The Fresh Loaf

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Hamelman SD Seed Bread, as baguettes of course...

alfanso's picture
alfanso

Hamelman SD Seed Bread, as baguettes of course...

MTloaf touted this bread to me recently and while I didn't immediately get on the stick, I kept it off the back burner.  So here goes.

MT was right.  This is a fantastic tasting bread.  As I hand mix, it was a bit of a fight to perform French Folds, adding  two Letter folds at 50 & 100 min of a total of 150 min BF.  

Immediately divided and pre-shaped using my very recently acquired Abelbreadgallery method.  A 20 min rest and shaped.  Very easy and the dough, for all of its semi-stiffness, was a simple pleasure to roll out.  Couched and retarded for about 16 hours, and baked from retard with just a 15 minute warm-up.

Being a new formula, especially one with lot of seeds, I didn't know what to expect, but it baked just beautifully.

I kept to my brand new regimen of a 3 stage build for the 100% hydration all AP levain, limited my FF total to 125 with a 5 min. rest halfway, and continued to exhibit kid gloves on the subsequent handling of the dough.

This bread is surely a keeper.

 

 

~340g x 3 long batards, plus two teeny batards.  Just for fun. 

Comments

gavinc's picture
gavinc

I had not taken notice of this formula until I saw the beautiful rich russet colour of your crust and crumb. I checked out Hamelman's book and had a good look at the formula and process. Did you use the same seeds as in the formula? This recipe entices me as some seeds are roasted and the flax soaked. Definitely going to make this.

The scoring, oven spring and crumb look perfect.

Cheers,

Gavin.

 

alfanso's picture
alfanso

And used the same seeds.  Little experience with seeds other than sesame and those I only put on the outside.  Toasting then and sunflower seeds at 380dF for 5-6 minutes seemed like too much but 5 min did the trick.  Flax seeds get slimy but with a 3:1 ratio of water to seeds, no issues.  Order of business for me: water, levain, whisk, slimy seeds and water, whisk, salt, whisk.  and the the flours.  The water diluted the slime from the flax seeds efficiently.

Everyone has their favorite that they tout as the best taste ever, so I was ever so slightly skeptical.  But now I'm one of the converted.  Maybe not the best taste ever, but a truly fine bread.  You won't be sorry!

thanks, alan 

Benito's picture
Benito

Well those are classic Alfanso if I’ve ever seen them.  Gorgeous and you cannot have too many seeds in a bread for me.  Your usual perfect shaping, ears and grigne.  Great bake Alan.

Benny

alfanso's picture
alfanso

and maybe that'll be enough for you;-) .  These were pretty stiff to hand mix, made easier after the 5 min. rest period halfway through.   But by divide and shape time, the dough was quite obliging.  I don't think that I could have rolled these out to a full 21 inch length without either some NY or additional hydration at mix time.  Another bread that Mr Hamelman didn't design for baguettes, but they also work out just dandy.

thanks, alan

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

René's Rye, pages 140-143, Tartine Book No. 3.

From his Danish friend:

500 g flour.

335 g wet additions-  buttermilk, dark beer, dark malt syrup.

475 g water. 310 g leaven. 17 g sea salt.

925 g seeds, of which over 500 g are sprouted rye berries.

 

Benito's picture
Benito

WOW that is a lot of inclusions, really is seeds with bread.

Isand66's picture
Isand66

I'll have to check this formula out.  Your crumb is perfect on this one.  Great crust color too!

Best regards,

Ian

alfanso's picture
alfanso

mix for you - you might get bored!  But it is a really good tasting bread, and I love the crunch of all that crust.  The crust color is a bit perplexing as it is 95% AP, same as the much paler Vermont SD.  So it must be the tinting from the seeds that darkens the dough.

Thanks, alan

Isand66's picture
Isand66

I do bore easily !  

MTloaf's picture
MTloaf

Glad you enjoyed it. It's basically Vermont Sourdough with a seed mix so it must have seemed familiar. I don't blog breads that much but this is one I did do a while back. The crust is like the 5 grain bread that is one of the TFL gang favorites. i have burnt my share of seeds making this but that is where the flavor is when you nail the toasted part. It looks like you got that part just right. Golden flax seed are a nice touch and look better than the brown ones.  It is a sticky icky with the flax soaker and one I don't mind using a mixer for this one and the 5G

I fine example of Alfanso style.

alfanso's picture
alfanso

but even with a few more percent hydration, it is still a stiffer affair to mix than the much more compliant Vermont SD.  I wonder if the viscous liquid coming off the flax seeds tightens it up.  And while it has a nice openness to the crumb, it is nowhere as open as a Vermont SD can be.  

