95th bake. 07/30/2022. WW, whole rye, BF, IDY, seeds.
July 30, 2022. 95th bake.
200 g, 55.6%, home-milled hard red winter, generic.
45 g, 12.5%, home-milled hard white spring, Prairie Gold.
70 g, 19.4%, home-milled whole rye.
(87.5% whole grain.)
45 g, 12.5%, Gold Medal bread flour.
(360 g total flour. Was going for 350, but dough was too wet, so I added 10 g of bread flour. )
6.4 g salt.
221 g spring water. + 90 g spring water.
1/4 tsp Fleischmann instant dry yeast.
6.3 g bread spice, toasted, then ground. Weighed after toasting and grinding.
10.5 g mix of ground flaxseed and ground chia seed.
Topped with a mix of raw brown sesame seeds, raw black sesame seeds, raw poppy seeds, and raw chia seeds.
Baked in a Lodge cast iron loaf pan, ( https://www.amazon.com/Lodge-BW8LP-Seasoned-8-5x4-5-Black/dp/B0971NWGPM?tag=froglallabout-20 )
inside coated with Crisco and dusted with durum semolina. Baked in a toaster oven, 15 minutes at 350 F, 28 minutes at 400 F. Internal temp of 207.6 when done. It fell right out of the pan when done, no sticking at all.
First part of bake was with bottom heating elements only -- top and bottom heating elements were used for the last 15 minutes.
There is a 9" round pizza stone on top of the metal guards of the lower elements, but underneath (and not touching) the oven rack. The stone does not touch the heating elements. Being round, it does not cover the entire heating elements, maybe 3" of each one. This is enough to shield the bottom of the loaf pan from direct radiant heat of the lower elements. The loaf pan sits on the oven rack, a fraction of an inch above the stone.
Comments
I'm curious about the Lodge bread pan. Did you proof in it? In fridge or..... Do you cover it in the oven a la Steve Gamelin method?
It looks like a nifty pan!
Mary
And at room temp.
Baking was uncovered throughout.
I should have covered the loaf pan in foil in the toaster oven for the first half of the bake. The top is pale. My two previous loaves with similar formula were also pale, which I ascribed to over-proofing. But this loaf was not over-proofed.
So I'm going to need to steam the toaster oven, or cover.
I don't like the brown and black sesame seeds as much as I thought, but the bread is delish. On the 2nd day, the exterior seeds taste better.
I didn't think all this red wheat would be so tasty, but the bread spice, the ground flax+chia (on the inside), and maybe even the rye, all made it tasty.
--
There's not enough head-room in the toaster oven for the loaf to expand above the rim of the pan. So I may use the same formula and make a boule next time.
DEElicious. As mentioned above, the seed toppings tasted better the 2nd day.
The crumb is not open or lacy by any means, but it is not dense.
There is flavor to it, from the bread spice, the rye, and the ground flax and gound chia that was added to the dough. The crumb tasted better on the 2nd day, too.
The top crust does taste a bit "not as good as the rest" due to being dried out, as it was baked uncovered and without steam. The side and bottom crust is fine.
Oiling the inside of the cast iron loaf pan with Crisco before baking does a great job of seasoning. I pre-heated the pan slightly so that the semi-solid Crisco melted as it was spread on. The loaf was already loose at the end of baking, as I felt it shift. The "used" durum semolina wiped right off too, after removing the loaf and letting the pan cool. I see why people like these cast iron loaf pans.
The pan is currently available at Amazon for $20, https://www.amazon.com/Lodge-BW8LP-Seasoned-8-5x4-5-Black/dp/B0971NWGPM?tag=froglallabout-20 . Also available at my local Kroger for about the same price. (The photos above are an earlier model, the 4LP. The current model, BW8LP, is slightly different, and is longer due to the better handles.)