The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

trailrunner's blog

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

What an interesting and tasty experiment. I usually don't  bulk ferment my dough but I decided to try it due to time and space constraints. I made the dough and did a couple s &f's q 20 min .then rest for 1 1/2 hrs then in the fridge it went. I removed it this AM and shaped cold. I always shape cold when I make Ian's buns and love the way the cold dough feels and handles. I made 3/650g boules. It is incredibly easy to shape and get the "free form" burst when the dough is cold as it doesn't really want to stick terribly well. Into the banneton and rising time of 2 1/2 hrs. Lovely..but then I had to go out again !  So back in the fridge for a couple hours. Home and preheat pots 500 degrees. Into the hot pot...down to 460/15 min covered and 15 uncovered. Lovely shape, great rise and wow...the color of the crust and very blistered and nice crunch. Then there is the crumb...oh...my....tender doesn't even come close. The AYW makes magic of the crumb while leaving the crust very crisp and thin and oh so caramelized. The crumb is quite cool and more sour than usual. I am sure it is the extra time in the fridge, the flour combos, the amount/type of levain etc. Whatever...it is so good and I love the very soft fine texture. It went perfectly with the vegetable curry, Basmati rice and toasted almond/pineapple/coriander chutney/raisins/siracha sauce. 

 photo IMG_6938_zps9175b6a1.jpg  photo IMG_6942_zps6e0beddd.jpg  photo IMG_6943_zps4009a29a.jpg  photo IMG_6944_zpsbeb2caf5.jpg I have been feeding my starter durum and AYW, nothing else. Love the way it is responding. 544g AP King Arthur 100g Sprouted spelt 100g Semolina 163g whole wheat 510g whey from my cheese making 14g EVOO 14g honey 22g salt 453g kamut AYW levain 100% hydration mix auto lyse add oil/honey/salt. speed 1 for 1 minute and speed 2 for 3 minutes. s & f as needed..this dough was so responsive out of the mixer that it could have done without any additional s&f so these were token gentle shapings. Rest at room temp for 2 - 2 1/2 hrs. Into fridge overnight. Shape cold...rise 2 or so hours..watch the dough. Bake as noted above. Enjoy ! c

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

It is Friday and pizza was in order. I wanted to try a different crust from last time . I made up a batch of Sullivan Bread dough yesterday. This AM it was full of bubbles. I divided it into 4 pieces and tossed them with Durum flour and placed them in containers in the fridge. At 3 PM I took two out, just as we got back from our 25 mi bike ride. At 5 PM I put the oven on with the steel in place 6 " below the broiler. Temp set to 550. At 5:45 I turned on the broiler to high/550. The dough balls stretched so easily I thought there must be some mistake :)  I topped with a smear of sauce a  bit of pepperoni and some fresh mozz and asiago. Into the oven they went ..I turned off the broiler and put it on surround  ( a Miele setting that resembles the brick oven...their description) at 4 minutes the first pizza was done !  I took it out and R cut it while I topped #2 and placed it in the oven. I didn't turn the broiler back on till the last minute...perfection. The bottom crust has the best char and it is crisp !!  

And...the best part...the Durum flour was so perfect as a non-stick surface that I was able to slide those babies right from  the peel to the steel and no swearing or mess ensued !!  Amazing. There are two balls aging in the fridge. I am going to do them Sunday night for Chef son and see what he thinks :) 

#!  photo IMG_6935_zps640e7080.jpg #2  photo IMG_6934_zps44712119.jpg perfect char on the bottom !  photo IMG_6937_zpsa4ffceb3.jpg

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

I bought 5/500g  bags of Italian Chestnut flour a number of years ago. Somehow I never found anything that I liked to use it in so it sat in the freezer in its vacuum packs waiting...and waiting..and....well you get the idea. I have been cleaning out and sorting and using up . I decided to only cook from my larder for 2014  , at least as much as possible. 