In order to get around the stickiness I added the flax seeds to the water and levain, whisked them, and then added the flours.  It made a fair amount of difference vs. the last time I tried to mix in the flax seeds at a later stage with Abel's recent offering.

This was a great suggestion because I was unlikely to even notice this formula on my own.  Okay, now you're off the hook for the remainder of 2020.  Originally I was going to hoard all three baguettes for ourselves, but at the last minute offered one to our usual bread recipients.  It was both too good to give away and too good to keep for ourselves.

thanks, alan

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

It sure looks awesome as a baguette! Glad you tried it in that shape. Enjoy!

alfanso's picture
alfanso

noticed had it not been for MT suggesting it.  a really fine find!

thanks, alan

pul's picture
pul

Seedlicious, enough said Alan!

alfanso's picture
alfanso

These seem to have more seeds than other breads that I've baked with seeds, however few that has been.  This is a real find.

thanks, alan

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Personally, I thought this bread was fabulous when I first baked it, back towards the end of the last ice age. I downgraded it to wonderful after I baked Hamelman's 5-grain levain. It's still a really good bread that is over-due for another bake chez moi.

Happy baking!

David

 
alfanso's picture
alfanso

previous bakes, beforehand, to get a feel for what others had said, I came across your glowing results first - and pretty much only one worth perusing.  Suffering the slings and arrows of reclassifying from fabulous to just a pedestrian wonderful must have been a soul-searing decision to have made.

How are things where you are?  Mike is reporting heavy smoke permeating through his house although Lodi is safe, but I'm worried about my close friend Matt who lives just east of downtown of Santa Cruz. 

thanks, alan

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

The smoke is heavy in the air. You can see it and smell it. I am not walking the neighborhood, and I am wearing a KN95 mask just to walk 25 feet from my front door to my mailbox. But I think it is worse in the Sacramento area, the Bay Area/San Francisco, the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Wine Country. I will be Zooming with siblings tomorrow, two of whom live in the Bay Area. Hope your friends are safe.

I don't have to wear an ankle monitor or anything, but it is otherwise like house arrest, between the fires and the virus. At least no one is talking evacuation from our city. (Knock on wood.)

But tell me again how many hurricanes are headed your way this week?

David

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

as of 8:50 pm EDT, sat, aug 22, 2020...

the two hurricanes gave up on Alfanso and are now headed for DanAyo. 

 Covid and wildfires. Covid and hurricanes.  Now all we need are some earthquakes and locusts.

alfanso's picture
alfanso

When we first moved here I checked out (studied would be too severe a word) the historical hurricane patters.  As it turns out, the majority, as with this next duo skirt around the peninsula and wreak havoc on the west coat of Mexico or the Gulf Coast States.  Either that or just as likely they take a northern turn and remain out at sea until they decide to attack the N. FL coastline and then ram into GA SC NC and beyond.  We infrequently get the brunt of it here.  The anomalies like Andrew and the 1925? beast are the outliers. 

My building is still 29 ft. above sea level and still ~2 miles inland.  So I figure we'l be long gone and back on the burnt out West Coast before we need to buy dugout canoes!

When you say you don't have to wear an ankle bracelet, is that an option the FPD gave you?

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

I don't look to the FPD for those. I'm a privileged white male. I'd get mine from Tiffany. Shreves is defunct. Lakin Bros. is long gone.

As to the house arrest, I blame the fossil fuel industry and their political tools, in large part. And ... don't get me started!

David

Elsie_iu's picture
Elsie_iu

Has the viscous solution led to a moister crumb? Just wondering if it could mimic the pre-gelatinization effect of porridge addition. I am particularly drawn to the shiny, springy crumb of porridge bread. Your baguettes seem to have this kind of crumb as well. 

Love the teeny batard rolls. What a perfect accompaniment to dinner. They would steal the show though :) And your baguettes are consistently magnificent, needless to say.

alfanso's picture
alfanso

is any moister than another bread's crumb.  My solution to avoiding the sliminess f the seeded water was to incorporate it immediately into the mixing bowl prior to adding the dry ingredients.  That may indeed mimic the job performed by a porridge.  It was just a lark that I decided to make a pair of dinner rolls, but as such, I liked the outcome and may do something like this more often.

thanks, alan

DanAyo's picture
DanAyo

Alan, please send me your sheet. I want to setup this jewel.

Thanks