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Jeffrey Hamelman's sourdough seed bread

LindyD's picture
LindyD

Jeffrey Hamelman's sourdough seed bread

My daughter’s birthday is this week and as she loves hearty, artisan breads, I decided to bake Jeffrey Hamelman’s sourdough seed bread instead of a cake.  

I used King Arthur bread flour and Arrowhead Organic rye.  The seeds were purchased from an organic food coop.  The recipe was tweaked a bit.

Day one (of three): Assemble the liquid levain, soak the flax seeds, and toast the sunflower and sesame seeds:
  

Liquid levain: 
4.8 oz. bread flour
6 oz. water
1 oz. mature culture

The recipe calls for a liquid culture.  I opted to try one ounce of my stiff sourdough culture straight from the refrigerator [it had been refreshed the day before] as an experiment.

Mix the levain and allow it to stand (covered, at 70F) for 12 to 16 hours.  The photo shows my levain about two hours after it had been mixed.

Flax seed soaker:   
2.2 oz. flax seeds
6.7 oz. cold water

After you’ve mixed the levain, place 2.2 oz. flax seeds in a container and gently add  6.7 oz. cold water.  Cover and let stand for 12 to 16 hours.   As the flax seeds absorb the water, the mixture will appear gelatinous.

Toast the sunflower and sesame seeds:
3.8 oz. sunflower seeds (shelled)
1.9 oz sesame seeds

The sunflower seeds were toasted on a cookie sheet in a 325F oven for about 20 minutes (stirred occasionally) until browned.  The sesame seeds were browned in a cast iron pan over direct flame.  Stir constantly or they’ll pop out of the pan all over your stove top.

The toasted  seeds were mixed together (smelling oh, so heavenly), moved to a glass bowl, then covered and allowed to rest overnight so the nutty flavors could meld.  

Day two:  Mixing, fermentation, shape, and retard:
1 lb. 8.6 oz. bread flour
2.6 oz whole rye flour
11.3 oz. water.  
.7 oz salt (1 T plus ½ tsp)
All (8.9 oz) of the flax seed soaker
All (5.7 oz) of the toasted sunflower and sesame seeds
10.8 oz. liquid levain (all of the liquid levain except for 2T [1 oz]) (I added all 10.9 oz.)

The desired dough temperature is 76F (see note at the end of this text).

All of the ingredients were added to my KA spiral mixer.  Hamelman instructs to mix at first speed for three minutes, then at second speed for another three minutes.  I think Bread was written primarily for professional bakers and that those mixing instructions are for a heavy duty commercial mixer, so I don’t follow them.

I used the first speed only long enough to make sure the levain, water, salt, flour, and seeds were well mixed, then let the dough autolyse for 20 minutes.  After the autolyse, the dough was moved to my counter top where I stretched and folded until it felt supple.

Bulk fermentation is 2.5 hours.  The dough next was placed in a bowl for the bulk fermentation.  I folded it twice at 50-minute intervals.

I retarded the bread on a full sheet of parchment placed on a three-sided cookie sheet.  These three loaves were placed in a large food-grade plastic bag and moved to the refrigerator. The recipe calls for two large loaves, but I prefer three smaller loaves.

Final fermentation: The final fermentation can be up to 18 hours at 42F.

Day three: Bake and cool.

These loaves rose nicely during the final fermentation and even while unbaked, the perfume of the toasted seeds was quite wonderful.

The retarded breads had about an hour’s warm-up time while the oven was preheated to 460F.  They were scored and moved to the hot oven stone, then half a cup of hot water was dumped in the broiler pan under the stone.  Total bake time was 45 minutes.

The fragrance of the cooling bread was awesome.

I’ll give myself a “D” for scoring, but at least it’s a small improvement.

I waited 24 hours before slicing the bread, to allow the flavors to combine and mature.  The mix of the sunflower, flax, and sesame seeds, combined with the caramelized crust, provides a burst of flavor that borders on smokiness.  I loved the taste, fragrance, and texture of this bread.

A different take on crumb:  The kids and grandkids claim that too many holes means there’s too little bread, so they call it diet bread.  This should make them all happy.

If you enjoy an aromatic hearty bread, I’d encourage you to try Hamelman’s SD seed bread.  It's delicious toasted for breakfast, or with a bit of unsalted butter with a salad.  Or even plain!

Now, about desired dough temperature.  If you have Hamelman’s Bread, you’ll have read pages 382-385.  If you’re not familiar with the term, it is a formula used to determine the correct temperature of the water to be added to your flour and other ingredients.  It makes a difference in the quality of your bread.

