Isand66's blog

Every time I venture to Whole Foods I manage to find something interesting to add to my bread baking and last weekend was no exception.  I was already planning on making bread with some fresh chopped cherries so when I saw some 100% Cherry Juice on the shelf I couldn't resist buying it and using it in place of most of the water.

I recently also bought some Red Quinoa so I decided  to make a soaker by using the Quinoa and also adding some Organic Oat Bran.  I used around 2 cups of boiling water (sorry but I forgot to measure) and added that to the soaker ingredients and let it sit for about 1 hour.  Beware that this combination of grains will absorb most of the liquid and it caused me to up the amount of flour in the recipe to compensate.  Even with the added flour this is a very wet dough.  If you don't count the soaker ingredients it is 69.5% hydration which doesn't take into consideration the amount of liquid absorbed by the soaker.  If you include the soaker ingredients as flour it comes in at 59% but trust me this is a wet dough.

I also used some White Whole Wheat Flour, French Style Flour (low protein flour good for baguettes) and some Spelt.

The cherries were fresh cherries with the pits removed and chopped into small pieces.  If you like bigger pieces please feel free to follow your hearts or stomach's desires.

The addition of the Cherry Juice and chopped cherries I thought would give the final bread a very distinctive cherry flavor but in actuality you don't really taste the cherry juice at all.  You definitely see it in the reddish color and the Red Quinoa also adds a nice nutty flavor and red tint to the bread.

The dough may have over-risen slightly since it was warmer in my kitchen than usual and I was zonked after cooking a pork butt and brisket since 7:00AM in the morning and I didn't pay attention as closely as I usually do.  The bread flattened out a bit when putting it in the oven but had some excellent oven spring.

The crust is nice and crispy and the crumb is incredibly moist and open.  The final product tastes amazing for a multi-grain bread and is nutty and sweet and earthy tasting.  The cherries are not overpowering at all but add along with the cherry juice a nice depth to this bake.

Procedure

For the starter, I refreshed my standard AP white starter the night before and used most of it in this bake.  I have also included the ingredients to make the exact amount of starter needed from your seed starter.  Mine is kept at 65% hydration so adjust yours accordingly.

Soaker

100 grams Red Quinoa

50 grams Organic Oat Bran

335 grams Boiling Water  (It may have been less so use your judgment and adjust accordingly)

Mix boiling water in a bowl with other ingredients and let sit covered at room temperature for 1 hour or longer.

Starter

71 grams Seed (Mine is 65% AP Flour Starter)

227 grams AP Flour

151 grams Water (85 - 90 degrees F.)

Mix seed with water to break up for a few seconds and then mix in flour until the starter form a smooth dough consistency.  Put it in a lightly oiled bowl and loosely cover and leave at room temperature for at least 10 hours.  The starter should double in volume.  Put the starter in the refrigerator for up to 1-2 days or use it immediately.

Main Dough

Ingredients

425 grams Starter from above (all of the starter)

300 grams French Style Flour (KAF)

195 grams White Whole Wheat Flour (KAF)

70 grams Spelt Flour

40 grams Chopped, Pitted Fresh Cherries (frozen would work fine if not in season)

200 grams Cherry Juice at room temperature (100% Juice with no sugar added)

200 grams Water (85 - 90 degrees F.)

18 grams Sea Salt (or table salt)

Procedure

Mix the liquids with the levain and break it up with your hands or a spoon.    Next add the flours and mix on low for 2 minutes.  Let the dough rest for 25 minutes and then add the soaker and the salt and mix on low for 3 minutes.  Add the chopped cherries and mix on low for 1 additional minute.  Transfer the dough to your work surface.  Resist the urge to add too much bench flour (I didn't add any) and use a bench scraper to do about 5-6 stretch and folds.  Put the dough into a lightly oiled container/bowl and let it sit for 15 minutes.  Do another stretch and fold in the bowl.  Cover the bowl and let it sit for another 15-20 minutes.  Do this 2 additional times waiting about 15 minutes between S&F's.  By the last S&F the dough should start developing some gluten strength.  Let the dough sit out at room temperature for around 1.5 to 2 hours.  Do one last stretch and fold and put in your refrigerator overnight for 12-24 hours.

The next day take the dough out of the refrigerator and let it sit out at room temperature for 1.5 hours.  After 1.5 hours you can form it into loaves and put them in floured bannetons and let them rise covered for 2 hours (note: make sure to watch the dough and depending on the temperature of your kitchen and the refrigerator adjust your timing as needed).

