favorites in one bread.

I didn't want the pecans to compete too much with the walnuts so I ground the walnuts into a paste with my coffee grinder and added the pecans after chopping them.

I used the 36 hour method which I have posted about a few other times which I found really helps to develop the flavors and open the crumb.  I also wanted to push the hydration limits on this one and see how high I could go with a multi-grain type bread and still get a nice open moist crumb, so this one is not for the faint at heart and comes in at 80% hydration.

I used a multitude of flours which I thought would provide a nice nutty flavor profile to compliment the pecans and walnuts and I have to say I was not disappointed.  The final bread while a little flat due to the high hydration is chock full of nutty flavor and as a bonus the walnuts gave the dough a nice purple haze.

The crumb is as moist and open as one could hope for and the crust is just thick enough without being too chewy.  All in all this one is a keeper.

Formula

Procedure

Refresh your starter the night before you are ready to bake and make sure you have at least 300 grams.  I used my standard AP starter which is at 66% hydration.

Mix the flours, and ice-cold water together in your mixer or by hand until it just starts to come together, maybe about 1 minute.  Put the dough in a slightly covered oiled bowl and put in the refrigerator for 12 hours.

The next day chop the pecans and grind the walnuts into a paste.  (Note: do not grind the pecans, just the walnuts).  Add your starter, walnut paste, mashed potatoes and salt to the dough and mix by hand or in your mixer on low until it is thoroughly mixed and evenly distributed.  Mix for 3 minutes and then add the pecan pieces and mix for another minute until the nuts are evenly distributed.  Place the dough into a well oiled container or bowl and cover.

Bulk rise at room temperature for 2-3 hours until it grows around 1/3 in volume doing stretch and folds every half hour until it has developed the correct amount of strength.

Put the dough back into the refrigerator for around 20-30 hours.  I ended up letting it go around 40 hours since I got tied up in Skype meeting but it didn't have any adverse effects.

When you take the dough out of the refrigerator you want it to have almost doubled in volume.  Mine only rose about 1/3 in volume.  Let it rise at room temperature for around 2 hours or until the dough has doubled from the night before.

Next, shape as desired  and place in your baskets.  Make sure you use enough rice flour with flour in your bowl/basket to prevent this moist dough from sticking.  This is a very wet dough so you will have to make sure you use wet or floured hands to shape the dough.  Don't add too much flour when shaping.  I actually didn't use any flour for shaping these, and pretty much did the shaping in the air before plopping them into the bannetons.

Cover the dough with a moist towel and let sit at room temperature for 1.5 to 2 hours.  (I used my proofer set at 80 degrees for 2 hours).

Score as desired and prepare your oven for baking with steam.

Set your oven for 500 degrees F. at least 45 minutes before ready to bake.  When ready to bake place the loaves into your on  your oven stone with steam and lower the temperature immediately to 450 degrees.    When the loaf is nice and brown and reached an internal temperature of 200 degrees F. you can remove it from the oven.

Let the loaves cool down for at least an 3 hours or so before eating as desired.

Tangzhong is the technique of heating a portion of the flour and liquid in your recipe to approximately 65C to make a paste (roux).  At this temperature the flour undergoes a change and gelatinizes.  By adding this roux to your final dough it will help create a soft, fluffy, moist open crumb.  It is also supposed to help prevent the bread from going stale.

I've seen many posts lately using this technique from my baking friend DA as well as many others.  I decided to base the technique for these rolls on the Hokkaido Milk Bread posted by Floyd but of course I changed most of the ingredients so it didn't really end up as fluffy and shreddable as the beautiful loaf he made.

It is not very difficult to do a Tangzhong.  Use a  5 to 1 liquid to solid ratio (so 250g liquid to 50g flour) and mix it together in a pan.  Heat the pan while stirring constantly.  Initially it will remain a liquid, but as you approach 65C it will undergo a change and thicken to an almost pudding like consistency.  Take it off the heat and let it cool before using it in your recipe.  Some people will refrigerate it for a while but you can use it right away as soon as it cools.

I really like the effect this has on the crumb and will definitely try this again.

I wanted to make some rolls to use for some chicken burgers I was making on the grill tonight and since I love onions and potatoes I figured why not incorporate that into the mix as well.  I used my refreshed AP starter, some milk, sautéed onions, mashed potatoes, assorted whole grain flours and the potato water with some Durum and European style flour for the Tangzhong.

The final result was a nice soft crumb, crisp crust and tasty roll.

Formula

Note: Tangzhong consisted of 30 grams European Style Flour, 20 grams Durum Flour and 250 grams Potato Water.  I included this in the overall formula below.

Levain Directions

Mix all the levain ingredients together for about 1 minute and cover with plastic wrap.  Let it sit at room temperature for around 7-8 hours or until the starter has doubled.  I usually do this the night before.