I fed my starter with rye and apple yeast water. The dough was made with equal parts chestnut/whole wheat /durum. Dough water was 1/2  whey.  The flavor is remarkable. Very full of complex grains and earthy. Sweetness as you chew. Crumb is very tender and a lovely crunch to the crust. It is easy to get a bold bake with the chestnut flour , I have found. Baked at 500 in hot pots for 10 min and then 460 for 5 min and lid off for 20 min. I am really pleased with this bread.  

 photo IMG_6919_zpsd401f69d.jpg  photo IMG_6923_zpsa8679641.jpg  photo IMG_6926_zps091f04ce.jpg  photo IMG_6927_zps6b661039.jpg  photo IMG_6929_zps0ec44798.jpg

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

Ian had posted a date SD and I thought I would go with that basic idea. I added 100g toasted almonds and 2 tbsp grated orange zest. Levain was my rye starter fed with apple yeast water. I used whey for 292g of the dough water and AYW for the rest . I soaked the coarsley chopped dates in warm whey but didn't cook them down. I divided it into 3 boules. Great fragrance and very tender crumb. Sticky goodness when you get a date chunk. Baked in 500 degree pots for 5 min. and then 10 min at 460 lid removed and 15 more min. Bold bake and nice ears.  photo IMG_6918_zps1cd3db2d.jpg  photo IMG_6922_zpsdb03c173.jpg  photo IMG_6921_zps55cd753c.jpg

 photo IMG_6930_zps0436f64e.jpg  photo IMG_6931_zps382e997f.jpg

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

My husband is an artist when it comes to pasta. Always wonderful . Tonight homemade tagliatelle and a shrimp topping based on one that our son , the Chef , makes frequently. Preserved lemon and capers are the key...oh...and the homemade hot cure peppers. If you want the recipe just ask...I will be glad to forward the gist of the idea .c 

 photo IMG_6917_zps2cc8b0f6.jpg

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

oh my...apple pie !  

 

 

before baking...  photo IMG_6914_zps8118b68c.jpg after...most amazing...2 apples and a small amount of " goop"...if you want I will post the link to recipe...so easy.  photo IMG_6915_zpse6e5f0c6.jpg

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

I hadn't baked in a while and hadn't used my AYW in weeks!   Got my odds and ends of partial bags of flour out and voila....lovely bake.   Fed my  100% hydration rye starter with spelt and AWY 2x a few hours apart...it was SO active I had to refrigerate it overnight. Used up 65g Semolina, 42 grams Italian Chestnut flour, 86 grams Kamut, 123 grams sprouted Rye and 458 grams AP KA.  Mixed and autolysed  with  640 g water without salt for 1 hr. Added salt and used speed 2 for 5 min . Very slack dough but responded well to s&f's. Fermented room temp for 2 hrs with s&f q 30 min x4 and then 1 hr more at room temp. Shaped 2 boules and immediately retarded over-night. Baked cold this AM in 500 degree pots for 20 min. covered...sprayed 10 x in pot with filtered water then covered....uncovered and 20 min open. The fragrance is wonderful. Will post crumb shots later. 

 photo IMG_6893_zps14e8ac91.jpg  photo IMG_6894_zps7fbce72f.jpg  photo IMG_6895_zps1cc59eff.jpg  photo IMG_6897_zpsb0d59dfc.jpg  photo IMG_6900_zpsf74a17e6.jpg first of Spring...asparagus quiche. I use buttermilk for the crust and in the filling...broiled the asparagus first. Delicious.  photo IMG_6891_zps54192770.jpg

crumb shots added. I couldn't be MORE pleased with this bread. What a crust and crumb. Full body flavor...very very wheaty. I am impressed with the caramelization of the crust and note how uniform the crust thickness is all the way around the slice. Chewy and almost candy-like. Rich brown color to the crumb and exquisitely tender due to the AYW. Love the glisten to the crumb . My camera doesn't want to catch the dark crust but it is way darker than in the pics. I baked it to 212. What else to say....if I never made another SD loaf but this one I would be more than content.  photo IMG_6904_zpsfeced175.jpg  photo IMG_6906_zpsdff0a446.jpg  photo IMG_6903_zpsb898ea8c.jpg  photo IMG_6902_zpsf205dd69.jpg