Score the loaves as desired and prepare your oven for baking with steam.  I use a heavy-duty baking sheet on the bottom rung of my oven and I pour 1 cup of boiling water into the pan as soon as I load the loaves in the oven.  Pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees F. before placing the loaves in the oven.

Once the loaves are loaded onto your baking stone and you add your steam turn the oven down to 450 degrees and bake until both loaves are golden brown and reach an internal temperature of 200 - 210 degrees F.  For an extra crispy crust once done baking turn the oven off and crack the door and leave the loaves in the oven for another 10-15 minutes.  Once done place on a wire cooling rack and resist the temptation to cut the bread until they are sufficiently cooled.

I hope you give this recipe a try and be sure to let me know how it turns out if you do.

For someone who doesn't like to drink coffee, I must say I love adding it to my bread.  It adds a subtle flavor to the overall product that is very pleasing and smells good to boot.

I recently bought some Red Wheat Berries and Farro on my latest trip to Whole Foods so I wanted to make a soaker using these ingredients and see what happens.  I also added some oat bran to the soaker as well.

I used some White Rye Flour, Pumpernickel, Sprouted Wheat Flour and French Style (low protein flour good for baguettes) and of course some Mudslide flavored coffee as the liquid.

In order to make the soaker I used a cup of hot water and mixed it with the ingredients and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours.  Since the Red Wheat and Farro are very hard, I should have used boiling water or actually boil it on the stove in water for a longer period to make it tender.  My soak in hot water did not end up making the soaker ingredients tender enough so they ended up a little chewier in the final bread than I would have preferred.

For the starter, I refreshed my standard AP white starter the night before and used most of it in this bake.  I have also included the ingredients to make the exact amount of starter needed from your seed starter.  Mine is kept at 65% hydration so adjust yours accordingly.

Soaker

50 grams Farro

30 grams Red Wheat Berries

30 grams Oat Bran

240 grams Boiling Water

Mix boiling water in a bowl with other ingredients and let sit covered at room temperature for 24 hours.

Starter

71 grams Seed (Mine is 65% AP Flour Starter)

227 grams AP Flour

151 grams Water (85 - 90 degrees F.)

Mix seed with water to break up for a few seconds and then mix in flour until the starter form a smooth dough consistency.  Put it in a lightly oiled bowl and loosely cover and leave at room temperature for at least 10 hours.  The starter should double in volume.  Put the starter in the refrigerator for up to 1-2 days or use it immediately.

Main Dough

Ingredients

425 grams Starter from above (all of the starter)

180 grams French Style Flour

150 grams Sprouted Wheat Flour

200 grams White Rye Flour

100 grams Pumpernickel Flour

370 grams Mudslide Coffee (90 degrees F.)

14 grams Sea Salt (or table salt)

Procedure

I mixed  the flours together with all the coffee except for 50 grams and let them autolyes for 30 minutes.    After an hour  I added the levain and the soaker and the rest of the coffee with the salt and mixed on speed #1 for 1 minute and #2 for 4 minutes.  I then did a stretch and fold, rested the dough uncovered for 10 minutes.  I then did another stretch and fold, covered the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes.  I did one more stretch and fold and put it in a lightly oiled bowl for 2 hours.  I then put it in the fridge overnight.

The next day I let the dough sit out at room temperature for 1.5 hours.  After 1.5 hours I formed it into loaves and put them in floured bannetons and let them rise covered for 2 hours.  Score the loaves as desired and prepare your oven for baking with steam.

I then baked on my oven stone with steam at 450 degrees until both loaves were golden brown and reached an internal temperature of 200 - 210 degrees F.

I got a nice bloom with my scoring, actually more than I expected.  One loaf I tried a curved scoring pattern which came out pretty nice.

The final bread came out like I had hoped with a nice crust and open moist crumb.  You can taste the coffee influences for sure as well as the multi-grain ingredients.

Now that I have taken the dive bait and started baking with my Yeast Water Starter, it was time to try something a little more complicated.  Following the lead of my friend DA Brownman, I decided to try a combo yeast water levain and AP sourdough levain.  To make it interesting I made the yeast water levain using 100% durum flour in a 2 build process and combined this with my existing refreshed AP sourdough starter.