Either use in the main dough immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 day before using.

 Main Dough Procedure

Cut up the onion into rings and sauté on low heat until nice and canalized using some olive oil or butter in your pan. Let the onions cool completely and chop into smaller pieces before using in the dough.

Prepare the Tangzhong per directions above and allow to cool to room temperature.

Mix the flours, Tangzhong and milk together in your mixer or by hand until it just starts to come together, maybe about 1 minute.  Let it rest in your work bowl covered for 20-30 minutes.  Next add the salt, starter (cut into about 7-8 pieces), and olive oil and mix on low for a minute.   Mix for a total of 13 minutes in your mixer starting on low-speed and working your way up to speed #3 for the last 5 minutes.  Remove the dough from your bowl and place it in a lightly oiled bowl or work surface and do several stretch and folds.  Let it rest covered for 10-15 minutes and then do another stretch and fold.  Let it rest another 10-15 minutes and do one additional stretch and fold.  After a total of 2 hours place your covered bowl in the refrigerator and let it rest for 12 to 24 hours.

When you are ready to bake remove the bowl from the refrigerator and let it set out at room temperature still covered for 1.5 to 2 hours.  Remove the dough and cut into equal size pieces and shape into rolls.  Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and cover with moist tea towels or plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray.

The dough will take 1.5 to 2 hours depending on your room temperature.  Let the dough dictate when it is read to bake not the clock.

Around 45 minutes before ready to bake, pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees F. and prepare it for steam.  I have a heavy-duty baking pan on the bottom rack of my oven with 1 baking stone on above the pan and one on the top shelf.  I pour 1 cup of boiling water in the pan right after I place the dough in the oven.

Right before you are ready to put them in the oven, using a simple egg wash brush each roll and sprinkle on your topping of choice.   Next add 1 cup of boiling water to your steam pan or follow your own steam procedure.

After 1 minute lower the temperature to 425 degrees.  Bake for 35 minutes until the crust is nice and brown.

Take the rolls out of the oven when done and let them cool on a bakers rack before for at least 2 hours before eating.

Mookie and Lucy Waiting for the Rolls to Bake

While traveling for business the last two weeks in China, as usual I read my favorite website, www.thefreshloaf.com and couldn't wait to get home to try some new recipes.  One of the recipes I loved was Varda's Pugliese Revisited.    The crumb photo of her bread looked like cotton candy that melted in your mouth.

I wanted to try to duplicate the same results that Varda achieved and I followed her recipe pretty close, only replacing the AP flour with KAF French style flour and some of the Durum with Kamut flour.  I decided to also double the recipe and made one large loaf.

I think I was suffering from the jet lag when making this and almost left out about 70 grams of water.  After mixing the dough I realized something was wrong when it seemed too dry for what's such a high hydration dough.  Fortunately I was able to add the remaining water before it was too late and the final bread came out as good as I could have hoped.

The bread is light as a feather and has a great nutty flavor with a nice crisp crust.

Even though this dough is so wet it was not hard to work with at all and I highly recommend you give it a try.

Levain Directions

Mix all the levain ingredients together for about 1 minute and cover with plastic wrap.  Let it sit at room temperature for 3.5 hours or until the starter has doubled.  You don't want the levain to develop too much sour so you want to use this in the recipe right away.

Either use in the main dough immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 day before using.

 Main Dough Procedure

Mix the levain with the water and add the flours, yeast and salt and mix in your mixer for 6 minutes increasing the speed from 1 through speed 4.  The dough should clean the bowl but will be wet and sticky.  Place the dough in a well oiled covered bowl and do stretch and folds every 1/2 hour three times while letting the dough bulk ferment for a total of 2.45 hours.  I used my proofer set at 80 degrees but room temperature should be fine.

Next shape into a boule on your work surface.  The dough should feel like a "squishy balloon" (Varda's words :0).  Proof in a well floured basket or bowl and cover with a moist towel or plastic wrap and let it rest for 1 hour until it doubles.

In the mean time pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees F. and prepare it for steam.  I have a heavy-duty baking pan on the bottom rack of my oven with 1 baking stone on above the pan and one on the top shelf.  I pour 1 cup of boiling water in the pan right after I place the dough in the oven.

This bread does not need to be scored so when ready to bake, place it on  parchment paper on your peel and then add 1 cup of boiling water to your steam pan or follow your own steam procedure.

After 1 minute lower the temperature to 450 degrees.  Bake for 35-50 minutes until the crust is nice and brown and the internal temperature of the bread is 205 degrees.

Take the bread out of the oven when done and let it cool on a bakers rack before for at least 2 hours before eating.

The crumb of this bread is like a pillow and is the lightest and most airy I have ever tasted.

