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This is as much for anyone looking for a way to bake with emmer flour as for any other reason, but that should be sufficient.  Emmer is a nice flour (mine comes from Barton Springs, but it is available generally).

For those who read my post in the Community Bake thread, you might recall that I mentioned wanting to make a few changes.  This bake incorporated a soaker, which softened the rye chops especially.  In addition, the soaker added some needed hydration to the dough.  Lastly, I did only two sets of stretch-and-folds.  All of these changes were for the better, and I see no need to make any more for the next few bakes (my opinion could always change, of course).

Here is a summary in case you are looking for a recipe involving emmer.

     Levain

Starter                        40 g

Bread Flour              100 g

Whole Wheat Flour  100 g

Water                       250 g

     Soaker

Rye Chops                50 g

Oats                          30 g

Sunflower Seeds      20 g

Water (boiling)        100 g

     Final Dough

Bread Flour                234 g

Whole Wheat Flour    233 g

Emmer Flour              333 g

Soaker                       all

Water                         470 g

Levain                        all

Salt                              18 g

I prepared the Levain as well as the Soaker the night before and let them sit at room temperature.  When the Levain was properly bubbly, I combined the Final Dough flours, the Soaker, and the water until they were rough and shaggy.  You might think that you need to add water to make the components into a single mass, but resist that urge.  The Soaker will provide the moisture.

Then I let the combo sit for a half hour before adding the Levain and salt.  For this step I employed Forkish's pincher method of mixing, and you will definitely need to work the dough to get the Levain thoroughly distributed in the Final Dough.  After mixing (I included eighty French Folds), the dough temperature was only 72F, and the kitchen was 70F.  I anticipated a little longer bulk fermentation.

After sixty minutes I did the first stretch-and-fold and then another an hour after that.  Thereafter the dough sat until it was ready for pre-shaping.  For this bake the total bulk fermentation was four hours and eighteen minutes.  The dough went onto the counter and was divided into two portions, both of which were pre-shaped into rounds.  After a twenty minute bench rest, one portion became a batard and the other a boule.  The dough went into bannetons (and those into plastic bags) and into the refrigerator for an overnight proofing.

After nearly sixteen hours in the fridge the bannetons came out.  The boule went into a Dutch oven heated to 475F, and the batard went onto a baking stone at 450F.  The lid came off the Dutch oven after twenty minutes.  Two aluminum pie pans filled with hot water provided steam for the baking stone.  Total baking time for each loaf was forty-eight minutes.

The trio of bread flour, whole wheat, and emmer seem to go well together.  This is a bread that I will bake again.  My wife and I kept the batard, while the boule went to some friends.

Here are the two loaves.

Here is the crumb from the one we kept.

Happy baking.

Ted

Pumpkin, cranberry raisin Bread.

Phase 1 ✅

The mix and mechanical dough development.

Phase 2✅

Day two. After the long slow bulk fermentation. The loaves are shaped and baked.

I used 500g rye berries for this bread. I milled them in a hand burr mill on a very coarse setting. I remilled half of them on a relatively fine setting. Use all that alongside 500 g warm water, about 300 g 100% hydration rye preferment, salt and coriander to make a dough. 

Good taste and lovely texture. Coarse rye flour makes great crumb.

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I always have so many different types of bread I'd like to bake, but I can only eat so much in any given week. One style of bread I've been wanting to try for a few months is a miche, and now that I've gotten a handle on making my own 85% extraction flour, I decided now was the time to jump on it.

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I didn't follow any one recipe for this, though I did use the BBA baking directions for reference since this mass of dough is twice what I usually bake. In the future I would preheat the oven to 450°F instead of 500°F, so that I can leave it in longer and get a darker, crispier crust.

My formula was pretty simple:

• 1000 g 85% extraction freshly milled hard red wheat


• 800 g water


• 100 g stiff starter (white, 57% hydration)


• 21 g salt

I doubled my typical leaven amount and didnt retard the proof because I wanted to get it all done yesterday.

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The crust is slightly chewy. The crumb is tender and moist, with a hearty whole wheat flavor and a touch of sourdough tang. From everything I had read about miches I was honestly surprised at the height I got. The aspect ratio is obviously nowhere near what you'd get from a smaller batard, but it still impressed me.

PS: Does anyone know why I get so much extra whitespace before and after my photos on here? I'd like to just get the normal paragraph spacing.