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Xma commented about trying seawater in bread on a diving trip. I decided to give this a try.

Please note: I have not researched health hazards that may result from using raw seawater directly in bread dough.

Based on some discussion on the internet, it seems that seawater has a salinity of approximately 32 to 35 parts per thousand. However, not all of the ions are Na+ or Cl-. In fact, seawater is a complex combination of various salts. However, as a naive assumption, I used 3.2% grams of salt per grams of water to approximate the saltiness of the seawater. One of the web sites indicated that the salinity in the Gulf of Maine, where I baked this bread aboard my sailboat, was 32 parts per thousand.

One of our crew members was able to obtain some KA White Whole Wheat Flour at a store in Portland on the way down to the docks, so we decided to make a whole wheat pan loaf. Just in case, a jar of percolating Glezer firm starter, fed the night before, was hidden in my duffel bag waiting for the grand seawater bread baking experiment.

We arrived at the docks and boarded "Chaos" a 40 foot sloop, and set off from Portland after having quickly fed the culture 1:2:2, expecting it rise again and then ripen a bit in time for an evening of a firm "recipe starter" preparation. We collected our seawater by using a seawater foot pump to draw seawater into bowls in the galley sink when we were at the eastern end of Casco Bay, about 1/4 mile southeast of White Bull Island, not too far from Cape Small. The winds were light, so we ghosted along, hardly spilling a drop of seawater. We therefore had plenty of our valuable test sample to use in the dough when we arrived in The Basin, a beautiful completely enclosed harbor on the eastern side of Casco Bay.

Seawater Sourdough Whole Wheat Recipe

Ingredients

Please see a spreadsheet with quantities in grams and ounces and baker's percentages.

Recipe Starter:

• 114 grams (4 oz) of fully active, ripe 100% Hydration Starter (In my case I took my Glezer firm starter and fed it 1:2:2 with KA White Whole Flour and water such that I would have approximately equal weight flour and water, and allowed this to ferment for about 8 hours)
• 283 grams (10 oz) whole wheat flour (I used KA White Whole Wheat flour, which is what was available)
• 198 grams (7 oz) water

Dough:

• 652 grams (23 oz) seawater drawn from the coast of Maine at the east end of Casco Bay off of White Bull Island near Cape Small (if you draw the water from another location, you may need to consider the variation in salinity in different parts of the ocean in your calculations, or mix 32 grams per liter of fresh water and use as a seawater substitute).
• 99 grams (3.5 oz) fresh water. (I used water from the freshwater tanks, of dubious origin - the dock supply in Portland - laced with a touch of bleach to keep the tanks "sweet").
• 850 grams (30 oz) whole wheat flour (I used KA White Whole Wheat Flour)

Starter Preparation

I brought along a small amount of my new Glezer firm starter, thanks to consulting extensively with Zolablue, who has a thriving Glezer style firm starter and lots of great sourdough bread to prove it. I fed this starter with KA White Whole Wheat flour using the following: 32g Glezer starter:88g fresh water:80g KA WW. The mixture was stirred and allowed to rise while we sailed from Portland to The Basin in Casco Bay. Fortunately, it was a warm day, so the starter did rise just fine and was reasonably ripe later on in the afternoon when we made the recipe starter.

Recipe Starter

Around 6 P.M. the recipe starter was mixed. First add the recipe starter water to the 100% hydration starter and stir to fully mix the starter in the water, then mix in the flour. Knead into a dough, which should take about 3 minutes of kneading or less. Cover and allow to ferment until at least doubled. In this case, the temperatures were around 65F, and dropped down to about 55F over the course of the night, so we just allowed the starter to ferment all night. At room temperature, it would have taken about 5-7 hours to double this dough with my starter - your mileage will vary greatly of course.

Hydrate Flour

According to advice from whole grain experts, and realizing that seawater might impede the proper hydration and gluten formation in my KA White Whole Wheat Flour, I decided to give it a good long overnight soak in the seawater.

Mix seawater and freshwater together into a mass, cover, and allow to rest overnight in the refrigerator, or in our case, on the salon table where the temperature dropped down to about 50F overnight.

Mix Dough

In the morning, we mixed the dough. Take the mass of flour and water and lay it on a slightly wet counter and spread it into a large round disk like a pizza. Cut up the recipe starter into small pieces and push them into the larger flour mass, like toppings on a pizza. Roll up the dough and fold it a few times to begin mixing the starter with the dough. Since the hydration of this dough is fairly high, the starter and dough should mix together quickly and easily. I started the gluten formation and continued the mixing by spending about 30 seconds doing the following. Wet your hands and pick up one end of the dough, allow it to stretch with gravity, toss the other end on the table and pull it toward you, then flip the end you are holding over the dough in a folding action and pull your hands out and rewet them if necessary. Repeat this action a few times, rotating the dough each time.