For the final dough I mixed in some Oat flour and some Wheat Germ for nuttiness along with a majority of Durum flour, some mashed potatoes with the skins and some walnut oil.

I have to say that this ended up being a great tasting bread with a wonderful crust and crumb.  I'm going to grill some for dinner tonight with some olive oil and grated cheese mixture which I anticipate will be mouth-watering.

The final bake had some excellent oven spring and like I said, the crust is nice and crispy with a perfect buttery and open crumb.

Yeast Water Starter Build 1

50 grams Durum Flour (KAF)

50 grams Yeast Water Starter

Mix the flour and Yeast Water in a bowl until thoroughly combined.  Cover the bowl and let it sit at room temperature for around 4 hours.  The starter should almost double when ready to proceed to build 2.

Build 2

Add ingredients below to starter from above and mix until incorporated.  Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 4 hours.

100 grams Durum Flour

50 grams Yeast Water

Main Dough Ingredients

125 grams Refreshed AP Starter (65% hydration)

250 grams Durum Yeast Water Starter (all of starter from above)

40 grams Roasted Wheat Germ

50 grams Oat Flour

455 grams Durum Flour

161 grams Mashed Potatoes (I like to mash them with the skins on and used red potatoes)

8 grams Walnut Oil

18 grams Salt (Sea Salt or Table Salt)

400 grams Water (80 to 90 degrees F.)

Procedure

Mix the starters with the water and stir to break it up.  Next mix in the flours into the starter mixture and mix for 2 minutes with your mixer or by hand.    Let the dough autolyse for 30 minutes to an hour in your bowl covered with a cloth or plastic wrap.  Next add in the salt, mashed potatoes and oil and mix on speed #2 for 4 minutes or by hand.  The dough should have come together in a ball and be tacky but not too sticky.

Next take the dough out of the bowl and place it on your work surface.  Do a stretch and fold and rest the dough uncovered for 10 minutes.  After the rest do another stretch and fold and cover the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes.  Do one more stretch and fold and put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and let it sit at room temperature covered for 2 hours.  After 2 hours you can put the dough into the refrigerator for 24 hours or up to 2 days before baking.  Feel free to do some additional S & F's if you feel it is necessary.

The next day (or when ready to bake) let the dough sit out at room temperature for 2 hours.  After 2 hours form the dough into your desired shape and put them in floured bannetons, bowls or on a baking sheet and let them rise covered for 2 hours.  Score the loaves as desired and prepare your oven for baking with steam.

Set your oven for 500 degrees F. at least 30 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.  It should take around 20 - 30 minutes to bake  until both loaves are golden brown and reached an internal temperature of 200 - 210 degrees F.

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

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I am addicted to everything bread.  I guess there could be worse things to be addicted to.  I am constantly trying to push the limits and explore new avenues of bread baking so it was only a matter of time before I delved into the world of Wild Yeast Water.  My good friend DA Brownman has posted about his exploits using this technique on my favorite bread website, The Fresh Loaf.  His imaginative uses of this technique has finally convinced me to take the plunge so naturally the first recipe I had to try was one of his.

The idea behind Wild Yeast Water s similar to a standard sourdough starter but instead of developing flour and water and wild yeast into a starter you use water and fruit.  I followed his suggestion to use organic apples and raisins and after a week I had a nice lively Wild Yeast Water starter.

The recipe I followed was an interesting hamburger bun and cinnamon rolls recipe developed by DA where he used ramekins to let the buns rise and bake.  I changed a few things from his original recipe including building the Yeast Water levain in one step instead of 3 since my first attempt ended up in disaster when I miscalculated the amount of flour to add.  I also used European style flour from KAF instead of AP flour.

I decided to bake the hamburger buns free-form as rolls instead of in the ramekins which may have been a mistake.  I am not sure if I accidentally didn't measure the flour correctly, but the dough was extremely wet for a 58% hydration dough and was very difficult to handle and form into rolls.  Never the less, I forged ahead and before baking added some poppy seeds and toasted onions as toppings.  I also forgot to mention that I didn't have any dry milk so I left that out.

The final results were satisfactory for my first attempt using WYW.  The rolls were very tasty and had a nice sweet flavor from the WYW, honey and sugar.

Please visit DA's blog on TFL here :http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/28622/yeast-water-hamburger-buns-cinnamon-roll-same-dough-kicker and give these a try for yourself.

