Isand66's blog

 I've been wanting to try the Ken Forkish style pizza dough ever since David Snyder on TFL posted about his great love for this formula and procedure here.  David changed some of the timing in the recipe to achieve the ultimate results.  I followed his directions pretty closely with the only thing I changed being I used my mixer on low speed for the initial mix and used some fresh milled white hard wheat flour in place of the WW he used.

I must say this was a very easy dough to shape and was fun to use and tasted great.  I will definitely use this one in the future.

I usually use my Pizza Kettle set-up on my Weber grill but since it's been way too cold and snowy outside to grill anything I baked them in my oven using this method http://www.breadcetera.com where he suggested to put your pizza stone on the highest shelf of your oven and set your oven to broil.  The purpose of this is to get as much heat as possible to be retained by the stone.  I have to say it worked perfectly so give it a try!

I made 2 pizzas the first day with one being a fresh tomato and mozzarella marinated in balsamic vinegar with caramelized onions.  The second pizza was fresh mozzarella, tomato sauce and home made turkey meatballs.

The second day I made some calzones using ricotta cheese, fresh mozzarella, caramelized onions, baked cheesy chicken and parmesan cheese.  I must say the calzones dough ended up very sour compared to the pizza the nigh before, but tasted great.

  This bread uses a combination of fresh milled flour from my Nutrimill and store-bought flours.  The hard red wheat and hard white wheat were fresh milled.

I used some pecan meal I had bought during my trip to King Arthur Flour a few months ago in the starter which adds a nice nutty flavor to the final dough.  I also used some canned corn that I roasted under my broiler since corn on the cob is not in season in New York right now.

I thought some chipotle cheddar cheese would compliment the corn and the combination of flours and to be honest I love cheese so it couldn't possibly hurt it.

Since I used some low gluten ingredients I decided to use some high gluten flour from KAF known as Sir Lancelot to compensate.

I have to say I was not sure how this one would come out, but it honestly couldn't taste any better.  The spicy cheese along with the whole wheat flours and pecan meal make this one good enough to eat by itself without any butter, oil or anything.  I wouldn't change anything on this.  The only downside is I need to lose some weight and it's going to be hard not to eat the whole loaf by myself!

Formula

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, and 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),  and honey and mix on low for 5 minutes.  Next add the corn and cheese and mix on low for 1 minute to make sure they are incorporated and then 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 large miche.   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 550 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.

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.

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 210 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.

Cosmo decided the doggie toy basket makes a good bed....

  I received a Nutrimill for a present from my wife last week....another new toy to play with!  I've ground fresh flour in small batches in my coffee grinder, but it is no comparison to using the Nutrimill.  I have yet to purchase any drum sieves to sift the flour and I definitely want to buy some bulk grains as soon as I can find a good source.

For my first attempt I used whatever I had on-hand which was Kamut, Hard Red Whole Wheat and Hard White Whole Wheat.  I used the Kamut to make the levain and also made a scald with some of the white whole wheat.

I added the scald ingredients to the hydration calculations but I think I did something wrong as I'm coming up with a crazy number for the hydration with add-ins.  The potatoes were calculated at 81% water content which as something to do with it.  In any regards, the dough is a bit on the wet side but the fresh grains really soak up the water, so it's not that hard to handle.

I added the potatoes which I had left-over from making potato pierogies over the holidays and it had cream cheese, butter and milk in them.  This was probably the best tasting pierogies filling I've made to date.

I also used some honey to try to cut some of the bitterness from the whole wheat and made the scald for the same reason.

All in all, for the first loaf made with my milled flour it was very good.  The loaf is very tasty with a moderately open crumb and a nice crust.  I sent one of these off to Arizona as a belated present to Max's friend Lucy and DA.  I hope they enjoy it along with the Orange Shandy Durum Semolina bread.

Formula

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.

Scald Directions

Boil the water in a small sauce pan and add the flour.  Mix until you end up with a paste.  This should take only a minute or two and then you can remove from the heat and let it cool down before using in the main dough.

 Main Dough Procedure

Mix the flours, and 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), potatoes, and honey and mix on low for 3 minutes.  Mix on medium for another 3 minutes and then 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 large boule shape.   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 550 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 500 degrees and after another 3 minutes lower it to 450 degrees.  Bake for 35-50 minutes until the crust is nice and brown and the internal temperature of the bread is 210 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 is an adaptation of my regular Durum Semolina bread with the main difference being the addition of Orange Shandy beer for the water and some dried orange peel.  The beer has a slight orange flavor undertone so I thought adding it to this formula with some orange peel would create a nice flavor combination and I was not wrong.  You can taste the hints of the orange beer and orange peel but it's not overpowering at all.  This bread is very tasty and is excellent for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

The crumb is nice and open and the crust is not too thick, but just right for this style of bread.  If you love Durum breads than this one is for you.