Once the dough is well mixed and folded a few times, let it rest covered for an hour.

Fold Dough Periodically

To develop the gluten, fold it about once per hour for the first 3-4 hours. Some of my other blog entries (miche recipes) describe the folding technique, and there are even some photos of the steps. Hamelman describes the technique in "Bread", as well. This dough should rise in about 4.5 hours at room temperature with my starter. Again, your mileage will vary. However, it was cold on the boat. The dough started at a temperature of 55F. Luckily the sun managed to come out for a while and it warmed up, so the boat warmed up to about 70F for a few hours later on in the day. While we were sailing to Christmas Cove in Muscongus Bay, Maine, the dough rose nicely by a little more than double. The extra unexpected warmth probably resulted in a slightly overfermented dough, but not by much.

Shape Loaves and Final Proof

Two loaves were shaped approximately into batards, with the ends folded under, using JMonkey's video instructions. However, the dough was very wet and was a little too fermented, so it wasn't quite as easy as it looks in the video. Good luck - stay calm and don't overhandle the dough. Place the loaves in greased pans and cover. We placed the loaves in plastic bags and folded the opening to create a balloon for them to rise in.

Slash and Bake

Normally these loaves would proof in about 2.5 hours at room temperature. The boat was luckily at about room temperature, but we were also having too good a time cooking dinner and enjoying an after sailing happy hour. The boat warmed up inside, we had dinner, and before we knew it, the loaves had proofed for about 3 hours in the mid-70s. They seemed overproofed, but I tried slashing them anyway. At least they didn't collapse.

We baked in our anemic boat oven from a cold start for 1.5 hours at "400F", which means that it may have reached 400F at the very end of the bake, if that. Someone reflexively turned off the gas safety valve at that point, so although the loaves were just beginning to brown, we didn't realize the bake was over and the oven was off. These high hydration loaves do benefit from a good long bake, so our crumb turned out a little moist and the crust a little light. Still, the bread was good.

Results

The flavor was very good - not overly sour at all, but definitely a sourdough loaf. I am not a big fan of white whole wheat, but that's what happened to be available in the store. I don't know if the flour itself contributed a slight bitter flavor, or if this was a side effect of the seawater. While reading about how salt is made from salt water, I discovered that the process is more elaborate than just evaporating seawater and keeping what remains. Usually a series of evaporator ponds are used which allow some of the less desireable salts to precipitate out before and after the desired sodium chloride we know as ordinary salt is extracted. Some of the less desireable salts were said to have bitter flavors. So, it may be that I have effectively used "low quality" salt that has contributed a bitter flavor to the bread by using seawater. The bread was calculated to have 1.8% salt in baker's percentages, based on a salinity of 32 parts per thousand for Gulf of Maine seawater, yet it tasted less salty than that to me. There are seasonal variations I didn't try to take into account. Also, it seems salt in seawater is about 85% sodium chloride, if I read some of the discussions correctly, and maybe the salty flavor is only imparted by the sodium chloride and not by any other salts. If so, then I needed to increase the seawater or add a little more salt to make up for that.

When I was living back on the coast of Maine, this was one of my favorite breads I would get.  The recipe is simple, just a regular ol' white bread with some oil added to it and then TONS of dill.

Also made some strawberry jam yesterday from strawberries we picked yesterday morning.  The first jam I'd ever made and I loved it!

 Just strawberries, sugar and agar-agar and lemon juice.

I hope you didn't think I was being rude when I asked for some help clarifying your instructions - and didn't direct the question to you because I wasn't sure whether you were available. I found your recipe and pictures and would like to try it, but I wasn't sure whether you refreshed your starter and left it on the counter overnight or put it in the refrigerator? I just split my starter, which seemed rather thick, and 1/2 is on the counter and 1/2 in the frig. In containers, LOL. So now I have two starters on the go. I'll need a bigger frig at this rate, what with the bags of exotic stuff in the freezer - spelt, wheat germ, durum flour... Hope you had a good vacation, A

Oregon strawberries are in season, so this morning I whipped up a batch of fresh strawberry freezer jam and a couple loaves of whole wheat bread.

Hard to beat.