Thanks again DA for your help and inspiration.

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

I wanted to try using one of my wife's bundt pans to shape a loaf, and see if I could get some nice intricate patterns.  Unfortunately I did not use enough dough to fill the pan adequately so I ended up with a nice ring loaf and not what I intended.

I was digging through my flour bin and found some Grapeseed flour that I purchased a while ago from KAF so I decided to add that to some European style flour, Barley, flour White Rye, and Whole Wheat.

I also found some raspberry maple syrup in my refrigerator that was yelling at me to use in a bread, so into the mix it went.  I don't think you really taste the raspberry flavor in the final bread at all, just a little sweetness and coloring from the syrup.

To use the bundt pan I made a boule out of little more than 1/2 of the dough and formed it into a boule.  I then poked a hole in the middle with my knife set's sharpening rod and placed the dough over the middle piece in the bundt pan.  I made sure to spray the bundt pan heavily with cooking/baking spray first.  As I said above it did not end up rising enough to fill the pan so I didn't get any of the nice intricate patterns in the bundt pan.  Next time hopefully I will learn my lesson.

The final bread had a nice chewy dark crust and an interesting semi sour flavor.

Ingredients

425 grams (65% Hydration Starter AP Flour)  Refreshed

200 grams European Style Flour (KAF) (You can use Bread Flour)

75 grams White Rye (KAF)

100 grams Organic Whole Wheat Flour (KAF)

75 grams  White Rye Flour (KAF)

100 grams Barley Flour (KAF)

35 grams Grapeseed Flour (KAF)

19 grams Raspberry Maple Syrup

18 grams Sea Salt (Table Salt is okay)

425 grams Luke warm water, 90 - 95 degrees Fahrenheit

Directions

Using your stand mixer or by hand, mix the water with the starter to break up the starter.

Add the flours and mix on the lowest speed for 2 minutes.  Let rest for 10 minutes.

Add the salt and maple syrup and mix for 4 minutes more on medium speed, adding more flour if necessary to produce a slightly sticky ball of dough.

Remove dough to your lightly floured work surface and do a stretch and fold and form into a ball.

Leave uncovered for 20 minutes.

Do a stretch and fold and form into a ball again and cover with a clean moist cloth or oiled plastic wrap.

Do at least 3 more additional stretch and folds letting the dough rest for 15-20 minutes each time. After the last stretch and fold, put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl that has enough room so the dough can double overnight.

Put in your refrigerator immediately for at least 12 hours or up to 3 days.

On the day you are ready to bake, take the dough out of the refrigerator and let it rest at room temperature for 2 hours.  After 2 hours shape the dough as desired being careful not to handle the dough too roughly so you don't de-gas it.

Place it in your bowl, banneton or shape into baguettes.

Let the formed loaves sit at room temperature for 2 hours covered with oiled plastic wrap or a wet cloth.

Pre-heat oven with baking stone (I use one on bottom and one on top shelf of my oven), to 500 degrees F.

Slash loaves as desired and place empty pan in bottom shelf of oven.

Pour 1 cup of very hot water into pan and place loaves into oven.

Lower oven to 450 Degrees and bake for 25 - 35 minutes until bread is golden brown and internal temperature reaches 200 degrees.

Let cool on cooling rack and enjoy!

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

I figured it was time to make some Rye bread so I converted my whole wheat Desem starter to a Rye sour starter using a 3 step build.  I ended up making way more starter than I needed, but I rather have some extra than run out like I did the last time I made a rye sourdough bread.

I also wanted to use some fresh coffee in place of the water as I have done in the past with some good success so I decided to use some Kahlua flavored coffee. I don't even like to drink coffee unless it is iced coffee, but I do have to say this variety of coffee smelled awesome.

I like the taste spelt flour adds to bread and I thought it would make a good addition to a rye bread so I used a small amount in this bake and also use First Clear flour which is a standard ingredient in Jewish style rye.  You can use bread flour if you don't have any First Clear and it will come out fine.

This bread includes a simple soaker using cracked wheat and bulgur which makes for an interesting flavor profile.

I have to say the final bread came out excellent with a nice fairly open crumb, dark crisp crust and fairly moist and flavorful crumb.  If you decide to try this one I don't think you will be disappointed.

