Bread.002 - Mixed-Ferm Loaf. Simple.
Sooo sometimes you just want to bake bread, regardless of what time is, or what the schedule might entail. So I did that. I did some browsing in the Forkish book (I pretty much only go to that book now for inspiration), and used the 40% overnight wheat bread recipe for inspiration. I used rye instead of wheat, and only used 20%, but followed it, as I felt it would translate alright. I started at a weird hour, which caused me to have to shape my loaves at something dumb like 2am, but I was up late, so it was ok.
Basically, I restarted my sourdough starter a week or so ago, and sort of cheated after a few days in. I did the standard flour/water mixture in a mason jar for a few days, and fed it daily, with a moist paper towel elastic-banded across the top to keep it hydrated and filtered from anything falling in. A few days later, I added a tiny bit of liquid from a mixed-ferm yeast starter I had going for beer, as well as some bottle dregs from a mixed-ferm beer. The yeast starter was a propped-up culture from dregs from Anchorage Brewing, and the straight bottle dregs were from a bottle of Trou du Diable's L'Ours (DON'T WORRY-- IT WAS PRE-MOLSON). Whatever. Anyway, the Anchorage dregs consist of Saccharomyces cervisiae (highly attenuative, in my experience), as well as some sort of Brett-- the same is true of the Trou du Diable beer (but moreso Brett-forward). Between the two of these, there is also some bacteria present (Lactobacillus).
So now I have a very active sourdough culture. Sure, I added yeast, but there is still wild yeast and souring bacteria rather than cultured baker's yeast. I'm happy with how active this starter has become, and the aromatics it is giving off. I wasn't sure how active it was when I baked this (I am writing this entry 5 days later), so I added a small pinch of regular bread yeast to it when I baked it, for reassurance.
I also added grains to this loaf, as I like adding whole grains to things.
INGREDIENTS:
For one loaf, the recipe was:
400g unbleached white flour
100g rye flour
350g water
11g salt
1g dry yeast
75g sourdough starter
OPTIONAL:
1c soaked grains, water drained.
If you wish to add grains, I recommend soaking them in warm/hot water beforehand. I used 1 cup of grain from a bag of mixed porridge oats. I have been buying this stuff lately made by a company called Roger's, which is a blend of oat flakes, wheat bran, oat bran, and flaxseed. It's as cheap as oatmeal, and has even more grains in it. I soak it for maybe an hour-- whatever is convenient, really. I drain it before adding to the dough for the same reason I soak it-- to keep the hydration of the dough as unaffected as possible. I actually went as far as pressing the grains in my Aeropress (no filter) to get all of the water out.
PROCESS:
ANYWAY. Mix your sourdough starter and water in a large bowl. Add flour and hand-mix (or with a rubber spatula) until incorporated, then let it sit for 5 minutes. Fold. Wait 10 more minutes. Do a fold. Add salt and bread yeast. Fold-- use the pincer method to incorporate fully. Then do 2 more folds, at some point within the next 1.5 hours-- add the drained soaked grains in during one of these folds, using the pincer method to fully incorporate, again. Bulk ferment for 4-5 hours, covered, at around 72F-- the volume should double to triple. After bulk ferment, shape the loaf on a lightly-floured surface, and add to a banneton, or whatever you're proofing in. Proof in fridge for 8-12 hours (covered, to keep from drying out).
Preheat your oven to 475F, with your Dutch oven in it. Bake at 475F in a Dutch oven for 30 min, then remove the lid and bake for 15 more minutes.
I actually turned my oven down to 450 after taking the lid off, because I found that my loaves were getting a tiny bit darker on the bottom than I liked. Play around with this if you experience anything similar-- always experiment, baby.
I realize this is a very condensed version, but it is moreso for my own ecords. Please comment if you have questions.
I took this loaf to a brewery after baking, to share with a few friends (I brought some butter, as well-- DUHH). People at our table loved it, as did adjacent tables, whom I ended up offering slices to, based on glances- ha! It was a big hit. A WHADDUP, CAAAARBZ?