After returning from the first ever TFL gathering in Lexington MA last weekend I wanted to use some the rye starter that Varda gave me to make a rye bread.  Dave Snyder posted his latest bake of the above bread on The Fresh Loaf this past week and pushed me over the edge to try it myself.  You can find the recipe at his original post here.

This recipe uses a three-step build process called the Detmolder  process which by using precise temperatures for each build is supposed to optimize the development of yeast growth, lactic acid and acetic acid production.

David had described his latest bake as having an almost sweet taste without that much sour flavor.  My bake to me seemed to have a much more sour flavor than intended.  I think I might have rushed the second build a bit which could have effected the final outcome.

In any case, the crumb came out about where I think it should for such a high percentage rye bread.  The crust ended up much more thick than I think it should.

This type of dough is docked instead of scored and you only use steam for the first 5 minutes of the bake.

Before Docking Dough

Docked Dough

I used my knife tool to dock the dough. Worked fine.

I will have to try this one again and see if I get the same result.

Submitted to Yeast Spotting.

  After returning from a great weekend at the first ever The Fresh Loaf get together just outside of Boston I ended up with some left over starters that I had brought with me.  I decided to use most of the corn flour/AP starter along with some AP starter to make my next bread.

Now that Spring has arrived I wanted to get into the mood so I used some chopped tomatoes in this one along with some cilantro roasted onion olive oil, Kamut flour and Turkey Hard Red Wheat flour and some Spelt flour.  I added some mashed potatoes to add some extra softness to the crumb.

I followed my normal procedure below for making the bread and I must say I was very happy with the results.  You can really taste the tomatoes and the specialty olive oil I added.  The nuttiness of the Kamut, Spelt and Turkey flour really combined to make a nice complex flavored bread.  The crumb was nice and open for such a whole grain bread and the potatoes really did help make the crumb nice and moist.

Directions

Starter Build 1 (Corn/AP Starter)

95 grams AP Flour (KAF)

55 grams Corn Flour (Bob's Red Mill)

50 grams Seed Starter at 65% hydration (If you use a 100% hydration starter you need to adjust the water amount and flour amount to compensate)

90 grams Water at room temperature.

Mix all the above ingredients together for about 1 minute and cover with plastic wrap.  Let it sit at room temperature for around 4-8 hours or until the starter has doubled.  I usually do this the night before.

Starter Build 2

75 grams AP Flour

25 grams Corn Flour

75 grams Water at room temperature

Mix all the ingredients into the starter from step 1 until they are incorporated.  Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for 4-6 hours or until doubled.  You can then refrigerate for up to 1  day or use in the main dough immediately.  Note: You can either use all of this starter or per the recipe below use only 300 grams and combine with 125 grams of a AP starter at 65% hydration.

Main Dough Ingredients

300 grams Kamut Flour

150 grams Turkey Red Hard Wheat Flour

130 grams Whole Spelt Flour

200 grams Mashed Potatoes

130 grams Diced Tomatoes Drained (I used a can and drained very well)

18 grams Seas Salt

28 grams Cilantro, Roasted Onion Infused Olive Oil

415 grams Water

Main Dough Procedure

Mix the flours, and 365 grams of the water together in your mixer or by hand until it just starts to come together, maybe about 1 minute.  Let it rest in your work bowl covered for 20-30 minutes.  Next add the salt, starter (cut into about 7-8 pieces), oil, and tomatoes and mix on low for a minute.  Add the rest of the water unless the dough is way too wet.   Mix on low-speed for another 3 minutes.  Remove the dough from your bowl and place it in a lightly oiled bowl or work surface and do several stretch and folds.  Let it rest covered for 10-15 minutes and then do another stretch and fold.  Let it rest another 10-15 minutes and do one additional stretch and fold.  After a total of 2 hours place your covered bowl in the refrigerator and let it rest for 12 to 24 hours.

When you are ready to bake remove the bowl from the refrigerator and let it set out at room temperature still covered for 1.5 to 2 hours.  Remove the dough and shape as desired.  Place your dough into your proofing basket(s) and cover with a moist tea towel or plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray.  The dough will take 1.5 to 2 hours depending on your room temperature.  Let the dough dictate when it is read to bake not the clock.

Around 45 minutes before ready to bake, pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees F. and prepare it for steam.  I have a heavy-duty baking pan on the bottom rack of my oven with 1 baking stone on above the pan and one on the top shelf.  I pour 1 cup of boiling water in the pan right after I place the dough in the oven.

Right before you are ready to put them in the oven, score as desired and then add 1 cup of boiling water to your steam pan or follow your own steam procedure.

After 1 minute lower the temperature to 450 degrees.  Bake for 35-50 minutes until the crust is nice and brown and the internal temperature of the bread is 205 degrees.

Take the bread out of the oven when done and let it cool on a bakers rack before for at least 2 hours before eating.

Lucy hard at work