Starter Build 1 (Note: this makes a lot of extra starter so you can reduce the quantities if  desired)

79 grams Whole Wheat Starter (Mine is 65% Hydration Starter)

113 grams White Rye Flour

143 grams Medium Rye Flour

258 grams Water (85 - 90 degrees F.)

Mix seed with water to break up for a few seconds and then mix in flour until the starter form a smooth dough consistency.  Put it in a lightly oiled bowl and loosely cover and leave at room temperature for at least 10 hours.  The starter should double in volume.  Put the starter in the refrigerator for up to 1 day or go to step 2 immediately.

Build 2

Add ingredients below to starter from above and mix until incorporated.  Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 10 hours and either go to step 3 or put in refrigerator for up to 1 day.

143 grams Medium Rye Flour

84 grams Water

Build 3

Add ingredients below and mix.  The starter will now be much firmer and should be pretty dry since it is now a 65% hydration starter.  Let it sit at room temperature covered for at least 10 hours and then refrigerate or use immediately.

143 grams Medium Rye Flour

28 grams Water

Soaker

50 grams Bulgur Wheat

50 grams Cracked Wheat

200 grams Boiling water

Mix ingredients with water and let sit for 30 minutes to an hour or overnight if preferred covered with plastic wrap.  Before using in final dough, drain water and reserve for use in final dough.

Final Dough

425 grams Rye Starter from above (If you already have your own rye starter refreshed you can skip building process above)

400 grams First Clear  Flour

130 grams Spelt Flour

35 grams Wheat Germ

125 grams Water (80 - 90 degrees F.)

255 grams Kahlua coffee (80 - 90 degrees)

18 grams Sea Salt (or table salt)

8 grams Walnut Oil

Procedure

Mix the starter with the coffee and stir to break it up.  Next mix in the soaker and the flours together with the water and mix for 1 minute.    Let the dough autolyse for 30 minutes to an hour in your bowl covered with a cloth or plastic wrap.  Next add in the salt and oil and mix on speed #2 for 4 minutes.  The dough should have come together in a ball and be tacky but not too sticky.

Next take the dough out of the bowl and place it on your work surface.  Do a stretch and fold and rest the dough uncovered for 10 minutes.  After the rest do another stretch and fold and cover the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes.  Do one more stretch and fold and put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and let it sit at room temperature covered for 2 hours.  After 2 hours you can put the dough into the refrigerator for 24 hours or up to 2 days before baking.

The next day (or when ready to bake) let the dough sit out at room temperature for 2 hours.  After 2 hours form the dough into your desired shape and put them in floured bannetons, bowls or on a baking sheet and let them rise covered for 2 hours.  Score the loaves as desired and prepare your oven for baking with steam.

Set your oven for 500 degrees F. at least 30 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.  It should take around 20 - 30 minutes to bake  until both loaves are golden brown and reached an internal temperature of 200 - 210 degrees F.

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

I was reading someone elses post the other day and they commented that they were using a smoked flour for their next bake.  I love just about anything smoked...ribs, brisket, chicken...you name it as far as I'm concerned it tastes better after smoking with some wood.  Unfortunately the flour in question is only available in England and Amazon UK will not ship to the USA, so I figured the next best thing would be to add some smoked cheese to my next bake.  I did not know when I bought this smoked cheddar at the local Shoprite that it would be so good.  I could have eaten the whole block just by itself!  Anyway, I managed to save enough to add to the bread dough along with some Queso mexican cheese I had used in my last corn sourdough (unfortunately this one ended up as bird food due to its refusal to rise properly and my changing of its schedule).

I had a request from someone at work to add some carmelized onions and if you have read my blog you know you don't need to ask me twice to use onions in a bread.  I used my new shipment of flour from KAF including my favorite European Flour, Durum Flour and for some nutty flavor I added some wheat germ and cracked wheat.  I also added some potato flour for good measure along with my AP 65% hydration starter.

Starter

71 grams Seed (Mine is 65% AP Flour Starter)

227 grams AP Flour

151 grams Water (85 - 90 degrees F.)

Mix seed with water to break up for a few seconds and then mix in flour until the starter form a smooth dough consistency.  Put it in a lightly oiled bowl and loosely cover and leave at room temperature for at least 10 hours.  The starter should double in volume.  Put the starter in the refrigerator for up to 1-2 days or use it immediately.

