The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Pugliese experiment

Joe Fisher's picture
Joe Fisher

Pugliese experiment

So I had to refresh my two starters today (Clyde - 100% rye, and Gertie - white flour), and don't have time to bake tomorrow. I remembered reading in the Reinhart book that you can replace the pre-ferment in a rustic dough with the barm from a white flour - no need to feed and activate first. Hey, I'm game!

So here's the recipe, from The Bread Baker's Apprentice (still my favorite book!):

biga 2cp/10.8oz Fancy or extra fancy durum flour and unbleached bread flour, in any combination (such as 50/50 blend) 2 1/4cp/10oz Salt 1 1/2tsh/0.38oz Instant yeast 1tsp/0.11oz Mashed potatoes (optional) 1/4cp/2 oz Water, lukewarm (90-100F) 1 to 1 1/8cp / 8-9oz

So after refreshing Gertie, I had about 9.5oz of leftover barm. I topped it up to 10.8oz with bread flour, and I had what looked just like a biga! Lovely :)

I used 50/50 bread/semolina flour for the second ingredient.

The dough is a very wet, rustic dough. Here's what it looked like after about 5 minutes on the hook:
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And after dumping it onto my very well floured counter:
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The dough gets pulled and folded, then allowed to rest for 30 minutes. This gets repeated twice more before a 2-hour bulk ferment.

I'm currently in my second 30-minute rest! More pictures to follow...

-Joe

Joe Fisher's picture
Joe Fisher

Even though one stuck to the cloth I was proofing it in, they both came out lovely! The crust is chewy, and the crumb is just gorgeous. It looks just like the picture in TBBA :) And the taste is heavenly. I love semolina flour in my breads. Must be my Italian grandmother!

The experiment is a success!

-Joe

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

rmk129's picture
rmk129

Beautiful loaves!!! I also appreciate the photos of the dough (and even the well-floured counter!)...it really helps me to understand the whole process much better. I can't wait until my starters get going so I can try out some of your recipes and "experiments"...thanks for posting the Swedish Limpa Rye recipe, too :)

Joe Fisher's picture
Joe Fisher

This recipe doesn't need a sourdough starter, if you want to try it in the meantime. You just need to make the biga the night before. LMK if you want the recipe for that.

-Joe

pincupot's picture
pincupot

Funny, I made this same loaf and I have to say, mine was not that successful. The crust is SO chewy that my husband has reverted back to childhood and eats only the center. The crumb for me looked good the second go-around, but lacks the full flavor I was after. My poolish sat in the fridge all day (our days are getting a bit warm, I think, for 'room temp) and on the counter all night.

I will keep trying.

When did you score the top of the loaves? With what - do you have a baker's razorblade?

pincupot

Joe Fisher's picture
Joe Fisher

I scored the loaves immediately before putting them in the oven. I use a homemade lame` made from a chopstick and a double-edged razor blade.

-Joe