Khorasan Oat Sourdough Bread
This is a khorasan oat sourdough, a lighter bread than I usually bake. I wanted a light, soft crumb while still including as much fresh milled whole grain as possible. In "Tartine 3" Robertson explains how he accomplishes this by way of various additions to his basic doughs using high extraction flours, porridges, soakers, sprouted grains. So for this bread I mixed 300 g fresh milled high extraction khorasan flour with 700 g all purpose white flour, autolysed with 750 g water for 3 hours. Then I added 15 g sea salt, 250 g young l.evain (4 hours) and mixed with a series of stretch/folds to start the bulk fermentation; I did four more series of stretch/folds over the first two hours and left the dough to ferment. After the second series of stretch/folds I mixed in 100 g cooked coarse ground khorasan and 100 g cooked steel cut oats (hoping the little bit of oat porridge would help keep the crumb soft and chewy). I estimate the FDH about 85%. The loaves were pre-shaped, rested for thirty minutes and then shaped and coated with a mixture of rolled flaked khorasan/oats/sifted bran. I cold proofed the loaves overnight and baked directly from the fridge the next morning, covered 500 F for twenty minutes; 450 F for ten minutes and then uncovered directly on a baking stone 450 F for 20 minutes. I also used the same recipe to make enough dough for a a separate pan loaf - wanted to see how it would work for a sandwich bread.
The crumb shot
To bake the pan loaf I used a large covered roasting pan. pre-heated and then loaded with some ice cubes and a small container of boiling water and the pan loaf
I removed the loaf from the pan and finished it directly on the baking stone
Comments
You got amazing color on your crust on all of these. Your crumb looks excellent as well and it must be nice and moist from the porridge addition.
What procedure are you following to achieve the high extraction flour? I have been sifting with a #40 sieve and then remilling the flour on the lowest setting with my MockMill II which has been working very well. I could re-sift again but have not found it necessary with this procedure.
Great to see a post from you and I hope you are doing well.
Best Regards,
Ian
Hi Ian,
Thanks for having a look at my blog post, always appreciate your comments! Like you, I am using a No. 40 mesh sieve but I am only passing the milled flour through once; that's with my Fidibus (Komo) mill set at the very finest grind. Typically if I mill 100 g of wheat berries I will sift out about 85-90 g of flour and use the bran as a coating on the loaves. Not precise by any means but it works for me, that's what I refer to as "high extraction flour". Hope all is well with you and your family, have a good summer!
I love Khorasan flour. My usual bread has 25% Khorasan, 5% rye and 70% Bread flour. I feel Khorasan adds a lovely crust and crumb to any loaf.
hester
Your usual bread must be a very nice bread with 25% khorasan, that's pretty much the same bread I am baking including the 5% rye and 70% all purpose with some variations of course! Thanks for your comments Hester, happy baking!
those are absolutely the most beautiful loaves ! I love porridge breads and that is all I have been making. The moistness, as you say, is so appealing. I flake every grain I have in my pantry with good success. I'm so glad you posted this. c
Hi Caroline,
I agree, porridge breads are a favourite with me too, something about the custardy, soft, chewy crumb of a good porridge bread. You are much more ambitious than me flaking your own grains but it must be very nice to have whatever flaked grain you want on hand! Thanks for your comments.
What a beautiful loaf! Definitely one that I am going to bookmark and try in the future!
Thanks Danni, looking forward to your next bake. I hope your summer is a good one, lots of good bread, food and family time!
Khorasan is just so amazing and must try the combination with oats too...creamy, lacy and soft crumb...yum!!! Kat
Go for it Kat, the little bit of oat porridge will reward you with that creamy, lacy, soft crumb you like. Happy baking!
I have to bake a porridge loaf this week! Oat tastes rather bland to me, even when toasted, so I might sub it with toasted cracked corn. Your bread looks awesome as always. The gelatinized crust and springy crumb are to die for :)
Hey Elsie, thanks for the kind comments. I notice you have a new blog post up, looking forward to seeing what feast you've prepared this time...and of course the bread too!
I love love khorasan. I haven’t been baking lately, well not bread anyways. Lots of pizzas for the grandchildren and a neighbor who had surgery. Hopefully my starters haven’t bit the dust. But those are gorgeous loaves. Congrats!
That's the best kind of baking Sharon, the pizzas for the grandchildren and your neighbour, that's a great way to spend your baking time! There's not much better than giving or receiving fresh baking, whether it be bread, pizza, a pie, cookies...it's an international, cross-cultural gesture that's easily understood and eloquent without words. Thanks for your kind comments!
Do you remember how much of the dry coarse ground Khorasan and the dry steel cut oats you used? And how much water you put in to cook them? Thanks!
Hi Danni,
Again, I am not keeping detailed notes these days, only when I am trying something new or different! For this bread I remember coarse milling about 100 g khorasan, adding enough water to make a soupy mixture and then cooking until it was a porridge consistency like wet cement. I did the same with some steel cut oats, about 100 g with enough water to make another soupy mixture and cooked to a consitency like you might serve it for breakfast. When they were cooled I weighed 100 g of each porridge, mixed them and added them to to dough at the second series of stretch/folds, about 1 hour into the bulk fermentation. I think you have posted before about mixing additions at the start of the bulk fermentation and I also have tried that without much noticeable difference, as far as I can tell, so I say add the porridge when you want. As I posted, I estimated the FDH at about 85% for this bake; that going by how the dough felt after adding the porridge (I autolysed at 75% and worked my way up!). Hope that's helpful. You're an intuitive and skilled baker so I know this weekend's bake will be just fine, will watch for your post, happy baking Danni!
These loaves look yummy! I'm wanting to try. Question - what do you think is advantage to cooking the oats into porridge vs straight adding ROLLED oats + a bit extra water into flours for the autolyse? I've done that often in other recipes, gives lovely soft loaf. Never messed with porridge, so curious as to advantage of the extra step?
If you tell me to test it out myself, that's fair, just wondered if you had already done so.
And believe that you get a much tender crumb using porridge. I wasn’t sold until I tried it.