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, and the 335 grams of the beer 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.  While that is resting add the orange peel to the 45 grams of water and let it soften up in the water.  I used dried orange peel so this is necessary.  Next add the salt, starter (cut into about 7-8 pieces), honey, and olive oil and mix on low for a minute.  Add the orange peel/water mixture and mix on low-speed for another 6 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 using my bannetons.  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 550 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.

   These German style rolls were adapted from a recipe on Karin Hanseata's blog.  Her blog is filled with inspired baking so I urge you to visit and explore her adventures.

I found these rolls to by very similar to Kaiser style rolls with a nice hard crust and soft interior, perfect for sandwiches.

I of course had to change a couple of things since I just can't seem to help myself.  I use 150 grams of my apple/cherry Yeast Water in place of part of the water and I cut the yeast down to 5 grams to compensate.  I also made 8 slightly larger rolls versus the 10 she suggested.

For the toppings I used toasted onions, black sesame seeds, Asiago cheese and flax seeds.  I decided to try to get in the holiday spirit so I used a snowflake cookie cutter on some of the rolls for added effect.

I was very happy with the way these turned out.  The use of the 00 Caputo flour really creates a unique crumb structure in these rolls and I've been eating sandwiches all week on these tasty rolls.

      This is another version of the bread I made last week but I subbed out the white rye with durum flour and I added some dried Shallots reconstituted in the liquid first.

All I can say is the smell of the shallots baking in this bread was amazing and filled the entire house with its oniony aroma.  The substitution of the durum changed the flavor profile slightly, and it was hard to really tell the difference without doing a side by side comparison.

This has become one of my favorites and is perfect for the cold days ahead.  I've been eating it all week for breakfast and for lunch with left over pork cutlets and baked ham with some cheese of course!

Here's Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Max getting into the Holiday Spirit!

Formula

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

Add the dried shallots to your water and let it re-hydrate for about 10 minutes.  Next, mix the flour, barley flakes, and 275 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) 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 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 shape as desired.  I made 1 large boule shape.   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 550 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 500 degrees and after another 3 minutes lower it to 450 degrees.  Bake for 35-50 minutes until the crust is nice and brown and the internal temperature of the bread is 210 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.

I was trying to get into the holiday spirit so I asked my wife what type of bread she wanted me to make next and she immediately asked for a chocolate chip Challah with cherries.

I decided to use a sourdough starter and followed the Coconut Yeast Water Challah formula I had made last year which came out very nice.  This dough is very wet and does not really allow for braiding, so if you want to braid it you should cut down on the water even though the overall hydration is only 68% most of it comes from the egg yolks.

I ended up baking this a little too boldly for this type of bread since I needed to run out for lunch and get back in time for a meeting.  I  turned up the heat a bit since it was taking a long time to finish baking and still almost took 2 hours to bake.

The end result is a nice breakfast/dessert bread with a ton of chocolate goodness.  My wife thought it could have been sweeter so next time I would increase the honey or add some white sugar to the mix.  My wife also insisted on adding some cinnamon/chocolate sugar on top right before baking which ended up burning off mostly, so next time that would be omitted.

If I make this again, I would also add some cocoa powder to the dough itself to make it more interesting even though I used so many chocolate chips and cherries you can't help but get a taste in each bite.

Procedure

Starter Preparation

Mix the starter with the water and break it up.  Next add the flour and mix until incorporated.   Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 5-6 hours until you have a bubbly active starter.  Either refrigerate for a day or use right away in the main dough.

Main Dough

Mix the flour with the egg yolks and water for about 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 starter, salt, oil, vanilla and honey and mix on speed #1 for 4 minutes and #2 for 2 minutes or by hand.  This dough is very wet but it should start to come together after mixing but will still be very wet.  Now add the chocolate chips and dried cherries into the bowl and mix until incorporated for about 1 minute.

Next take the dough out of the bowl and place it on your work surface or in an oiled proofing bowl.  Do a stretch and fold and rest the dough uncovered for 10 minutes.  Place the dough in an oiled bowl after the rest and do another stretch and fold and cover the dough in the bowl 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.  (If the dough is still too lose, you can do several more stretch and folds until you are ready to put in the refrigerator). After 2 hours you can put the dough into the refrigerator for 24 hours or up to 2 days before baking.  (Note: this dough is very moist and you may want to add more flour, but try to resist or you will make it too dry.  It will firm up while in the refrigerator overnight.)

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 molds.  If desired use an egg wash of 1 beaten whole egg with a little water.  I added 2 coats to try and get it shiny.

