Turmeric, Cashews, and Carrot Sourdough (No-Knead version)
George Bernard Shaw once said “there is no love sincerer than the love of food;” I am re-writing that sentence: “there is no love more sincere than the love of bread.”
Sourdough is one of life’s simplest pleasures. How lucky I am to not have gluten intolerance.
It’s been nearly four years since I last posted. Is anyone familiar with an Australian aborigines’ rite called “walkabout”? I feel like I had gone on a long walkabout and have just found my way home. A lot had transpired in between, but at this very moment, I feel not much has changed between me and sourdough.
So, Hello friends, I see a few familiar faces but most I don’t recognize. I guess that won’t matter; bread is our common language.
I never thought I would lose it, but I did – a few times I tried to make bread during my time away but failed miserably and I never quite knew what went wrong. A year or 18 months ago, I bought my sister Orange Jim Layhey’s famous No Knead bread book; secretly I wanted to learn it too as a way out of the mud, or quick sand, I was in with my formal way of sourdough making.
Scroll forward, a week ago, I came across a no-knead sourdough formula on Eric’s BreadTopia, I thought it was amazing and decided to give it a try. The result was really pleasing, however I could never just follow a recipe; I needed to do my own thing. So after a few experiments, I did the following:
Turmeric, Cashews, and Carrot Sourdough (No-Knead version)
430 g flour (consisting of 390 g bread flour, and 40 g wholemeal/spelt/rye flour mix)
60 g very young 100% hydration starter, diluted in 50 g water
300 g carrot juice (from 4 – 5 medium carrots)
100 g cashew nuts (lightly roasted and cooled)
70 g threaded carrot (from about one small carrot)
2.5 teaspoonful of turmeric powder
9 g salt
(Overall hydration about 81%)
Method
(1) Mix everything up in one go, and just leave it.
If you are so inclined, give it a fold or two, or none, not straightaway, but perhaps a couple of hours later, or whenever. (Being a sourdough baker, you would just be so tempted to fold it. It is not possible to not fold it; you cannot not do it.) In the 9 hours of bulk fermentation at room temp averaging 22-24C (72-75F), I did just one letter fold.
(2) Just before shaping, I did another letter fold, and I let the dough rest for 15 minutes, then shaped it (very minimalist handling); final proof a little over 2 hours.
(3) 30 minutes before baking, pre-heat with a Dutch oven inside to 225C (450F). Bake it covered for 30 minutes (no need for steaming), then open the lid, and bake a further 10 minutes.
A few notes (these are to refresh my own memory:
Hydration – it is one thing to want to have large holes, and another to have too much hydration with the bread ending like a big pancake;
Fermentation – I have found most no-knead bread recipes asking for too long fermentation, with the end result of a pancake again; long fermentation is safer with lower hydration;
Temperature - an all important issue which bloggers or posters don’t seem to spend time to talk about; temperature is key in deciding the length of time needed for fermentation;
Starter - a young starter is always my preference; unless I am making a German or Swiss style rye bread, in general, I do not like making sourdough with mature starter;
Total time from initial mixing to just before baking – this time figure is what I pay attention to; but at the end of the day …
When all is said and done, I am finding learning to “read” the dough is THE most important step of all steps, a step that can override all other steps!
Not sure how much I will be posting going forward, but glad to be back and say Hi.
Red Fife x 4 = Awesomeness!!! Matching my work schedule
Hey everybody,
Just baked my first batch of 4. Turned out pretty good. Happy with results.
So check this out. I'm in Canadian Tire a couple of weeks ago, and like any baking/cooking geek I always stop by the kitchen section. Well luck would have it they were having a major sale on all kinds of stuff. That could be good...or it could be bad for the bank account. So I stop by the dutch oven oven section and low and behold, there is a 70% off sale. So I picked up a Cuisinart 3qt enamel on cast iron dutch oven for $49.99. Regular $169.99. What a steal! So then I decided not only do I need 1, but I think I need 8 of them!! So the deal was done. I can fit 8 of them in my home oven. Four on top and 4 on the bottom. Time to get serious!
So I just baked my first experiment of 4 boules. Next step is going to be 8. They turned out great. Only thing is the bottom ones ended up a little darker on the bottom of the loaf. I think to fix that I'm going to lay some tin foil down to deflect the heat from the bottom dutch ovens.