This was pretty much the only photo I got... haha. Taken at 2 Crows Brewing Company. Shortly after this, we went to see a hockey game (which I never do) with skybox seats. It was a fun St. Patrick's Day (I don't really "celebrate" that, but it turned out to be a nice Saturday, regardless).
Basically, I restarted my sourdough starter a week or so ago, and sort of cheated after a few days in. I did the standard flour/water mixture in a mason jar for a few days, and fed it daily, with a moist paper towel elastic-banded across the top to keep it hydrated and filtered from anything falling in. A few days later, I added a tiny bit of liquid from a mixed-ferm yeast starter I had going for beer, as well as some bottle dregs from a mixed-ferm beer. The yeast starter was a propped-up culture from dregs from Anchorage Brewing, and the straight bottle dregs were from a bottle of Trou du Diable's L'Ours (DON'T WORRY-- IT WAS PRE-MOLSON). Whatever. Anyway, the Anchorage dregs consist of Saccharomyces cervisiae (highly attenuative, in my experience), as well as some sort of Brett-- the same is true of the Trou du Diable beer (but moreso Brett-forward). Between the two of these, there is also some bacteria present (Lactobacillus).
So now I have a very active sourdough culture. Sure, I added yeast, but there is still wild yeast and souring bacteria rather than cultured baker's yeast. I'm happy with how active this starter has become, and the aromatics it is giving off. I wasn't sure how active it was when I baked this (I am writing this entry 5 days later), so I added a small pinch of regular bread yeast to it when I baked it, for reassurance.
I also added grains to this loaf, as I like adding whole grains to things.
INGREDIENTS:
For one loaf, the recipe was:
400g unbleached white flour
100g rye flour
350g water
11g salt
1g dry yeast
75g sourdough starter
OPTIONAL:
1c soaked grains, water drained.
If you wish to add grains, I recommend soaking them in warm/hot water beforehand. I used 1 cup of grain from a bag of mixed porridge oats. I have been buying this stuff lately made by a company called Roger's, which is a blend of oat flakes, wheat bran, oat bran, and flaxseed. It's as cheap as oatmeal, and has even more grains in it. I soak it for maybe an hour-- whatever is convenient, really. I drain it before adding to the dough for the same reason I soak it-- to keep the hydration of the dough as unaffected as possible. I actually went as far as pressing the grains in my Aeropress (no filter) to get all of the water out.
PROCESS:
ANYWAY. Mix your sourdough starter and water in a large bowl. Add flour and hand-mix (or with a rubber spatula) until incorporated, then let it sit for 5 minutes. Fold. Wait 10 more minutes. Do a fold. Add salt and bread yeast. Fold-- use the pincer method to incorporate fully. Then do 2 more folds, at some point within the next 1.5 hours-- add the drained soaked grains in during one of these folds, using the pincer method to fully incorporate, again. Bulk ferment for 4-5 hours, covered, at around 72F-- the volume should double to triple. After bulk ferment, shape the loaf on a lightly-floured surface, and add to a banneton, or whatever you're proofing in. Proof in fridge for 8-12 hours (covered, to keep from drying out).
Preheat your oven to 475F, with your Dutch oven in it. Bake at 475F in a Dutch oven for 30 min, then remove the lid and bake for 15 more minutes.
I actually turned my oven down to 450 after taking the lid off, because I found that my loaves were getting a tiny bit darker on the bottom than I liked. Play around with this if you experience anything similar-- always experiment, baby.
I realize this is a very condensed version, but it is moreso for my own ecords. Please comment if you have questions.
I took this loaf to a brewery after baking, to share with a few friends (I brought some butter, as well-- DUHH). People at our table loved it, as did adjacent tables, whom I ended up offering slices to, based on glances- ha! It was a big hit. A WHADDUP, CAAAARBZ?
This was pretty much the only photo I got... haha. Taken at 2 Crows Brewing Company. Shortly after this, we went to see a hockey game (which I never do) with skybox seats. It was a fun St. Patrick's Day (I don't really "celebrate" that, but it turned out to be a nice Saturday, regardless).
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