MacKenzie Posted February 8, 2020 Report Share Posted February 8, 2020 That looks interesting, Basher. @MabelLouHoo, thanks, nice to see you back. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted February 9, 2020 Report Share Posted February 9, 2020 (edited) Did another sourdough loaf today, no yeast was used and the bulk fermentation was in a coldroom at the ideal temp. of 55F. The fermentation was for 16 hours. Immediately after that I took the dough to the kitchen, formed the loaf and set it to prove in a pan for about 4 hours. Then baked. Had to figure out a taste test for this bread which is sour, how about a smoked cheddar grilled cheese sandwich? Edited February 9, 2020 by MacKenzie 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted February 9, 2020 Report Share Posted February 9, 2020 You're killing me with that grilled cheese sammy, MacKenzie! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekobo Posted February 10, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2020 On 2/8/2020 at 9:01 PM, Basher said: Tekobo have tried this British creation? https://www.thespringoven.com/theshop#concept Or have you run out of cupboard space? Ha. No I have not tried it nor have I run out of cupboard space. Looks suspiciously like a tagine and I already own one of those and don't use it very often. I do use a cast iron Dutch oven when I bake loaves indoors but I don't think I have done a comparison to see what it is like without and whether it is actually worth using the Dutch oven at all. One more burn mark from a hot Dutch oven and the time will be ripe for a test that allows me to ditch all such crutches. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basher Posted February 23, 2020 Report Share Posted February 23, 2020 I finally feel like I nailed a sourdough loaf with the spring and shape I wanted. Twas delish. This was 60% hydration rather than 70% and I added a little dry yeast before the final proof. Maybe tells me I wasn’t feeding my starter regularly enough before adding it to the dough? Not sure I want to change this process for now. The other recent attempts have been too dense or too flat. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pequod Posted February 23, 2020 Report Share Posted February 23, 2020 Looks great! My opinion: stick with this formula until you’re comfortable you’ve mastered the process, then tweak from there. But if you like it, nothing wrong with sticking with it either. Regarding your starter — if it’s healthy I find one feeding the night before and then another the day of making is sufficient. YMMV. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted February 23, 2020 Report Share Posted February 23, 2020 @Basher, I'll say you nailed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekobo Posted February 23, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2020 That looks great @Basher. I have finally got my leaven to float reliably and look nice and lively. I have been trying a different loaf from Tartine no 3 each week and I find that the high hydration doughs end up a little flatter. Still tasty but not that plump look that you got there. I think I have had most success when I have refreshed the starter twice and then made the leaven. Will experiment more to see if that is indeed an important factor. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basher Posted February 23, 2020 Report Share Posted February 23, 2020 (edited) Thanks for the tips. I was definitely rushing my starter with one feed 5 hours before. BTW, That loaf was one third rye. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited February 24, 2020 by Basher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herbie J - Alabama Posted February 24, 2020 Report Share Posted February 24, 2020 Picture perfect Basher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekobo Posted February 24, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2020 I have been meaning to ask about wheatgerm. A number of the Tartine No 3 recipes call for, say 70g, wheatgerm alongside 500g of high extraction flour. Given the fact that I am milling my own flour it seems to make no sense to be buying additional wheatgerm when the flour that I mill will contain wheatgerm in any case. Thus far I have got over this hurdle by sifting the bran out of my milled flour to get to about 85% extraction. Where the recipe calls for wheatgerm I simply use more of this high extraction flour. What do you think? Should I be looking to buy wheatgerm as well? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pequod Posted February 24, 2020 Report Share Posted February 24, 2020 37 minutes ago, tekobo said: I have been meaning to ask about wheatgerm. A number of the Tartine No 3 recipes call for, say 70g, wheatgerm alongside 500g of high extraction flour. Given the fact that I am milling my own flour it seems to make no sense to be buying additional wheatgerm when the flour that I mill will contain wheatgerm in any case. Thus far I have got over this hurdle by sifting the bran out of my milled flour to get to about 85% extraction. Where the recipe calls for wheatgerm I simply use more of this high extraction flour. What do you think? Should I be looking to buy wheatgerm as well? Personally, I agree with you that sifting out the germ just to put it back in is just a wee bit silly. I would skip that and go 100% extraction. But that's just me. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekobo Posted February 24, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2020 35 minutes ago, Pequod said: Personally, I agree with you that sifting out the germ just to put it back in is just a wee bit silly. I would skip that and go 100% extraction. But that's just me. Thanks. I love pasta made with 100% extraction flour but have been a little less adventurous with bread, sticking to Chad Robertson's ever more complicated/varying mixes of high extraction, whole grain and bread flours. Do you have any idea what colour the wheatgerm is? I have assumed that if I simply sift out the brown bran I must be retaining the wheatgerm but that assumption could be completely wrong. Do you have a go-to recipe/hydration level for using 100% extraction wheat flour? I also seem to remember you saying you used a modified Tartine no-knead method. Care to share? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qundoy Posted February 24, 2020 Report Share Posted February 24, 2020 Looks great Basher, high hydration sourdough breads can be frustrating, its hard to bake a good loaf. The process provides me with plenty of opportunity to learn and say a few cuss words. 😁 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pequod Posted February 24, 2020 Report Share Posted February 24, 2020 24 minutes ago, tekobo said: Thanks. I love pasta made with 100% extraction flour but have been a little less adventurous with bread, sticking to Chad Robertson's ever more complicated/varying mixes of high extraction, whole grain and bread flours. Do you have any idea what colour the wheatgerm is? I have assumed that if I simply sift out the brown bran I must be retaining the wheatgerm but that assumption could be completely wrong. Do you have a go-to recipe/hydration level for using 100% extraction wheat flour? I also seem to remember you saying you used a modified Tartine no-knead method. Care to share? I rarely sift unless a particular recipe calls for high extraction. I don't do "no-knead" either. I use bulk fermentation to build structure via a set of folds. My bread muses are my pals Maurizio and Trevor J. 1) Maurizio (https://www.theperfectloaf.com/) has a number of recipes specifically for fresh milled flour. You'll also find that he has a number of recipes that include high extraction flour. He tends toward very high hydration doughs and exotic flour combinations. 2) Trevor J. Wilson (http://www.breadwerx.com/) is known for his open crumb techniques and his excellent ebook, "Open Crumb Mastery." While many try to push the hydration as high as it will go, Trevor J. makes the point (correctly, I think), that proper dough handling and structure building are the keys to open crumb, and hydration is secondary and over-rated. His Champlain Sourdough recipe, for example, is only 70% hydration as I recall, but with proper structure building and dough handling, has a fantastic open crumb. The take-away? Focus on learning to build structure and handle dough before worrying about hydration. Most people get this backwards. The issue with 100% whole grain is that the bran tends to act like tiny razor blades and cut gluten strands shorter and, hence, makes your breads a tad more dense. There are a number of techniques to fix that. These include a long autolyse (I typically use at least 90 minutes) so that the bran softens. Others will sift out the bran, but then add it back into starter so that, again, it has more time to soften. Peter Reinhart wrote an entire book on Whole Grain Breads but, as with many Peter Reinhart books, I think he misses the mark. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pequod Posted February 24, 2020 Report Share Posted February 24, 2020 Here is a 70% hydration Trevor J. loaf. Dough handling matters, people! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekobo Posted February 25, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2020 16 hours ago, qundoy said: Looks great Basher, high hydration sourdough breads can be frustrating, its hard to bake a good loaf. The process provides me with plenty of opportunity to learn and say a few cuss words. 😁 I agree. Learning to make bread takes time and, just when you think you have a good formula, it kicks back at you. Made some buckwheat bread at the weekend and I wanted to cry when it came out, mostly, flat. The good news is that my guests didn't care and wanted to know where I'd bought it! @Pequod, thank you for sharing your rich seam of references. I am already enjoying the read and I'll hopefully learn a lot. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pequod Posted February 25, 2020 Report Share Posted February 25, 2020 Today’s loaf. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted February 25, 2020 Report Share Posted February 25, 2020 PERFECT! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekobo Posted February 25, 2020 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2020 35 minutes ago, tony b said: PERFECT! What he said! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