The great thing about this recipe is I've made it to match my work schedule. I've been seeing on the forum lately, people asking for recipe's to match their work schedule. So here is an example of mine and hope this helps out some people.
Recipe:
Organic Bread Flour 1200g 60%
Organic Whole Grain Stone Ground Red Fife 600g 30%
3. Get home. 4:00pm mix flour and water together. Autolyse for 1 hour.
4. Mix flour, starter and salt. Rest for 10 minutes.
5. Dump out of bowl. Do 1 stretch and fold, cover and rest for 20 minutes.
6. Continue to do 5 more stretch and folds with 20 minute rest periods in between. Basically 1 stretch and fold every 20 minutes. Works out to be 6 stretch and folds within 2 hours.
7. Put in bowl and bulk rise at room temp for 2 hours.
8. Put in fridge and retard until I get home from work next day. About 20-22 hours.
Day 2:
1. Take out of fridge, dump out on counter, cut four equal pieces (I scaled mine at around 800g each), and place in bannetton's. Proof for about 1.5 hours (sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less).
2. Pre-heat dutch ovens for about an hour to 500 degrees.
3. Take out dutch ovens, flip dough out of bannetton's into your hand, place in dutch ovens, score loafs, place dutch ovens with lid on back in oven and bake at 500 degrees for 20 minutes.
4. After 20 minutes take lids off dutch ovens and bake for an additional 15-30 minutes at 375 degrees.
5. When ready take out of dutch ovens and let cool overnight
Day 3:
1. ENJOY!!
This recipe allows me to finish prep by 10-10:30pm on day 1, and finish baking around 7-8:00pm on day 2. So far it has always been consistent results.
My next challenge will be to use all 8 dutch ovens at once!! EXCITING!!
I will post my results for y'all when that happens!
I cannot get the recipe template to work. Never mind, I'm posting it here instead.
Description
I love it when your own take on a bread is the latest addition to a chain that extends back into the mists of time. In this case, I was inspired by MC’s blog (http://www.farine-mc.com/2015/05/meet-baker-eric-marche.html) about Breton-based baker Éric Marché. In the blogpost she writes about how M.Marché roasts buckwheat flour for his menhir-shaped loaves. I’ve never been a huge fan of buckwheat bread, but this sounded worth a try. It was. It’s a great idea. Delicious.
This is my version of Éric Marché's loaf, using, as a template, Dan Leader’s Buckwheat Bâtard recipe which, apparently, he adapted, in turn, from an Éric Kayser recipe. Anyway, I hope I've done them justice.
It makes a beautiful dough, easily handled and shaped. It’s ideal for long cold retardation (Éric Marché keeps his for up to two days). I sprinkled it with black poppy seeds because their flavour complements the buckwheat. I haven’t tweaked the colours at all. Buckwheat loaves really do bake to this rich russet golden colour.
I baked test batches with both white and wholemeal flours. They're equally good. The latter needs a much longer fermentation (double-hydration is also a good idea) and gives a more open crumb (see the photo on MC's blog).
Makes 2 x 440g loaves (baked, approx).
INGREDIENTS
Levain:
40g liquid (100% hydration) sourdough starter
45g water
70g buckwheat flour
Dough:
130g buckwheat levain
300g water
450g unbleached bread flour, or wholemeal/wheatmeal
44g buckwheat flour
22g roast buckwheat flour
17g salt
1 tsp poppy seeds, optional
METHOD
Roast the buckwheat:
Roast the buckwheat in a 160/140(fan)℃ (320/280F) oven for a total of 15 minutes (mixing it every 5 minutes to prevent it from burning.
To form the buckwheat levain:
Mix the ingredients well, cover and let stand for 8-12 hours or overnight.
It makes a medium-stiff levain. Don't expect a huge amount of activity with buckwheat flour, but you should expect to see a moderate increase in volume.
Form the dough:
Combine the buckwheat levain with the water. Break up the levain so it can be easily mixed with the rest of the ingredients.
Add the bread/wholemeal flour, buckwheat, and roast buckwheat. Mix well.
Autolyse for 30 minutes.
Add the salt. and mix.
Knead until the dough passes the windowpane test - about 5 minutes with a stand mixer (or 8-10 minutes by hand). You will have a smooth, creamy dough that still tears if you pull at it.
Leave it in it's bowl, cover, then bulk ferment the dough for 1 hour.