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

What a lovely bread!  As has already been said this has a tender  cool crumb and a pronounced wheat flavor and pleasant faint  sour. I didn't get quite the large holes as in Franco's bake but I altered the formulas a bit. I doubled the amounts that Franco posted. So I had about 2000 g of dough. I shaped this into 3 boules. Thus more handling.  I used the 2 starters and the only thing I altered was the whey I fed the starters. I have a lot of it as I make a lot of soft curd cheese. I put all the dough flour in all but 10% of the water and let it autolyse overnight. I have done this with all my bakes lately and really love the way the gluten develops the next day. I also used sprouted rye flour for all of the dark rye called for . I baked it in preheated 500 degree iron pots. Straight from the fridge. I wasn't sure about rise times so I let the dough rise for 1 hr in the banneton before I retarded it. No counter time prior to bake. 5 minutes in covered pot at 500, 15 min at 460 and then uncover pots and 15 min at 460. Internal temp 212. 

I got a lovely caramelized crust and small ears :) I will definitely make this again. Look forward to seeing how the flavor profile changes over the next days. just out of the fridge:  photo IMG_6868_zps4a24ea30.jpg  photo IMG_6869_zpsab74a224.jpg  photo IMG_6871_zps2c0393a2.jpg  photo IMG_6872_zpsca450f3b.jpg  photo IMG_6873_zpsd234039e.jpg

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

Great sweet potato rolls. I had more potatoes so upped the % of ingredients. The dough is lovely to work with. I  decreased the yeast as I wasn't going to bake them yesterday.  Substituted my whey for milk. The dough responded very well to a long slow rise on the counter and then retarded in the fridge.  Filled with bubbles. Very easy to shape when cold. I retarded 15 of them....50 oz of dough...in a 13x9 covered container. Today all I did was turn it over  on a lightly floured countertop and cut them with a dough blade and barely shape and placed in a greased 13x9 pan !  Easy. Rose for an hour brushed with butter and baked . These are delicious. Lovely rich flavor and slight sweet potato taste comes through We had them with curried butternut squash soup. I froze half. Will definitely make these again. 

risen and ready for oven:  photo IMG_6813_zpse17fd89e.jpg crumb:  photo IMG_6817_zps24065c24.jpg

finished:  photo IMG_6814_zps955e67fa.jpg

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

This is the Balthazar's Bakery's chocolate bread. I first ate it in 2007 at $9 a loaf. When I got home I searched and found the recipe online. It is a fantastic bread...but I took it up a huge notch with my starter instead of theirs. Wow..what a shreddable fantastic crumb. I also added dried cherries to 3 of the loaves.  An amazing bread. You will need a mixer to fully realize this dough. It needs 5 min and then 10 min and then about 2 min . It has the butter beaten in like a brioche but there are no eggs...lots of chocolate. Here are some pics...sorry I can't share the fragrance...or taste:) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

starter 100% white with apple yeast water to feed:  photo IMG_6795_zps974c943b.jpg before adding the butter...lovely gluten:  photo IMG_6799_zpsffa15435.jpg after the butter and salt added :  photo IMG_6800_zps9c1ec17c.jpg ready to rise:  photo IMG_6804_zps6951f257.jpg risen:  photo IMG_6805_zps0e52c796.jpg topped with cream/egg yolk/turbinado sugar :  photo IMG_6807_zps083922ca.jpg out of the oven:  photo IMG_6810_zps963debb7.jpg shreddable crumb:  photo IMG_6811_zps191e3543.jpg  photo IMG_6812_zpsb0e323db.jpg

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - trailrunner's blog