How to make sure seeds are distributed evenly between loaves?
Hello there! I am trying to scale up a recipe that calls for 30g of pumpkin seeds per loaf.
My current process (in a nutshell) is: make pre-ferment, mix/knead dough, do 3 stretch and folds at 45 minute intervals, pre-shape, shape, cold proof overnight, then bake. I add in the seeds during the second stretch and fold, rolling it up in the dough then kneading a few times to distribute the seeds evenly.
My worry is that once I scale this recipe up to make around 12 loaves/batch, I'll end up with loaves of varying densities (in terms of how much seed there is per loaf), or worse, when I go to divide the dough based on weight, each loaf of bread will bake up to be a different size since the weight of the seeds, if distributed unevenly within the dough, will give me an inaccurate idea of how much actual dough there is per loaf.
Is there any way I can knead in the seeds after I've divided the dough, during the pre-shape? So that each loaf has exactly 30g of seeds? Has anyone tried this before?
Thank you!
Can you divide the dough up right before you’re about to do the last stretch and fold then put your seeds in and individually do the last stretch and folds?
That way you don’t have to handle and overwork the dough after bulk fermentation.
Ahh! What a great idea!
Can't believe that didn't cross my mind before. Thank you, will try it, think it should work!
Are you anticipating a problem that might not arise? In my own experience, I have never noticed a difference in seediness among 8-10 loaves despite adding all the seeds in one go before the bulk fermentation.
Without going to the expense and difficulty of making a batch of 12 and picking out the seeds from each one to ensure uniform distribution, I'd just try it and see whether you need to worry further.