Stretch-and-fold in the bowl, rotating one quarter between folds for one complete turn of the bowl.
Do the windowpane test. It you feel the gluten is still under-developed, do another stretch-and-fold.
Cold retard for 6-10 hours (or overnight).
Then gently de-gas, divide the dough, and pre-shape into boules or blunts. No need to be fancy: do it in four quick turns per boule - you don't want to rip the skin.
Rest for 20 minutes.
Shape into menhirs. To do this gently de-gas each boule/blunt again. Next flatten and stretch them into the form you'd use to shape a bâtard, but with one side being shorter than the other. Now stretch and fold under tension - again, just as you'd do with a bâtard - but don't seal the final fold with the heel of your hand, leave it as it is. You should now have two loaves, each in the shape of a blunt-nosed cone (see photo below).
Set aside, make sure the seam is on the side of each loaf, cover, and prove for 1-2 hours.
Preheat your oven to 230/210(fan)℃ (450/410F). Prepare your steam tray too.
When the loaves are ready, spray their upper surfaces with water then sprinkle with seeds.
Score to enhance the shape by running your lame along the seam on the side from tip to base.
Steam the oven. I just pour water onto my steam tray which has been sitting in the oven for ten minutes. A few squirts of water onto your baking stone can also be a big help.
Bake - immediately turning the heat down to 220/200(fan)℃ (430/400F) - for 25-30 minutes.
Remove the steam tray after 15 minutes into the bake.
Once the loaf turns a golden russet brown and the base is hollow to the tap, remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
Additional Notes:
The Kerloas Menhir, Plouarzel, Brittany, France. (Creative Commons, China_Crisis)
Menhirs are ancient standing stones, sometimes six or seven thousand years old. Thousands of them are found in Britain (Stonehenge), Ireland, and northern France. In particular, they dot the landscape of Brittany (the forest of them at Carnac has to be seen to be believed), hence Éric’s inspiration.
And, as those of you who read Asterix and Obelix books as a kid will know, a menhir is also the giant rock Obelix uses habitually as a weapon to flatten Roman legionaries. I was a childhood fan (still am), so I just couldn’t resist.
Greetings! I am a new member here, and this is my very first post. So, allow me to briefly introduce myself. My name is Omid, from Southern California. About two years ago, I brought my law career to an abrupt end after working for many years in the field of civil litigation. I just had to find a new undertaking, a new reason to seduce me to life, something "creative". So, I have been working as a pizzaiolo in a Neapolitan pizzeria for the past two years. On the side, I try to bake breads at home as much as time allows me. I find it quite riveting when one can discipline one’s own senses and hands in order to transform raw materials (such as water, flour, salt, and a fermentative agent) into a work of art, in which one can find oneself, define oneself, overcome oneself, recreate oneself. In my assessment, the psychology of baking is just as important as the act of baking itself. In other words, baking is about transforming the raw materials as much as it is about transforming oneself, cultivating oneself, building artistic character. As German philosopher Karl Marx eloquently expressed, “As man works on nature outside himself and changes it, he changes at the same time his own nature.”
Upon scanning this forum, I noticed that barbari bread has not been discussed in appreciable details here. I am by no means a professional barbari baker, but I will try to make contributions, if the members are interested, as much as time allows and as far as my knowledge can assist me in this matter. Once upon a time, I did one year of internship (six hours per week) at a traditional barbari bakery in Tehran, Iran. Unfortunately, back then I was too impatient to absorb everything.
Last Monday, I baked some mini barbari breads. Below are some pictures of the bake session.
I'm sorry about the pictures on this post. We can't get them to line up no matter what my apprentice does :-)
Sometime things just happen because they are triggered subtly and naturally by our senses. We are reminded of something and then these thoughts lead to other unrelated ideas. Next thing you know you have a new bread formula designed by the simplest of things - in this case smell.
After our; very tasty and soft crumb, not to mention good looking, fig, hazelnut, Tang Zhong, Italian bread, we kept and froze some of the fig soaker water for a future bake to use as part of the liquid. We didn’t want to use figs again, but the smell of the juice made us immediately think of dried apricots so the fruit decision was made.