Main Dough

Ingredients

425 grams Starter from above (all of the starter)

290 grams European Style Flour (KAF...you can substitute bread or AP flour or a combination of the two)

150 grams Durum Flour (make sure not to use Fancy Semolina as it is too gritty)

25 grams Potato Flour

40 grams Wheat Germ

40 grams Cracked Wheat

78 grams Carmelized Onions

60 grams Queso Cheese

40 grams Smoked Cheddar

8 grams Olive Oil

400 grams Water (85 - 90 degrees F.)

18 grams Sea Salt (or table salt)

Total Hydration (I included Wheat Germ and Cracked Wheat as flour which is not necessarily correct, but that's what I like to do): 71%

Procedure

On baking day, cut a medium size sweet onion into thin rings and sweat the onion in a frying pan with a couple of teaspoons of olive oil for 5 minutes or so until they are nice and soft and you have drawn most of the moisture out.  Set them aside in a bowl to cool to room temperature.

Next, mix  the flours, wheat germ and cracked wheat together with all the water except for 50 grams and let them autolyes for 30 minutes up to an hour.    Next add the levain, oil and the water with the salt and mixed on speed #1 for 2 minutes.  Now add the onions and mix for another 2 minutes until they are well incorporated.  Lastly add the cheese and mix for an additional  minute.  Remove the dough from your mixing bowl to your work surface.  If necessary you can lightly oil or flour your surface, but I didn't need to do this.  I then did a stretch and fold, rested the dough uncovered for 10 minutes.  I then did another stretch and fold, covered the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes.  Repeat this S & F procedure one more time and let it rest another 10 minutes.  Do one last S & F  and put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl for 2 hours.  I then put it in the fridge overnight.

The next day when I returned from work I removed the dough from the refrigerator and  I let the dough sit out at room temperature for 2 hours.  After 2 hours I formed it into loaves and put them in floured bannetons and let them rise covered for 2 hours.  Score the loaves as desired and prepare your oven for baking with steam.

I then baked on my oven stone with steam at 450 degrees until both loaves were golden brown and reached an internal temperature of 200 - 210 degrees F.

The loaves were oozing cheese and the whole house smelled like a grilled cheese sandwich....that's not a bad thing by the way!

The crust was perfect with a nice bloom and oozing cheese and the crumb wasn't too shabby either.  I think the combination of onions, cheese, and flours make this one a keeper.

This bread has been submitted to Yeast Spotting here at http://www.wildyeastblog.com/

I just received my new order from KAF the other day and was dying to try some of my new flours I ordered.  I wasn't too happy though when I received an email the day after it arrived telling me how excited I should be about the KAF 20% off sale!

Anyway I digress....I decided to try my new Sprouted Wheat Flour which was not milled by KAF but apparently they distribute this brand.  I also used another new interesting flour which was made from 100% oats.  Along with these 2 flours I added a large amount of French Style Flour which added to the silkiness of this dough.  I have used this flour many times before and it is great for baguettes or ciabatta but I also find it very nice for developing the nice open crumb I like.

I refreshed my standard AP white starter the night before and used most of it in this bake.  I have also included the ingredients to make the exact amount of starter needed from your seed starter.  Mine is kept at 65% hydration so adjust yours accordingly.

The final dough was a nice mild sourdough with a hint of nuttiness from the oat flour and sprouted wheat flour.  The crumb was not too moist and had a nice open crumb and overall this was a nice bread worth making again for sure.  I used it for a nice pastrami sandwich last night which I ate while tailgating at the Brad Paisley concert at Jones beach.  I am not a big fan of country music by I do have to say he puts on a great show.  Could have done without the rain storm and cold winds in June but we all had fun anyway.

Starter

71 grams Seed (Mine is 65% AP Flour Starter)

227 grams AP Flour

151 grams Water (85 - 90 degrees F.)

Mix seed with water to break up for a few seconds and then mix in flour until the starter form a smooth dough consistency.  Put it in a lightly oiled bowl and loosely cover and leave at room temperature for at least 10 hours.  The starter should double in volume.  Put the starter in the refrigerator for up to 1-2 days or use it immediately.

Main Dough

Ingredients

425 grams Starter from above (all of the starter)

200 grams French Style Flour

200 grams Sprouted Wheat Flour

167 grams Oat Flour

425 grams Water (90 degrees F.)

