January 20, 2015 - 11:44am
Field blend #2
It has been a while since I've posted, but I've continued baking my daily bread weekly. :)
The cover shot is for the Field Blend #2, which is the first time I have baked that bread. It came out great I think the "cracking" of the crust is particularly cool looking.
Here are the loaves from from further away:
And, the crumb on the loaf I ate:
It was delicious. One of the few loaves I've made with both sourdough and yeast. I prefer the overnight country brown, a straight sourdough, because I don't have to refrigerate anything. But I will likely bake this again.
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Has to be tasty too. Love the crust and crumb. You can always drop the yeast in this one and it will likely be much better tasting too. Well done and happy baking.
I did not want to vary the formula on the first go. At this point, my only question is, if someone proscribes a formula and says it should rise to x times its size in about y-z hours before it is ready for shaping (I can't recall what he said for this loaf), if I take out the yeast will that that only change the time, or will it also change the volume I should expect at the end of the bulk ferment? If the volume, I feel like that will take a lot of experimenting to determine when the best loaves are made.
forkish really drove home the importance of temperature for me. I new it was important before, but after I went through FWSY it all became much clearer.
and the rise my not be a large but SD alone should produce a superior bread taste wise with great oven spring and crumb. Just get it in the oven at 85-90% proof and no more. If your schedule doesn't allow for the time then this recipe is as good as you can do, A small poolish might be better for the yeast part though.
I kind of figured that the rise would not be the same, which means I would have no way to know how long to bulk ferment to get an ideal loaf (assuming that following his procedures as stated would yield an "ideal" loaf).
I don't mind experimenting, but for my first loaves from a formula I wanted to try, I didn't want to alter the formula or have to guess at the the volume I should be seeing before the bulk ferment is over. And, as often as I read 85-90% proofed, I can't help but wonder whether that is something that can even be calculated. Certainly, it can't be calculated by me!
I can say that my neighbor and wife thought this loaf was incredible, so there is that! As for timing, I wound up baking four loaves that day, these two in the morning and two pure sourdoughs in the afternoon. Love them both.
You know what those cracks do to me! And we have a new moon! I will sleep like a baby dreaming of crust!
Wow, what a crumb! That actually looks soft. Nice crust all around! Yup, got me nodding at my computer screen.
The crumb is quite soft and perfectly moist, even for the following day's peanut butter sandwiches. Once it dries out, I'll add the jelly or honey, but none needed just yet. :)
Glad you enjoyed the photos!
David: How was the Overnight Brown vs. the Field Blend #2? Did you add the yeast to the Field Blend? It would seem that you could do it without the added yeast if you wanted to omit it. Interested in your thoughts on the comparison. If you had to choose one (they are both great, so I know this is difficult), which one would you choose? Thanks. Phyllis
I usually can't remember one loaf from the next, and usually I prefer the taste of the one I baked most recently because it is fresher.
That said, I will try to report back when I eat from the country brown today.
I did add yeast to the Field Blend because I was not sure how long the bulk ferment was supposed to be without the yeast. It was excellent with butter and made great sandwiches. If I had to guess I would say that the country brown has more flavor but I will confirm that tonight or tomorrow.
I had 1/4 loaf of the field blend left, so I made a sandwich out of it and then cut the Country Brown and made a sandwich out of it. Not the best taste test since the peanut butter interferes with the bread taste.
Both loaves taste very good. I can't be certain, but I think that the country brown has a bit of a tang to it while the field blend tastes a bit more of the wheat. I think the field blend loaves both were a bit taller.
I don't really know which loaf I prefer though, and fortunately, variety being the spice of life, I don't have to make a commitment!
Glad they were both so good. I am thinking about trying the Country Brown....Best, Phyllis
I find that it works well to start with 25 grams of the starter and dividing everything else by four as well, when making the levain. Not too much extra to discard.
Beautiful crust and crumb!
Between the Field Blend #2, the Country Brown and the Pain de Campagne (with added WW), there is more variation depending on the fermentation conditions (time and temperature) than anything about the formulas. I have enjoyed all of them.
At this point, my approach to Forkish's sourdough breads is to take the basic method and adapt procedures to the particulars of the competing time demands of each bake. I have yet to have a bad outcome.
David
For some reason I can’t see a picture of the crumb.