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Gosh, my oven was running hot today. I was basically all day busy baking, which is a real threat. I spent the last two days hiking, walking around 14 hours in total, so I didn't feel like real physical exercise, the dough-kneading was just perfect.

I was like a bee. Once again, I made a new sesame version of the Whole-Grain Oat crackers (250 g ripe sourdough, made out of 120 g oat flour, 120 ml water and 10 g culture, 210 g whole wheat flour, 9 grams salt, 40 grams sesame seeds, 10 g sesame oil and water as required [probably another 100 ml].) It's pretty easy, actually foolproof. I let it ferment as long as it suits me (this time it was about two hours), then I pressed portions of the dough in either sesame seeds or oats and rolled it thinly with a rolling pin, cut it in pieces and baked it at any oven temperature between 180°C and 230°C until the endges were brown. Et Voila, that's it.

I've made these crackers many times now, using whatever had to be used. Great for leftover sourdough, which has to be used - then I simply use the wheat-based sourdough and add oat flour to the dough instead. I simply follow certain rules, when I "construct" the day's crackers recipe. Like, about 30% of the total flour amount is fermented (sourdough), 2% of the flour weight is salt, the hydration is around 60+ percent . . . It has always worked fine.

Secondly, I baked some whole-wheat Pita bread for todays lunch. Again, this is a classic at my home. We stuffed it with vegetarian burgers (Split lentil burgers, another favourite!), lettuce, tomatoes and Tzaziki.

And last but not least, I continued with my venture into the perfect Yoghurt-Whole-Wheat bread. Unfortunately, the loaves overproofed somewhat during their final rise whe I retarded them in the fridge. (I was out, driving with my dad, getting ready for the driver's license exam.) Luckily they still didn't collapse, just the oven spring wasn't as nice as I experienced the last two times.

Preferment:
175 ml water
250 g whole-wheat flour (I always use home-ground flour)
1/8 tsp yeast

Final dough
550 g whole-wheat flour
30 g vital wheat gluten
17 g salt
1 teaspoon dry yeast
20 g malt
30 g butter
150 g yoghurt (I used 3% fat yoghurt)
300 ml water

I handled the dough pretty much like described in the last Yogurt Whole-Wheat Recipe. I let the preferment proof for about 12 hours at room temperature, let the remaining flour autolyse for about an hour, kneaded the dough well, let it double (2h), punched it down and let it double again (1.5 h), then, instead of shaping sandwich loaves I made two boules and had to retard them in linned bowls in the fridge (where they overproofed . . . So have an eye on your loaves, better don't retard them and don't go driving for more than two hours.). I baked them for about 40 minutes in 230° C with steam for the first 20 minutes, then lowered the temperature to 215° C for the rest of the bake.

Conclusion: The bread is tasty, but it's probably better baked in a tin at lower temperature. Although I did get a crust, it wasn't an extraordinary flavorful one. This dough benefits from the support it gets from a tin, this way it can become very light and fully proofed. As you can see on the pictures, the bread wasn't flat, but somewhat out of shape (shure, it's overproofed). The crumb texture is again light and pleasant, and the flavor is good! For instance with a piece of blue cheese . . .

What I'm gonna do: I'll keep this recipe in my recipe folder and take it out later again. Now I'm craving less plain breads again, maybe something with dry fruit, nuts, herbs? If I have a bread to often I get bored of it and don't appreciate it anylonger, that's definitely a sign that I should move on.

Very final conclusion: When I bake this bread the next time, then with exactly this formula, but in a bread pan. And I'll bake it at somewhat lower temperature, maybe something around 210°c? Or lower? This bread reminded me of another delicious tin bread, a recipe from Southern Tyrol. I'll have to get this out soon as well. It's a sourdough bread with rye and wheat.

Salome

I liked the Buttermilk-Whole-Wheat-Bread which I baked just a couple days ago so much that I decided to continue with 100% whole wheat. The Buttermilk-Whole-Wheat-Bread was very soft and light, I have never seen a whole-wheat bread like this.

I adapted the recipe I used the last time. It was, for my taste, somewhat to sweet and it lacked a real crust. And I decided to substitute the buttermilk by a yoghurt-water-blend, because that's what I always got on hand here. (Whereas plain buttermilk is often hard to get.) And I increased the hydration by a lot. And I used this time a preferment, with sourdough - In order to get a deeper, less sweet flavor.

A lot of changes, you see. I wasn't to worried that anything could go wrong, because I think the reason why this bread came out so light is, first of all, proper kneading, and secondly, some acidic dairy products.

Preferment:
20 g mature culture
175 ml water
250 g whole-wheat flour (I always use home-ground flour)

Final dough
580 g whole-wheat flour
25 g vital wheat gluten
17 g salt
1 teaspoon dry yeast
20 g honey
30 g butter
150 g yoghurt (I used 3% fat yoghurt)
320 + 100 ml water

1. I mixed the ingredients of the preferment and kept it over night in a warm place (I put it into the microwave, with the door a little bit open - this way, the light stays on and I get a temperature of ~81° F)
2. The next morning, I let the remaining flour autolyse for an hour. (I mixed the flour with the gluten first, then with all of the yoghurt and 320 ml water.)
3. Then I mixed the preferment and the flour-water-dough with the remaining ingredients (not the last 100 ml water though) and I kneaded it by hand using the Bertinet method for 15 minutes. While kneading, I incorporated another 100 ml of water. The gluten was perfectly developed, even better than the last time.
4. first fermentation: until doubled, it took me about two hours. Then I degassed the dough very well and shaped it into a boule again.
5. second fermentation: until doubled, it took me about 1.5 hours.
6. I divided the dough into two pieces, preshaped them and let them rest for a couple minutes. then shaped them into sandwich loaves, rolled them in rice flour (I use whatever I've got on hand . . . coarse wheat, bran, oats . . .) and put them into bread pans.
7. final fermentation: until the loaves reached well over the edges of the pans, about one hour.
8. I slashed the loaves and put them in the 220° C hot oven and steamed well. After 20 minutes of baking, I took them out of the pans and baked them until done on a baking sheet. (another 20 minutes.) I covered the loaves with aluminium foil for the last ten minutes.

I think the bread had about as much volume as the last time, I'm very pleased with that. It has quite a sour flavor. It's definitely a good flavor, but for my taste it's somewhat to sour for being a sandwich bread. I will change something about that. The bread did well with the higher heat and I think that I'll bake this kind of recipe in these settings in the future. It still didn't have a crunchy crust, but that's not what I'm looking for in a sandwich bread either. I will reduce the amount of water somewhat, because it simply was harder to shape with a hydration of 86 % and the result wasn't significantly better. Maybe something around 75-80% the next time? I'm happy with the reduction of sugar though!

I think, the next time I'll bake this bread with a yeast preferment and simply add a little of sourdough to the final dough. Or should I include some whole rye for a deeper flavour? I'd like to experiment with some further additions to the dough, like soaked wheat chops or some seeds (incorporated in the dough when the gluten is developed). I'll do some more experiments, I promise!

Salome