18 grams Sea Salt (or table salt)

Procedure

I mixed  the flours together with all the water except for 50 grams and let them autolyes for 1 hour.    After an hour  I added the levain and the water with the salt and mixed on speed #1 for 1 minute and #2 for 4 minutes.  I then did a stretch and fold, rested the dough uncovered for 10 minutes.  I then did another stretch and fold, covered the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes.  I did one more stretch and fold and put it in a lightly oiled bowl for 1.5 hours.  I then put it in the fridge overnight.

The next day I let the dough sit out at room temperature for 1.5 hours.  After 1.5 hours I formed it into loaves and put them in floured bannetons and let them rise covered for 2 hours.  Score the loaves as desired and prepare your oven for baking with steam.

I then baked on my oven stone with steam at 450 degrees until both loaves were golden brown and reached an internal temperature of 200 - 210 degrees F.

I got a nice bloom with my scoring, actually more than I expected.  One loaf I tried a curved scoring pattern which came out pretty nice.

It was so nice outside yesterday I decided to shoot the finished loaves outside in my garden.  The summer flours flowers are just starting to bloom in earnest making this one of my favorite times of the year.

I was inspired to try adding some balsamic vinegar into one of my breads after reading about Karen Hanseata's Wild Rice bread on the Fresh Loaf this past week.  I have some cherry balsamic  that I love using so I was curious to see if it would have any affect on the taste of my bread.

While looking for some different components to add to my next bake I discovered that my wife had stashed some Toasted Almond Flour in the refrigerator so I figured why not give it a try.

I also used some Potato flour and Durum flour along with some hickory smoked sea salt and assorted all natural grains for this bake.

I cut back on the hydration slightly from my previous multi-grain breads and not counting the 359 grams of water used in the soaker it comes in at only 56%.  There is no doubt that the water from the soaker makes the final dough much moister than 56%.  I also did not count the soaker grains as part of the flour.  According to the BBGA (Bakers Guild of America) soakers including the water and other ingredients should be considered "hydration neutral".  This is obviously a difficult concept to control but none the less that is the prevailing rule in the industry.

For this bake I made a boule as well as a circular shape similar to a large donut.

The final dough came out very tasty. You can see the toasted almond flour imparted a slightly orange tinted color in the crumb and it gives it a very nutty flavor.  I can't say that I tasted the cherry balsamic vinegar but I'm sure it added to the overall flavor profile somehow.  The crumb is nice an open and moist and you can see some of the soaker grains melded together.

If you venture to try this, please let me know how your attempt comes out.

Ingredients

Soaker

28 Grams English Malted Flakes

60 Grams Bulgar Wheat

55 Grams Organic Oat Bran

55 Grams Cracked Wheat

285 Grams Boiling Water

Final Dough

425 Grams White Starter recently refreshed (65% Hydration Seed Starter)

200 Grams Durum Semolina Flour (KAF Brand-make sure  you don't use the Fancy Semolina flour which is too gritty)

250 Grams Bread Flour (KAF)

58 Grams Toasted Almond Flour (KAF)

35 Grams Potato Flour

14 Grams  Hickory Smoked Seas Salt or Table Salt

264 Grams Water, 90 degrees F.

12 Grams Cherry Balsamic Vinegar (Feel free to substitute any Balsamic you have or just add more water)

Directions

Mix all ingredients for soaker in a bowl and add boiling water.  Let it sit for 2-3 hours covered until the grains are soft.  (I actually only let it sit for 1 hour which was long enough).

Add the water and flours into your mixing bowl and mix for 2 minutes on low.  The dough should come together in a shaggy mess and should be relatively moist at this point.  Let it rest (autolyse) for 25 minutes and then add the salt, balsamic vinegar and the soaker and mix for 4 minutes more on medium low-speed.  If necessary you can add some additional water or flour but be careful not to make the dough too dry.  It should be relatively sticky but not soupy.

Remove dough from mixing bowl to work surface and do a stretch and fold.  You may need to wet or oil your hands and the work surface since the dough will still be very sticky at this point. Form the dough into a ball and let it rest uncovered for 10 minutes.  Let the dough rest uncovered for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes do another stretch and fold and cover the dough with a moist lint free towel or plastic wrap sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  Do another stretch and fold two more times letting the dough rest 10 minutes each time.

 After the last stretch and fold put the dough into an oiled bowl and cover it tightly.

Let the dough sit in your bowl for 2 hours at room temperature.  It should only rise slightly at this point.  After the 2 hours are up put in your refrigerator for at least 12 hours or up to 3 days.