While looking for the apricots we noticed a little bit of some buckwheat flour that we had purchased for sweetbird’s beautiful, hard cider, Buckwheat Bread. My apprentice had reminded me to use up long ago – so it would have to go into the flour along with our usual spelt, rye and whole wheat multigrain mix. We wanted to double up the whole grains from the last bake and get them closer to 50% than 25% too.
Instead of a whole berry scald, this time we decided to do a 48 hour WW sprouting of 100 g of WW berries. It has been a while since we made sprouts for bread and this was the perfect time to get back to them.
sweetbird’s bread has a light purple cast to the crumb because of the buckwheat and knowing we couldn’t use hazelnuts two times in a row, we immediately thought of Phil’s purple and green Walnut and Sage Super Hero Bread we like so much. We love the purple color the walnut paste gives to the crumb so 25 g of walnuts a 12 g of walnut oil were crushed together in a mortar and then we decided to use 75 g of quartered walnuts in the dough too.
To try to duplicate the soft crumb that Tang Zhong provides we decided to use some yeast water in the levain. Yeast water provides a similar soft, moist crumb. This time we decided to build one levain in 3 stages using all 3 of our wild yeast starters; the WW and the rye sour to go along with the YW. This levain was very active doubling in 4 hours after the 2nd build. We fed it the all flour 3 build and let it sit on the counter for an hour before retarding it overnight.
When the starter came put of the fridge the net morning we also started the 4 hour autolyse of the fig juice, water, salt, flours, malts, VWG and Toadies. We micro waved the chopped apricots in water to get them re-hydrated and then prepared the walnut paste in the mortar and chopped the add in walnuts to get them to a more manageable size.
Once the autolyse met the levain we did a quick hand mix with a spoon in the bowl before doing 10 minutes of double slap and 1 folds. We made this dough a little stiffer than normal because the apricot soak and sprouts would give the dough a little more liquid than the hydration calculations take into account.
We incorporated the sprouts apricots and walnuts on the first of 3 sets of S&F’s that were started 15 minutes after the slap and folds and 15 minutes apart. By the end of the 3rd set the add ins were thoroughly incorporated and the dough felt like it was at 75% hydration instead of the 72% in the formula.
After an hour on the counter, we put the dough in the fridge for a 15 hour retard. In the morning we let it sit for 30 minutes before dividing the dough in half, shaping and placing each in a rice floured basket. We proofed them for 3 hours in a plastic trash bag before firing up Big Old Betsy to a 500 F pre-heat.
We haven’t tried shaping cold dough so we thought we would give it a try and see if it affects how our normal bread turns out in any way. After another 45 minutes the oven was ready. We upended the baskets onto parchment paper on a peel, slashed them with a paring knife (tough going for breads like these) and chucked them onto the bottom stone.
A nice YW pancake with sausage and egg.
We had another stone on the top rack of the oven and steam was supplied by a Sylvia’s large size steaming pan with two towels in it and a 12” CI pan that has lava rocks in it, ala David Snyder. Each was filled half way with water an placed in the oven at the beginning of preheat.
We turned the oven down to 475 F when the bread was loaded in and we steamed them for 12 minutes. After removing the steam, we turned the oven down to 425 F, convection this time. We rotated the bread 180 degrees on the stone every 8 minutes. The bread tested 205 F and was deemed done 16 minutes after we removed the steam.
We let the crust crisp on the stone with the door ajar and the oven off for 10 minutes and then removed the bread to a cooling rack. It came out if the oven nicely browned, hardly blistered and crispy. The crust went softer as it cooled.
The crumb had that purple tinge we like so much. It was fairly open, moist and soft. The taste is unique, earthy and hearty. Everything works well together from a flavor perspective too. It is fun bread to make and well worth the effort. We will be making this again. Thanks to Phil and sweetbird for the fond memories of their great bread.
Sometimes there is a loaf that I just love baking. This is such a loaf and I think it is due to the fact that it is a simple dough that has a luxurious feel to it - especially after it has fermented all night in the refrigerator. It also has a wonderful aroma created by the lemon zest and the poppy seeds add a delightful texture and, I think, simply look spunky.
The original recipe if from Daniel Leader's book Bread Alone. I found it after reading about one of the challenges posted here where the '3grandmas' were baking his lemon cake. All raved about its results. I prefer baking breads to cakes so this is what I ended up with.
I adapted his recipe to my sourdough starter, my use of whole grains and use of an overnight bulk ferment.