Rather than reinventing the wheel, I direct you to WildYeast's blog where she so masterfully covers the subject and even provides a free downloadable calculator.  (Thank you, Susan!).

Comments

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Hi, Lindy.

That looks scrumptuous! I love heavily-seeded breads, especially toasted. Yours looks wonderful. This kind of bread is als0 delicious with cheese.

I'd challenge your scoring scoring, however. I don't know what effect you were shooting for, but what you got looks pretty darn good to me.

David

JMonkey's picture
JMonkey

I made this bread in late fall, and, I agree, it's really delicious. Not so good for a sandwich, though -- there's just too much going on in the bread and it dominates whatever's inside.

Fantastic dinner bread, though. Very well done post!

goldrhim's picture
goldrhim (not verified)

Hi Lindy!

Those loaves look absolutely amazing!  I go to Panera Bread to get bagettes that look sort of like that and I absolutely love them.  I eat them with cut up cheeses and meats with a glass of wine for a fantastic relaxing snack.  I've been afraid of doing anything with grains or whole wheat but I am definitely going to have to try this one!

Thanks for sharing your pictures!

Tim

mountaindog's picture
mountaindog

Another Hammelman bread I must try now. I like to use flax seeds a lot so this looks great, beautiful crust and crumb and great photos documenting everything, thanks.

LindyD's picture
LindyD

I appreciate your kind comments.

David, you are the Lamé Master and if I could even come close to your scoring skills, I'd be a very happy camper.  I focused on getting a correct angle but still need lots more practice.

JM and Tim, you're right on that this is not a sandwich bread.  I do like the part about the wine and cheese!

MD, this was my first use of flax seeds in bread and I now understand why you like using them.  BTW, the recipient of the birthday bread was born in Monticello, NY.

 

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Hi, Lindy.

If you like this bread, you must try Hamelmans 5-Grain Levain. It also uses flax seeds, along with other goodies in a soaker. It has the most amazing, complex flavor. Note that that bread calls for cracked rye, which I can't find locally. I have substituted pumpernickel flour (coarsely ground rye flour) with good results.

So many breads. So little time. <sigh>

David

LindyD's picture
LindyD

Hi David, I looked at the 5-grain recipe tonight.   It looks good and has the added benefit of being retarded overnight, which is nice for my schedule.

What kind of oats did you use? 

Lindy

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

I used rolled oats. They have them in 2 thicknesses at the local Whole Foods Mkt. I used the thinner ones.

David

ema2two's picture
ema2two (not verified)

The 5 grain bread from a straight dough in Hamelman's "Bread"

It was the best multigrain bread I've made yet, and I was able to make it easily when I didn't have the foresight to prepare a levain. 

Now I gotta try what you made, Lindy!

Paddyscake's picture
Paddyscake

Lindy, that loaf looks so good! I was wondering if you knew if soaking the flax seeds increased their nutritional value. I've read that unless the seeds are ground they essentially pass right through along with their benefits. It's interesting that they look so gelatinous after the soak.

David..you could try subbing bulghur cracked wheat for the cracked rye. I realize you'll lose the ryeish flavor, but bulghur adds great texture.

Betty

LindyD's picture
LindyD

Thanks very much Betty.  I had never baked a seeded bread before and had no idea soaking the flax seeds helped.  That's good to know.

About the cracked rye, the natural food co-op is about 35 miles away and I don't know offhand if they stock it.  I do have rye berries, though.  And a grinder attachment for my KA.   Can I make my own cracked rye?    Only need 2.9 ounces.

Lindy

 

 

 

Paddyscake's picture
Paddyscake

I don't know if soaking flax seed would work the same as grinding..I was asking you !  : )

As for making your own cracked rye.. I have no idea. The bulghur was just a suggestion in place of the rye.

Betty

LindyD's picture
LindyD

One of my "duh" moments. I did a quick Google search and found this tidbit:

"Soaking the flaxseeds not only allows for a smoother consistency for smoothies, but it also assists in a more thorough breakdown of the seed into all of its health-giving components -- essentially predigesting the flax for you."

It that's good enough for smoothies, it's good enough for me and my bread.  Maybe that's what all that goo is in the soaker: predigested flax.

Paddyscake's picture
Paddyscake

for checking it out.  I guess a "duh" moment for me too, I could have googled it.

