March 6, 2019 - 4:14pm
Fermented Oat Sourdough
This is today's daily bread...made with rolled oats fermented overnight with levain and water before being mixed into a rye/spelt/Marquis wheat dough along with some chopped almonds; shaped loaves were dusted with sifted bran and some sesame seeds, cold proofed overnight and baked this morning direct from the fridge in pre-heated DOs.
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Another masterpiece with all the blisters, ears, scoring and color. How about the flavor, did the fermented oats add some notes?
Yes, the fermented oats play nicely with the fresh milled grains and almonds. I like a not too tangy sourdough and wondered if the fermented oats might make it more so but they have a nice mellow background flavour that works well in this bread. Fermenting the oats and mixing them in as an addition seemed like a good idea from a nutritional perspective but it's nice that it tastes good too! Thanks pul.
That is one amazing loaf!
I've been playing a little, exploring soakers, but would never have dared to ferment the rolled oats with the levain. I must try that!. If I typically pour boiling water over the rolled oats, would I need to do that, then mix the cooled soaker with the levain, or just add the rolled oats and their water to the levain build?
I don't have access to the flours you use, nor do I own a mill. But the fermented oat thing has my wheels spinning (as a matter of fact, I've got a soaker soaking now and a levain building. Now I want to go home and mix them together to see what happens during the final build!).
Beautiful, beautiful bread.
Keep on baking,
Carole
Thanks Carole. I did exactly what you've done, set up a soaker with boiling water over the rolled oats, just enough to have a porridge consistency when cooled and then added in a couple of spoonfuls of a nice active starter. Mixed well, covered and left in a warm place overnight (or longer if you like more tangy-ness in your bread). A note here, this was not the levain, it was a fermented soaker addition. I used a young levain (4 hours, 25%) so as to compensate for the anticipated extra tang from the fermented oats. It sounds like you are not afraid to experiment with your breads, I hope you try adding some fermented oats to your next bake. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!
I'm glad I waited for your response, I was all ready to go off half-cocked and dump my levain into the soaker and stopped myself only when I remembered that the soaker had all the salt for the bread in it. So I held off. But will definitely put this into practice on the next "full" bake (I don't count mid-week do-nothing breads as a full bake :-D)
I love seeing your loaves. Keep on baking and thanks again.
Carole
PS, I did use a young levain on this bake, and quite like the results. I'm not a big fan of sour, so the flavor suited me just fine. I also find it easier to keep track of than waiting for a peak and fall…
In Tartine 3 Chad Robertson calls this method "double fermented." What an impressive result.
Love the colour you got on that loaf! As well as a great ear! And I know it is delicious because every loaf that I have made following your ideas have been scrumptious! Well done!
Hi Danni, It's been awhile since I posted anything but I have been baking, lots...it's good medicine, right? I hope you're well, it's been a long winter out your way. Always an encouragement you are, thanks for your kind comments!
I'm also intrigued with the fermented oats. Now I might have to try it too. Nice bake!
I think you will be happy with it, looking forward to seeing your fermented oat sourdugh bread!
that makes it want to reach for the sky. Same thing with potato flakes. If you would have put both in this bread it would have knocked low flying geese out of the air and no one wants that if it isn't Christmas Goose time!
This bread has everything we bake bread for without all the bird killing too.. Well done and happy baking CM
Disclaimer: "Absolutely no geese or other birds were harmed in the making of this bread"
And you're right there's something about oats or oat flour in bread, especially mixed with fresh milled grains, that makes for a really lively and active dough. There's lots to like about oat bread and variations on that theme, thanks Dab.
I'll have to try fermented porridge soon! Btw, I re-read your past posts yesterday, paying more attention to the formula than before. I noticed your salt incorporation seems exceptionally low, like 1.33% excluding the porridge. Is that for taste, structure, health concern or other purposes?
Would love to see more of your posts! Even better if there's a crumb shot :)
Thanks for reading through my past posts Elsie and yes, the salt amount in my bread has changed over the years from around 2% to 1.5% (final dough percentage); for taste, structure, health! This is a personal preference and I am not advocating this as the "correct" amount of salt by any means. There are many more talented and knowledgeable bakers on this forum that use different amounts of salt depending on the type of bread they are baking. This TFL post might be of interest: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/56446/myth-about-salt-and-yeast-true-or-false.
And....a crumb shot
I've been paying more attention to the salt % in a formula because I was informed the need to adjust it according to the % of whole grains. Some claim that a higher salt % is needed as the % of whole grains increases. I typically use around 1.5% salt as well for all my 100% whole grain bread so I'm wondering if raising it would be beneficial to dough structure...
That crumb looks pretty moist btw!
I took a chance at trying the fermentation of the oatmeal soaker and just posted. i am so pleased. It made the sweetest smelling soaker the next day. I used my apple yeast water .The one mistake I made was in not allowing for the SPEED at which it all went up with the YW and the spelt involved. Will post a crumb shot tomorrow. Can only hope for a bread half as lovely as yours. c
I’ve just discovered how inspiring the blogs are. As I am a relatively newbie to bread baking and m ost of what everyone talks about is way way over my head, I love to experiment but with directions. Your bread looks amazing!
Thanks Sharon
Hi Sharon, I will pm you the recipe later this evening when I get home, bit of a delay getting back to you on this, sorry!
One (or at least I) can either bake or post, but not both -- sorry it's been so long to give you feedback on this wonderful addition to just about anything I bake on my own (sans recipe, that is).
Thank you so much for having shared that.
hi Cedarmountain just two questions:
1. what was the ratio you used for fermenting your rolled oats
2. when double fermenting do you halve your levain i.e. 12.5% wheat levain / 12.5% fermented oats
Ive been looking around and did find a welsh website where they made an oat starter for people with gluten intolerance. Basically they gave the oats to the yeast as a wheat substitute. Do the fermented oats work the same way i.e. does it help leaven the bread or is it simply for added depth of flavour and texture?
many thanks
Hi mutantspace,
Sorry for the delay/late reply...I have not been on the TFL blog site for a few weeks. Further to your questions - I don't stick to a particular ratio when fermenting the rolled oats, I just mix in a few spoonfuls of starter, give it a stir and leave it for at least 8 hours or overnight on the counter; I use my regular amount of levain for whatever bread I am baking regardless of whether or not I am adding fermented oats but you have to keep an eye on the bulk fermentation and be flexible in shaping/proofing times. Hope this answers your questions and happy baking!
I've been dumping porridge and a little extra starter in my midweek do-nothing breads. Works a treat, can't thank you enough!
Looking forward to your next bake,
Carole
You're very welcome Carole! There's so much to try, so many variations and themes to follow and fermented additions are just one of many things to experiment with. And I see from your last blog post you have been keeping yourself very well-occupied with whatever catches your interest, some very nice bread indeed! The crumb on the oat bread looks really delicious and inviting. Thanks for sharing your baking on TFL, you do us all a service sharing your bread adventures and what you are learning with the rest of us!
David