TOTAL FLOUR 860g
TOTAL WATER 677g 79%
TOTAL PREFERMENTED FLOUR 129g 15%
LEAVEN 219g 26%
DOUGH
Hard White WW Flour 731g 85%
Water 587g 68%
Salt 21g 2.4%
Honey 28g 3.2%
Lemon Zest 8g 1%
Poppy Seeds 21g 2.4%
METHOD
• Build leaven during the day. I do 2 builds total each about 3 hours apart.
• Mix leaven, water and 3/4ths of the flour into a shaggy mass and let it sit for about an hour to allow the flour to hydrate and the gluten to develop a bit.
• Add remainder of the flour, honey, salt and the zest and knead on low until medium gluten devel. is reached.
• Add poppy seeds.
• Knead until seeds are distributed evenly.
• Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover and allow it to sit at room temp. until it has expanded by about 25%
• Place in refrig. for the night.
• Allow dough to warm up for about 2 hours the next morning.
• Shape and proof.
• Bake (I have convection with steam so I pre-heat to 425°. When bread is loaded I turn off the oven, steam and let it expand without heat for 10 minutes. The remainder of the bake is then at 325° until internal temp. reaches approx 200°.)
The roll is lighter in color simply because the rolls were baked with the boules but, obviously, they baked much more quickly. They have a softer texture which my husband prefers while the boules have a crustier crust.
Our house now smells heavenly.
Sorry, no crumb shots. Boules are for friends that I bake for. Husband gets a couple of rolls. They don't present much of a crumb shot......I can tell you the crumb is soft though. Lemon conditions the grains and makes for a very soft crumb.
I will give you all a snow shot instead since we got 12" of much needed snow today.
“Scoring” is the word used to describe the cuts made in a loaf of bread before it is baked. Some breads are not scored. For example many loaves baked in pans are not. However, almost all free-formed “hearth breads” are scored.
When is scoring done?
Scoring is generally performed just prior to loading the loaves in the oven. French rye breads (pains de siegle) are sometimes scored right after shaping, before proofing.
Why are breads scored?
Intentionally creating a weak spot on the surface of the loaf prevents the loaf from bursting at weak spots created during shaping.
The type of scoring performed controls the direction in which the bread will expand during “oven spring.”
The pattern of cuts made, the angle at which they are made and the depth of the cuts influences the rate of expansion and the formation of an “ear” - a raised flap of crust at the edge of a cut.
The pattern of cuts can create a pleasing visual pattern on the surface of the loaf. While there are some very traditional patterns, for example for baguettes, the baker can use the scoring pattern to identify the type of bread or to create an unique pattern that identifies the loaf as coming from his or her oven.
The effects of scoring on loaf shape are discussed in more detail below.
What do you use to score bread?
The blade used to score bread is often referred to as a lame (pronounced “lahm.”) This is simply a French word with means “blade.” Breads may be scored with straight or curved razor blades, either held in the hand or mounted on a handle. Scoring may be performed with other sharp, straight blades, even with a straight razor. Some bakers prefer serrated blades.
For some types of scoring, a straight blade is preferred. Straight bladed knives are preferred for cuts made with the blade held perpendicular to the loaf's surface. This sort of cut is generally used for round loaves (“boules”). For other types of scoring, a curved blade works better. Curved lames are generally used for long breads like baguettes which are scored with cuts parallel to the long axis of the loaf.
Video on Choosing a Blade: http://youtu.be/vF7eFluzHXc
How are the cuts made?
The scoring stroke should be firm, rapid, smooth and decisive. For the beginner, it may help to take “practice swings” or to visualize the movements and totally focus one's attention before making the cuts. Understanding the functions of scoring and the effects of the variables described can help, but there is no substitute for experience. In this respect, scoring bread is no different from an athletic skill or any other art or craft. (Tourist: “Please, sir, can you tell me how to get to Carnegie Hall?” New Yorker: “Practice, practice, practice.”)
The cuts should generally be 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep. A wet, sticky dough requires a more shallow cut than one would make in a dryer dough.
Scoring a boule (round loaf)
The angle the blade of the knife makes with the surface of the loaf is important in determining how the cut will open up. If you want the cuts to spread equally from the cut and to open quickly, as is traditional with round loaves (boules), the knife should be held vertically – at 90 degrees to the surface of the loaf.