When ready to bake the bread take your bowl out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for around 2 hours.  After 2 hours shape the dough as desired being careful not to handle the dough too roughly so you don't de-gas it.

To make the circle bread I formed half the dough into a cylinder and formed it into a circle.  I placed a small glass bowl in the middle wrapped in plastic wrap that I sprayed with cooking spray to prevent it from sticking to the dough.  I placed the dough into a large banneton and let it rest per below.

Let it sit at room temperature for 2 hours covered with oiled plastic wrap or a moist cloth.

Pre-heat oven with baking stone (I use one on bottom and one on top shelf of my oven), to 500 degrees F.

Slash loaves as desired and place empty pan in bottom shelf of oven.

Pour 1 cup of very hot water into pan and place loaves into oven.

Lower oven to 450 Degrees and bake for 25 - 35 minutes until bread is golden brown and internal temperature reaches 200 degrees.

Shut the oven off and leave the bread inside with the door slightly open for 10 minutes.  This will help dry the loaves out and keep the crust crunchy.

Let cool on cooling rack and enjoy!

My first intention was to make some hamburger and hot dog buns, but as usual I couldn't resist the temptation to be more creative.  These rolls really didn't turn out ideal for its original purpose, but they do taste real good none the less.

I usually don't use yeast anymore in most of my baking since I prefer to use my sourdough starter, but in this case my starter was not ready for duty so I used instant yeast and a long cold slumber in the refrigerator to develop some nice flavors.

The end result was nice semi-soft roll with a nice crumb and simple clean flavor.  These rolls make great sandwiches and go well with a smear of cream cheese or butter!

Ingredients

453 grams Bread Flour (KAF is my brand of choice)

200 grams Whole Wheat Flour (KAF Organic)

80 grams Rolled Oats

155 grams Cottage Cheese Drained (I used 2%)

11 grams Olive Oil

55 grams Egg Yolks (about 3 yolks depending on your egg size)

405 grams Water (90 degrees F.)

7 grams Instant Yeast (If you have Active Yeast you need to convert from Instant and increase the amount.  You will also need to activate the yeast in the water first if you don't use Instant Yeast.  Instant Yeast does not require any activation and can be mixed with the dry or wet ingredients)

11 grams Blue Agave sweetener (Feel free to substitute honey or molasses if desired)

14 grams Table salt or sea salt

Directions

Mix the flours and oats with the water for 1 minute in your mixer or by hand in your work bowl.  Let it sit covered for 1 hour to autolyse.

After an hour mix in the cottage cheese, eggs, oil, yeast, agave and salt and mix on speed 2 on your mixer for 4 minutes or by hand.

Take the dough out of the bowl and place on your work surface.  Knead it by hand for 1 minute and form it into a ball.  Let it rest for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes do a stretch and fold from all sides and form it into a ball again.  Let it rest another 10 minutes and then do 1 additional stretch and fold and immediately put it in a lightly oiled bowl.  Cover the bowl and put it in your refrigerator for 1-3 days.

When you are ready to make your rolls take the dough out of the refrigerator and keep it in its bowl at room temperature for 1.5 -  2 hours.  After its rest it is time to shape the rolls or baguettes or Boules, etc.  I decided to make rolls and mini baguettes.    Cut the dough into 3 oz. pieces and form round rolls making sure each roll is nice and tight. or form into small rectangle and roll into mini baguettes.  Place rolls on cookie sheet and cover the rolls with a clean lint free towel sprayed with water or a piece of plastic wrap lightly sprayed with cooking spray.  Let the rolls rest at room temperature for 2 hours or until they are at least 1.5 the size.

I was going to use an egg wash which would have been a nice idea had I not been trying to cook dinner and prepare another dough for today, so unfortunately that step was omitted.  Feel free to use an egg wash and add some seeds or bran flakes etc. for that nice finishing touch.

Around 30 minutes before baking the rolls, prepare your oven and pre-heat at 425 degrees.  I used my usual set-up for steam and added 1 cup of boiling water to a pan on the bottom shelf but for rolls you could omit this step and you will get softer rolls if that is what you desire.

It should take around 20-25 minutes to bake the rolls and they should be nice and brown on the bottom and top.  When done, let them cool on a wire rack and enjoy.This post has been submitted to Yeast Spotting at http://www.wildyeastblog.com/category/yeastspotting.

Enjoy!