Set your oven for 450 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 350 degrees.  Bake until the loaf reaches an internal temperature of 200 degrees F. which in this case took about 2 hours.  I'm not sure why this took so long this time as the last time I made this it only took about 70 minutes.  I also started the oven at 550F this time and lowered it to 450 and then 350 F until I got impatient during the last 30 minutes and put it back to 425 F.

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

   This past weekend I decided to make 2 different styles of bread, with one being a classic Pain au Levain and the other a new higher percentage Jewish Rye.  I will post on the rye separately shortly.

I have made different versions of Pain au Levain in the past with moderate success so I wanted to change-up the flour a little and also add some barley flakes to hopefully add another layer of flavor.

I used a high percentage of KAF French style flour which I love baking these hearth style breads with and one of my favorite whole wheat flours called Turkey Whole Wheat.  I also added some white rye to make it interesting.

The final bread turned out just as I was hoping for with a nice thick chewy crust and an open crumb.  The taste was just enough sour tang along with the whole wheat nutty flavor profile.  My wife who tends to be very picky about my breads, ate more than half the loaf herself over the last few days, some even with no butter or cheese which is a major compliment to yours truly.

This is also a great bread to eat with a nice hearty soup or use to make a grilled cheese sandwich for the snowy cold days that have already arrived.  My apprentice Max gave it 2 paws up and was eager to taste another slice after his first romp in the snow.

Formula

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, and 275 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) 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 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 shape as desired.  I made 1 large boule shape.   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 550 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 500 degrees and after another 3 minutes lower it to 450 degrees.  Bake for 35-50 minutes until the crust is nice and brown and the internal temperature of the bread is 210 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.

For Thanksgiving we were visiting my wife's family in North Carolina as we always do and as usual we brought have our kitchen with us so we could bake for the main feast.

This year I made a double batch of my German Sourdough Pumpernickel Pretzel Rolls and another version of my Tangzhong Onion rolls.  I changed up some of the flour and also added some shredded cheese in the mix for added flavor.

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.

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.

The rolls were a big hit along with the pretzel rolls.  If you try these you won't be disappointed.

Please note I had to use my I-Phone to take the photos so they are not exactly up to my usual standards but hopefully you can stand to look at them :).

Formula

Note: Tangzhong consisted of 30 grams European Style Flour, 20 grams Durum Flour and 250 grams 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

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 cream 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, potatoes and starter (cut into about 7-8 pieces), 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.  When you have about one minute left to mix add the cheese to get it evenly incorporated.  I used a mixed cheese blend that was shredded.  (Note: I didn't follow my own directions and only mixed for about 6 minutes on speed #1.  If you want the rolls to be lighter it is better to mix for the total amount of time as originally indicated).  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 baking with Durum flour and bake with it all the time, so I figured it was time to finally make a 100% Durum bread.  I have not used the 36 hour method in a while so I incorporated it into this bake and used some KAF Durum flour in the 2 stage starter and in the final dough.  Technically there is a little bit of AP flour in the seed starter but I hope you won't hold that against me.

The technique I used for this bake creates a pretty sticky dough so it's not for the faint of heart but if you are willing to take the plunge you will be rewarded with an open and moist crumb and crispy crust.

I decided to make one large miche and used one of my Good Will finds for the banneton which left a nice pattern on the bread.

Directions

Semolina Starter Build 1

Mix ingredients in a bowl until thoroughly combined.  Cover the bowl and let it sit at room temperature for around 8 hours.  The starter should almost double when ready to proceed.

Semolina Starter Build 2

Add to Build 1 Starter:

100 grams Durum Flour

100 grams Water at Room Temperature (80-90 degrees F.)

Mix ingredients in a bowl until thoroughly combined.  Cover the bowl and let it sit at room temperature for around  4 - 6 hours.  The starter should almost double when ready to proceed.

Main Dough Procedure

Mix the flour and the ice 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 add your starter and salt to the dough and mix by hand until it is thoroughly mixed and evenly distributed.  Due to the high water content in the 100% hydration starter this dough is very easy to mix by hand and is very silky and smooth.

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 20-24 hours.  I took it out about 20 hours later.

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, divide the dough and shape as desired and place them in their respective basket(s).

Cover the dough with a moist towel and let sit at room temperature for 1.5 to 2 hours.

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

Set your oven for 525 degrees F. at least 45 minutes before ready to bake.  When ready to bake place the loaves into your oven on your oven-stone with steam and let it bake for 10 minutes and then lower the temperature  to 450 degrees.    When the loaf is golden brown and reached an internal temperature of 210 degrees F. you can remove it from the oven.

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

Max getting in the Thanksgiving spirit with his Bird Hat