Video on Scoring a Boule: http://youtu.be/gnL7mvR9wFg
Besides the “tic-tac-toe” pattern, boules can be scored with diamond patterns, simple crosses or much more elaborate and creative patterns.
Miche scored with a diamond pattern
Scoring a long loaf (bâtard)
If you want the cuts to spread more slowly and create an “ear,” as is generally desired with long loaves (baguettes and bâtards), the knife blade should be held at a shallow angle with the surface of the loaf, at about 20-30 degrees or so. Many find using a curved blade helps make this type of cut. The blade is held with the concave surface facing up (away from the loaf). A flap of dough is created that will lift up to create an “ear” as the loaf expands and, by lifting gradually, slows the expansion of the loaf. This prolongs the time during which new areas of dough are exposed to the direct heat of the oven and results in greater overall expansion – a larger “bloom.”
Video on Scoring a Bâtard: http://youtu.be/UC5HLCWAyMo
Bâtards
Baguettes
The effect of scoring on loaf shape
Michael Suas, in his book "Advanced Bread & Pastry," provides some information about how scoring patterns influence loaf shape. Scoring is not just to make a visually pretty design on the top of a loaf. It is also how the baker controls the direction in which the loaf expands. This impacts the shape of the loaf cross section (rounder or more oval), the height of the loaf and, for a boule, whether it stays round or ends up more oblong.
According to Suas, long loaves like bâtards and baguettes are traditionally scored parallel to their long axis. This may be a single long cut or multiple cuts that are almost parallel and overlap somewhat (for ¼ to 1/3 of their length, generally). This pattern promotes sideways expansion of the loaf, resulting in an oval cross section when the loaf is sliced.
Baguette showing overlapping cuts, almost parallel to the long axis of the loaf
For breads with high-rye content which have lower gluten and less oven spring, the traditional objective is to encourage a higher rise in the oven spring resulting in a rounder cross section. This is achieved by "sausage" or "chevron" cuts.
"Sausage cut" on the left. "Chevron cut" on the right.
Boules are scored in a variety of patterns with differing effects on how the loaf expands. The common "tic-tac-toe" pattern and a simple cross will direct the expansion upward. More complex patterns like diamonds result in a relatively flatter loaf.
One of most interesting effects is that scoring a boule with multiple parallel cuts encourages expansion at a right angle to the cuts. This results in an oblong loaf shape.
Two boules scored differently. Note the effects of the scoring pattern on the final shape of the baked loaves.
What's the point of an ear? Controlled bloom!
This topic is not about the auricular anatomy of elves (or Vulcans). It's about scoring breads.
Scoring loaves creates a visually pleasing pattern, and it helps control the expansion of the loaf as it bakes.
What Suas called "the classic cut" is parallel to the long axis of a baguette or a bâtard. The cut is made with the blade at a shallow angle to the surface of the loaf. The cut should be shallow - about 1/4 inch deep. Paradoxically, this shallow cut results in the flap lifting better than a deeper cut would, thus forming a nice "ear." Hamelman (pg. 80) points out that "a deep cut will simply collapse from its own weight."
The angle of the blade is important. "If the angle is not achieved and the cut is done with the blade vertical to the loaf, the two sides of the dough will spread very quickly during oven spring and expose an enormous surface area to the heat. The crust will begin to form too soon - sometimes before the end of oven spring - penalizing the development of the bread. If the cut is properly horizontal, the sides of the loaf will spread slower. The layer of dough created by the incision will partially and temporarily protect the surface from the heat and encourage a better oven spring and development." (Suas, pg. 116.)
These photos illustrate nice "ears," but they also show that the bloom occurred slowly, as it should. Notice that the color of the crust in the opening has 3 distinct degrees of browning, decreasing from left to right. The darker part on the left obviously opened first and was exposed to the direct heat of the oven for longer. If the bloom occurred too rapidly, it would have a more even coloration.
In summary, in order to achieve an optimal bloom in baguettes and bâtards, one must attend to 3 variables when scoring them:
The cuts should be almost parallel to the long axis of the loaf.
The blade should be held at about a 30 degree angle to the surface of the loaf.
The depth of the cut should be shallow - about 1/4 inch.
Variable shading of the bloomed crust confirms that the desired slow but prolonged opening of the cut during oven spring occurred.