Brotkunst, Thanks for such a speedy reply. I can see that there is a great deal of difference between flours, lots to learn. I used Bob's Red Mill No.1 Durum Wheat Semolina Flour which I think is finer than the semolina. Living on an island I don't have access to a huge variety, and I was always worried that shipping on a heavy item like flour would be prohibitive. In my area we have one decent store and I did find the Hodgson Graham flour there, along with several KA flours. I shaped my loaves and placed them on parchment paper on a large cookie sheet, then into the frig overnight. I wasn't sure how long to let them sit out before baking - I see that you baked yours right away. Oh well, I'll try again. While I think of it, can anyone tell me how much less instant yeast to use when the recipe calls for regular yeast? Also, I am using Diamond Crystal kosher salt and never seem to get the amount right. Does anyone have the answer, please? Finally ( for now!) I want to make Floyd's sourdough loaves, and I'm not sure when he will be back so I'm throwing this out in case he is still away - he says he refreshes his starter around 8pm, then mixes dough the next morning. Does the starter sit on the counter all night or go back to the frig? Sorry if that is a silly question, A

I dont really know if these photos will help anyone. I wanted to post them so some folks who may be having problems with shaping batards and baguettes and transferring to peel could see how I do it (I'm not a pro, I'm just using this as the way that works for me). And on with the show....

I start with a 3/4 sheet pan and take a dish towel and roll it up into a cylinder laying it against one side. Then I take a sheet of parchment paper and lay across the top of the rolled towel. I then take another towel and roll it up and place it under the paper against the first loaf. Then repaeat first step in placing next loaf, followed by another towel.

After the loaves are done with their final rise I use a razor to cut the paper around the edges of the loaf.

Second loaf is done the same way.

After the paper is trimmed I transfer loaf, paper and all onto peel.

Half way thru bake I turn the loaf 180 degrees on the stone pulling the paper out during the process.

And here is the sourdough baguette coming out of oven.

Here is the sourdough batard after bake.

And another photo of baguette after bake.

Here is a hodge-podge of this weekends bake. Whats left of my daughters two white loaves. Whats left of my Sourdough boulle, a SD batard and baguette. And a dozen bagels getting ready to go into the boil.

And I still have another boulle of sourdough in the fridge waiting to be baked after chillin for another 24hrs. I think I need to start thinking about wearing a kilt. Its getting awfully warm by mid day in my kitchen. And from what I understand, I can even get one of those cool little hanging pockets for the front to keep my measuring spoons in...... :-)

TT

I finally made the Sourdough Pagnotta that has been so praised here 3 PAGNOTTA AND ONE SEMOLINA ON LEFT SEMOLINA3 SOURDOUGH PAGNOTTA AND 1 SOURDOUGH SEMOLINA     I tried one pagnotta plain, one I baked in the Le Creuset with poppyseeds and one I rolled with cinnamon/sugar and raisins because my husband was asking for raisin bread. I also made a NYT no-knead with 3 cups unbleached white and 1 cup semolina, 2 tbls. olive oil and 2 tbls. sugar, 1/3 cup active starter, salt and water. I baked the Semolina Bread in a long clay baker as shown in my photo. I think they all came out good. I always like the taste of my bread better the day after baking so I'll see if I have a favorite then.

So I have baked a lot of bread this weekend, if you count Friday.  Friday saw the BBA pugliese.

I liked it, but it didn't turn out the way I expected it to.  It wasn't as soft as it looked like it would be in the book photo.  The book photo bread is all squooshed down on top, as if it has a ciabatta-like, softer crust.  Also, my crumb wasn't near as open.  But, it was still nice, sort of like a generic Italian bread.

Yesterday I started to bake some sandwich bread (just my usual recipe), but then the day got short on me and I ended up putting the shaped loaves in the fridge for overnight.  I baked them this morning before church, and they seem different.  I haven't sliced them yet, but it does seem like the crust might be a little chewier.  There are lots of little blisters all over the crust, too, which they usually don't have.  It will be interesting to see what the crumb texture (and flavor) are like.

I also baked Bill's sourdough pagnotta today with my new starter.  Now this is a bread I can get behind!!!  With a big, wide open mouth! 

