A Fruitful Weekend
Last weekend I finally had time for baking, after a long and exhausting week. Continuing the exploration of Hamelman's book "Bread", I ventured into the Detmolder method section. I love ryes and I love a good challenge, so naturally the three-stage 90% rye had to be made. My rye starter is always very lively, but to my surprise, it was going out of control by the end of the third build. The final dough was a sticky mess; in fact, it resembled clay more than any sort of dough. Hamelman warns not to add more flour even if the dough is tacky. I stuck to his advice. This is what came out of the oven.
I waited a day before cutting into it to let the crumb set fully. This loaf was sweeter than any other rye I've made before. The crust was delectably crunchy and almost nutty. The crumb was dense, as could be expected of a 90% rye, yet moist and airy.
That same weekend I also made a whole wheat muligrain (pg.169). Hamelman recommends some grains, but leaves the choice largely up to the baker. I used a combination of wheat and rye berries, corn meal, millet, and sunflower seeds. The flavor was incredibly rich and deep, with a tender whole grain presence in the middle and a lingering sweet honey finish.
And finally, there was a Vermont sourdough (pg. 153), also delicious. The dough was a pleasure to work with. This book is a tremendous resource, I can't recommend it enough.
Comments
Beautiful loaves, especially that 90% rye. How do you control for temperature with the Detmolder system? It's always intrigued me, but I never found a reliable, cheap and relatively hassle-free way to accomplish it.
That's high praise, coming from someone like you! I didn't do anything complicated. I just found areas in my kitchen that were warmer than others. For instance, for the last build, I put the bowl with the starter on a shelf above a radiator, where the temperature was around 82 degrees. But even those simple steps were enough to produce the internal dough temp that Hamelman specified. Maybe I was just lucky?
You know, from what I've read, Hamelman does it similarly. I'll try that, see how it goes!
Here's what put me off from doing Detmolder. I admire Samartha a lot, but he goes beyond even me in his bread obsession.
By the way, your other loaves look great as well. For the Vermont sourdough, was 2.5 hours enough for the 1st rise for you? With just a 15% innoculation, I find I have to let it rise longer ... but then, I don't get the huge gringe you got, which is really impressive. How was the flavor?
Had I seen this before trying this recipe, I probably would have been too intimidated too. I'm sure there are many things that I do that a professional or a very dedicated amateur would do differently. I work with the constraints that I have (limited budget, tiny kitchen in a rental apartment) to produce breads that nourish me. To me, that makes it a success. I bet if you tried, your Det. ryes would look and taste amazing. In the meantime, we all fantasize about that ideal kitchen with a hearth, a proofer, and many other things.
... than I used to be. Early on, when I started baking, I expected perfection from every loaf and followed instructions to the hilt, conseuqences be damned.
I finally discovered this was not so much fun after a while. I think I'm in the right frame of mind, now, to try a Detmolder ... a laid-back Detmolder, anyway. :-)
All of those breads are gorgeous!
I am going to hear the crunch of the Vermont SD crust in my dreams tonight.
David
What a great baking weekend! All of your loaves turned out very well. I also especially liked the 90% rye. I haven't done one of those in a while and that is such a good recipe.
I totally agree about Bread being a terrific resource. I think I prefer it above all other books I own.
I don't have a really warm place in the winter so I use a fish tank heater and a small pump to move the water to keep my temps where I need them. The last time I did a detmolder I put the heater in a cooler with enough water to float the bowl. Works for me.
Eric
with the fish tank. It's probably good for proofing, too? By the way, nice to see a fellow Wisconsinite here. I live in Madison and wish we had a Russian community here as large as in Milwaukee. Being Russian, I really miss our black bread, but Hamelman is helping me get that fix. I saw some threads here about Borodin bread, but have yet to try a recipe.
Ana
Hi, Ana.
How does this look?
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/7503/russian-rye
David
David, looks delectable. My list of breads to bake is getting longer! Oh, and your scoring tutorial was instrumental to getting the grigne on these loaves. Thank you.
Hi, crunchy.
Hey! I was really admiring the scoring on those batards - all of them. Hmmm ... This baker's got quite a touch with the lame!
If my tutorial helped you, it makes me very happy.
David
I'm grinning ear to ear (bad pun) after reading all of your complimentary comments. You all are way up there, as far as I'm concerned, so to hear your praise is really gratifying.
The Vermont sd. doubled in 3 hours. My kitchen was pretty warm at that point, which helped. Usually it takes a little longer than Hamelman specifies. And the flavor is great: not too sour, with just a slight tang and a sweet aftertaste. The crust is definitely my favorite part.
Crunchy,
A friend of mine who is Russian and a great baker gave me a recipe and method for Boridinski bread. I have made it a couple times but not with great results. My thought was that I would get the formula dialed in and perfect this delicious bread so I could take some to the old folks in the Shorewood area. There are a fairly large number of older Russians living there near our old home. I thought it would be a fun thing to do every so often as a surprise for them. Old home day so to speak. Sooo, I don't want to gag them with my early attempts and I haven't yet made a great looking loaf, but I haven't given up yet.
Glad to know you are a fellow WI baker.
Eric