A final word
This tutorial focused on the mechanics of scoring, but the other steps in bread making impact the behavior of the cuts you make and the final appearance of your loaves. In fact, every single step, from your choice of ingredients and their proportions – your formula – to how you steam your oven plays a role in how your cuts will open. Your best looking loaves will result from a series of choices that are mutually dependent, where how you score a loaf takes into account the other choices you have made about the formula, mixing, fermentation, shaping, proofing and baking.
Happy baking!
David
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April 8, 2010 - 11:23am
SylviaH
Buns for Sandwiches
Nice recipe for some one day buns for sandwiches, hot dogs, or burgers. Adapted from a Beth Hensperger recipe. I had just written out the recipe with instructions and deleted the whole thing ; / So here goes again!
8 oz. Spring Water
1 Large Egg
4 TBsp. soft unsalted Butter
2 TBsp. Sugar or Honey
15 oz. Bread Flour with extra to adjust hydration if needed. I used Gold Medal Bread Flour on sale here for less than 2 bucks a 5 lb. bag.
1/4 cup King Arthur dry Milk Powder
1/4 cup mashed potato - I used a microwaved potato. Fast and easy
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 1/4 tsp. IADYeast
1 egg yolk plus 2 Tbsp. water and 2 Tbsp. milk for glazing
Sesame and Poppy seeds, springs of fresh Rosemary.
Add liquid ingredients to KA Mixer, add dry ingredients, I sift my flour and dry milk powder together. The KA Dry Milk Powder tends to be sticky and can clump together and become hard if left with moisture for to long..so I just always sift it with my flour..using a wisk or a wire scoop. Mixed until shaggy adding more flour as needed to adjust hydration. Cover and rest 25 minutes. Knead until gluten formation just begins. Stretch and folds 30 minutes apart until gluten has formed nice windowpane. Pour out onto counter, shape even weighed rolls, I made 8. Place on parchment lined pan and press down to shape buns. I pressed a biscuit cutter nearly all the way through just for a little extra pattern on rolls. Let rise till nearly double. Glaze and sprinkle on seeds. Baked 350F in a convection oven setting till nicely browned..about 20-25 minutes.
The pattern from the biscuit cutter was not very pronouned..
I am not a fan of bananas but every now and then for my kids I make banana muffins, banana bread (quick bread), banana pancakes and cakes, and banana milk shake and smoothie just to remind myself why people like bananas. Whenever the bananas in my house have gone sesame (ie, growing freckles), the motherly cook's instincts in me start eyeing on them. I never force my kids to eat any fruit or vegetables. That's why the house ends up having so many unlikely combinations of chutney and jams.
Now, I have not come across bananas in a savory, or at least non-sweet, combination with flour. What if I inject that lovely banana flavor (not to me!) into the crumb of a sourdough bread and use it for sandwiches or just toasts? Would it work? No harm trying.
Step one: I started with four very large ripe bananas (475 grams). My idea was to use bananas as hydration for final dough. To puree bananas in my blender efficiently, I need to add some sort of liquid, and I chose to add 20% of banana weight in water (95 grams). I got 570 grams of banana puree. In addition to that, I had 100 g of diced banana to put in separately.
Step two: To decide on a dough hydration percentage. I picked 65%. For this I needed to make an assumption as to the solids to liquid ratio in the bananas - my guesses were 35% to 65% (like pumpkin).
Step three: To calculate how much flour and starter that I would need for the given amount of banana puree.
Step four: To work back to see if the figures match up before starting on the dough.
Well, was I in a hurry? I didn't go through Step Four properly. Immediately after I got the preliminary flour and starter figures, I poured my banana puree over the starter eagerly and began mixing!!
The formula that I used is as follows:
Formula for Banana Pain au Levain
570 g mature starter at 75% hydration (5% rye flour)
570 g flour (5% rye and the balance white flour)
570 g banana puree (made up of 475 g banana and 95 g of water)
100 g extra banana diced
18 g salt
Total dough weight was 1.8 kg and approximate dough hydration was 80% (not 65% as I set out to do)**!!
**Assuming bananas were 65% liquid, total dough hydration from the above formula was:
(475 + 100) x 65% = 374, being hydration from bananas
374 + 95 = 469, being hydration from banana plus water added to make up the banana puree
570 / 175% x 75% = 244, being water content in starter
244 + 469 = 713, being total hydration
570 / 175% x 100% = 326, being flour content in starter
326 + 570 = 896, being total flour
713 / 896 = 80%, being total dough hydration
No wonder the dough felt very wet and sticky and 3 sets of stretch & folds were needed during bulk fermentation for dough strength. This dough was very difficult to shape. An ample dusting of flour on the work bench and quick, swift movement and minimalist handling during shaping were necessary.