 It's gorgeous, albeit a bit flat.  It's such a wet dough that I just don't think it can do much.  But my starter performed wonderfully, doubling the dough in 4 hours and doubling the shaped boules in 3 hours.  Fantastic.  I did a few things differently than the recipe--I made up a sponge last night, using the starter, water, and just the AP flour.  Let it sit overnight on the counter.  It was super sour and foamy this morning, which worried me, bc I don't like really sour bread.  But I kept going.  I used KAF AP, KAF bread, and then for that last 100 g of flour, I substituted organic whole wheat graham flour from Hodgson Mill.  It made a beautiful dough.  I also used gray sea salt from France.  And, I mixed the dough in my mixer rather than doing all of the folds.  It took about 10 minutes at med-high speed to get a windowpane.

I proofed the shaped boules in improvised bannetons, namely wood salad bowls lined with smooth kitchen towels and dusted with flour.  Baked them at 500 for 20 minutes and did the steam thing (I baked the first loaf without the steam, and it got less oven spring than the other two).

The crust is thin, crisp but chewy, and nice and brown.  The crumb is open, holey, smooth and moist (almost tastes buttery).  And most importantly, it isn't too sour...it's just right.  And so, count me as another "Bill's Sourdough Pagnotta" convert!

COMMENTARY: I made Katie's English Muffins this morning after starting the dough last night and letting it sit out over night. I mixed up the rest of the ingredients this morning and cut them and let them rise then used my cast iron skillet (too lazy to get the cast iron griddle out). I made 3 at a time and it was pretty easy. Woulda been faster with the griddle since it straddles two burners.

I will never buy english muffins again. The flavor and crumb were beautiful. The dough was so easy to work with as well. I'm about ready to admit I need different flour because I don't think my sourdough starter is strong enough. It makes for very mild flavor. It's still not doubling in 4 hours it's still not doubling in 12 hours but it seems to be doing a pretty good job of making the dough rise and ferment so I don't really understand it. I have so much to learn with it. I'm making the Sourdough Pagnotta today to test it on hearty bread. I figured I would repeat this recipe because I know how it performs yeasted but don't know how it will turn out with sourdough. So it should be a useful test of the starter.

PHOTOS AND RECIPE FOR KATIE'S ENGLISH MUFFINS:

 Katie's English Muffins

 Katie's English Muffins From A Different Angle

Katie's Sourdough English Muffins

Makes about 12 

1/2 C starter (mine is a 100% hydration white starter) 

1 C milk

2-3/4 C AP flour

1 TBSP sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

Semolina or cornmeal, for dusting

METHOD: 

Combine starter, 2 C of flour and milk in a large bowl.  Stir to combine,

After the overnight rest, add remaining flour (I didn't add any), sugar, salt

and baking soda and mix well.  Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead

for 4-5 minutes.  Roll out to 3/4" and cut with a biscuit cutter into rounds. 

You can re-roll the scraps, but you may need to let the dough rest before

cutting more muffins from them.  Place muffins on a piece of parchment

Spray griddle or skillet lightly with spray oil.  Heat griddle to medium and cook

muffins for about 6-8 minutes on each side, or until browned on the top and

bottom and cooked through.  These have great griddle spring and rise quite

Split with a fork and enjoy with your favorite topping!  I don't even toast them

if I want to eat them right off the griddle--they don't have that raw taste that

Enjoy! 

NOTES: I prefer the muffins toasted because it adds to the flavor. I missed the instruction 

that said to spray the pan with oil. I used a dry heated cast iron skillet and they cooked

just fine and that way I didn't have as much smoking as I would if I added oil. Also, I cooked

these about 5 minutes per side in the skillet and finished by baking them off at 450 degrees for 

about 4 minutes. Also I used cornmeal to dust the parchment that I set these on and it was great.

I started my weekend bake on Fri. night by mixing up a starter for a Hamelman Sourdough.  Sat. morning I started mixing the final dough when my 13y.o. daughter came in the kitchen and asked if I was making any of my Plain ol' White Bread.  Since I was already dedicated to what I was into I told her to wash up she was gonna make some bread.  I had her weigh out each ingredient as I read her my recipe, and told her how to mix, then knead and such.  She really got into it and once it was in the bowl I wrote out each of her times she needed to degas and fold.  She did very well, and is very proud of her results, which she should be.  Made two nice loaves, one of which was given away to a guest we had last night.  The other is here.

After all was said and done, I was able to get my Sourdough fired up and here is a final loaf of it.

Its probly not the nicest sourdough ever made, but boy it sure is good. 

So far today I have my Reinhart SD coming along from Crust and Crumb.  Made the stiff starter last night, making the final dough today, suppose to bake following day from making final dough.  I believe that I will end up baking it later tonight though.

Here it is before and after final mixing.

And here it is after rising

TT