We really like seeded breads and I love the taste of flax. Nice to know I can just toss the flax in the soaker and get the nutritional benefits!

 

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Hi, Betty.

Funny you should mention! I did that once. I also love bulghur as a soaker in whole wheat bread. Chewy goodness.

David

holds99's picture
holds99

Very nice, Lindy.

Howard

LindyD's picture
LindyD

The nice thing about this bread is that it didn't lose it's fragrace or great taste even after four days.  All gone now...

susanfnp's picture
susanfnp

Those are gorgeous loaves and the idea of a birthday bread instead of cake is brilliant!

LindyD's picture
LindyD

I'm a great admirer of your WildYeast blog.  You have fantastic baking and writing talents.

tbednarick's picture
tbednarick

Wow, LindyD.  That bread looks amazing.  I really need to order a copy of Hamelman's books for myself.  The library kept asking for their copy back. :)

Tonya

LindyD's picture
LindyD

It's really a great book. Your library is more advanced than ours.  I think the only bread book they have is something from Betty Crocker from the 1950s.

The SD seed bread is really tasty.  I used a bit of will power and saved the two heels so I could try them as bread crumbs.

Lindy

hullaf's picture
hullaf

Nicely seeded looking bread, Lindy.  Hamelman's breads have always worked for me. This last week I made the TFL Handbook's similar Three-Seed Sourdough Bread version, the one by JMonkey with a whole wheat starter. My loaf seemed quite moist -- I'm wondering if I may have goofed on the hydration, and I used KA all purpose flour so that may have changed it. I've no pictures and it's already gone, my family ate it up quickly. The flavor of the seeds is what we like. From seeing your bread here I'm going to try it soon for comparison. 

I've also made Hamelman's 5-grain levain bread (using Red Bob's 5-grain cereal mix or my own mix) and that bread's taste is similar but I like this specific seeded bread better. Anet

LindyD's picture
LindyD

If you like seeded bread, I think you'll love this version. The fragrance alone is amazing.

I'm not really fond of whole wheat, which the TFL version substitutes for the whole rye, so I'll stick with Hamelman.  Same health benefits, but to me rye tastes better.

I want to try Hamelman's five-grain levain, but am still trying to find cracked rye. 

Would love to hear your comparison after you bake Hamelman's version.

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

I've never been able to find cracked rye locally. I've made Hamelman's 5-grain levain several times, and I agree that it's marvelous. I substituted pumpernickel flour for the cracked rye with very satisfactory results. You could probably substitute bulghur too, but you would be missing the rye flavor tone.

David

jkandell's picture
jkandell

I too have never been able to find "cracked rye" or "rye chops".  I just take rye kernals and loosely chop them in my coffee grinder.  Some it turns to "flour" but there are plenty of chops in there too.

LindyD's picture
LindyD

That's a very handsome boule.  

I hope you enjoy Hamelman's "Bread" as much as I do and have the opportunity to try some of his rye formulas.     Actually, just about everything in the book is wonderful and pretty much foolproof because he's such a great teacher.

 

avatrx1's picture
avatrx1

I have several grains here, but not all of them.  does it matter which ones you use?  I love flax, but have never 'soaked" it first.  I guess that would be a good thing to try>

-susie

LindyD's picture
LindyD

Susie, the flax seed soaker is part of the overall hydration of this formula.  It also softens the seeds and makes them more readily digestible.

Let us know how it turns out!

 

ww's picture
ww

Hi BImbonjones,

How was the crumb of the bread? Any photos?

I've made this twice now (the combination of seeds is just irresistible) and i did not manage to replicate the open crumb of my first attempt. But then again, i had an accident with my first attempt, and the hydration level was higher than the recipe's. My second, and proper, attempt yielded a crumb slightly tighter than LindyD's. Just wondering how it was for like for others.

Will try to post pics later this week

ww's picture
ww

Yeah, my crumb is somewhat like yours. I must try to take some pix before it's all gone.... And i agree that it's a very chewy flavourful bread. thanks!

ww's picture
ww

Hamelman sourdough seed bread

ww's picture
ww

drdudidu's picture
drdudidu

wonderful bread!

If I only could pass the smell on-line :)

And my sourdough works and smells wonderful

my first sourdough bread

LindyD's picture
LindyD

Lovely loaf - and yes, the aroma is fantastic.  Did you like the taste?

drdudidu's picture
drdudidu

I couldn't wait 24 hours. Waited less than an hour... and it tastes heavenly! the crust is the best I ever tasted

Thanks so much for the great instructions