Procedure
Bulk fermentation 2 + 1/2 hours with 3 sets of stretch & folds of 30 - 40 strokes each, including autolyse of 20 minutes.
Divide into two doughs of 900 g each.
Proof for 2 hours.
Retard in the refrigerator for 10 hours (I found with this recipe that the retarding process was essential because during the first few hours of the fermentation the dough appeared very sluggish. It was almost as if my starter was finding it tough adjusting to bananas, but in any event, after many hours of retardation in the fridge, the dough rose nicely.)
Bake with steam at 210C / 410F (lower temperature than usual due to sugar content in bananas) for 20 minutes then another 25 minutes at 190C / 375F (Note: I baked one dough at a time. Lower heat and longer baking appear to be the way to go. Under higher temperature, the crust would just burn.)
My daughter said this bread smells heavenly-banana. I don't know if that is possible but I have to admit that, for a person who doesn't like to eat banana, I find this sourdough very delightful. It is incredibly moist - a slice of this bread on your palm weighs heavily. The effect of bananas on dough is probably not dissimilar to potatoes on dough. It is also very chewy and sour (at least medium strength of sourness to me). There was no trace of the sweetness from bananas left in the bread.
My son had a great idea - he spread peanut paste on a slice of this bread and grilled it. It tastes amazing:
Well, if you are interested to try this formula, I would suggest a lower hydration for easier shaping and handling of the dough. Below I calculate for you an approx. 72% hydration dough formula for a dough weight of 864 grams:
Formula for Banana Pain au Levain @ approx. 72% dough hydration
285 g starter @75% hydration
285 g flour (5%, or 14 g, rye flour and the balance 271 g white flour)
285 g banana puree (made up of 245 g banana and 40 g water)
9 g salt
If it is done right, I believe the simplicity of this formula allows the natural flavor of fermented flour come through and it is in the spirit of what Pain au Levain is about.
This is another of my favorite breads. Slightly sweet, but also tangy, it’s perfect for sandwiches, but also stands well alone, with just a bit of butter.
Formula: Whole wheat flour: 100% Salt: 2% Water or milk: 75% Honey: 4.2% Unsalted butter: 2.8%
30% of the flour is in the whole-wheat starter. (I’ll give two options, one for starter at 100% hydration and another at 60% hydration) Ingredients Whole wheat flour: 500 grams or about 4 cups Salt: 10 grams or 1.25 tsp Water: • Using a wet starter: 225 grams or 1 cup • Using a stiff starter: 285 grams or 1.25 cups Whole wheat Starter: Two options • Wet starter (100% hydration) 300 grams or 1 ¼ cup • Stiff starter (60% hydration) 240 grams or 1 cup Honey: 21 grams or 1 Tbs Unsalted butter: 14 grams or 1 Tbs
Mixing Dissolve the starter into the water, and then add the salt. Melt the butter and stir in the honey – add both to the water. Finally add the flour and mix until all is hydrated. Dough development and the first rise However you develop the dough, from the time you mix until the time you shape the dough, it’ll take about 3 to 4 hours for the first rise at room temperature.
Shaping Shape into a sandwich loaf and place it in a greased 8.5”x 4.5” pan. Second rise and retarding Sourdoughs benefit quite a bit from retarding – they often taste better. You can simply cover the shaped dough and place it in the fridge or, if you’re lucky and the overnight temperature will be between 45 and 55, you can simply place it outside, in which case the bread will probably be ready to bake when you wake up.
If you put it in the fridge, it’ll need to warm up for 3-4 hours to complete its rise.
If you don’t want to bother with retarding, you can let it rise for another 3 hours at room temperature. You can also speed things up (and increase sourness) by placing the dough on an upturned bowl in the bottom of a picnic cooler, throwing a cup of boiling water in the bottom and covering it quickly. After an hour, throw another cup of hot water in. The rise should only take a couple of hours this way.
Baking There’s no need to score the bread, but I often do anyway. Bake for about 55 minutes at 350 degrees F. No steam or pre-heating required.
