Whole Wheat Boule with a Sesame Crust
Hello everyone,
This bread is Whole Wheat Bread, from Eric Kastel's Artisan Baking at Home with the CIA.
This is a straight dough which includes whole wheat and honey. After shaping the boule, it was sprayed with water, gently picked up, turned over & rolled around in a bowl full of sesame seeds; then gently placed seam side-up in a cloth-lined banneton for final proofing.
After proofing & turning out onto a parchment-lined peel, the boule is misted & left to sit for a few minutes, scored, then misted once more before loading into the oven. (When misting, be careful not to get the parchment wet - I learned tonight that damp parchment doesn't slide well when trying to load the stone!).
I think the sesame seed crust is kind of pretty - and the loaf smells sweet and wheaty. We're going to slice it tomorrow for breakfast so I'll try to take a crumb shot then.
Regards, breadsong
Comments
That's a really nice looking loaf Breadsong! Great crust, colour, and shape . Looking forward to seeing the crumb shot after you've sliced it.
ATB,
Franko
Thanks for your nice note. Here's the shot! Regards, breadsong
Can't wait to see the crumb shot either
Good job
Thanks for writing! - here is this a.m.'s picture. Regards, breadsong
It looks really lovely and soft inside. Did you use the traditional push and roll kneading method or S&F? Is this 100% wholewheat or mixed with some white bread flour. For the wholemeal flour, did you use the kind that has wheat bran or simply plain wholewheat flour without the bran and bits. I'd really appreciate it if you could share the recipe so that I could try and see if I can make something as beautiful as your loaf. Many thanks.
Judy
Hello,
The recipe uses white bread flour (60% of total flour weight), and whole wheat flour (I used a stone ground whole wheat flour with all the goodies) for 40% of total flour weight.
You could probably use just about any straight white/whole wheat bread dough to make this; but other ratios in this formula were instant yeast (.8%), with honey (5%) and a tiny bit of malt syrup added for sweetener. Water used was 73% of flour weight (last ingredient, salt 2.3%).
I might try this again with a finer grind of whole wheat flour to see if it makes for a lighter (rising higher) loaf.
I used a Kitchen Aid mixer with a dough hook to knead the dough then after 1 hour's fermentation, did a S&F. Let the dough rest 15 minutes, shaped boules, coated in seeds, placed boules top-side-down in cloth-lined (not floured) bannetons and let proof for 1 hour before scoring and baking. Baked on a stone with some steam at the beginning, 450F for 10 minutes then 425 in a receding oven for another 15 or so until golden and crusty.
Thanks for writing! Regards, breadsong
Hi. Beautiful bread. Quick question: What do you mean by a "receding oven"? Just that you've reduced the temp? It's a term I'm not familiarw with....
Hi, I have seen the term mentioned a couple of times in recipes - I think it's intending to mean a gradual reduction in oven temperature (in this recipe from 450F to 425F during the second stage of baking). I'm thinking the recipe author does this so those sesame seeds don't brown too much. For this attempt, I was pretty happy with how the seeds "toasted" while baking. The loaf smelled amazing when it came out of the oven! Regards, breadsong
Thank you for the recipe and the clear instructions. It's a good thing I have recently started to learn to understand baker's % so I can make this bread according to the amt of flour I would like to use, esp. for first time attempts. Unfortunaely I don't have a mixer so I will have to rely on my hands :) I have used malt extract which has a very thick, almost glue-like consistency and wondered if your malt syrup would be the same, otherwise I may have to use a much lesser qty. of malt dissolved in my water first as the malt extract would def. not mix in the dough on it's own.
It is a good idea to coat the boule first and then turn it top side down for 2nd rise as I normally would do it before it goes into the oven and end up with lots of sesame scattered all around because I don't want to press too hard on the dough. Your way would enable the sesame to adhere better to the top with the weight of the dough pressing on the sesame seeds. I'm experimenting with a dark rye bread this weekend but will def. want to try your recipe next week
Judy
P.S. Did you spritz oven with water or did you use a bowl to cover the boule for steam? I don't have a baking stone but I'm told a cast iron hotplate can work just as well.
Hello Judy, I keep my malt syrup in the fridge, so it's especially thick and gluey! I find it's better to mix the honey, malt syrup and water together until combined before adding the other ingredients. The amount of malt is really small, just .5%. For steam, I use a spray bottle set to a fine spray - right when the loaf goes in and then a minute later. I also preheat a pan on a rack one below the baking stone, and pour 1 cup of hot water into the pan just after I've loaded the loaf. I remove the pan after all water has evaporated. I haven't tried to bowl technique for steam, in fact, hadn't ever heard of it until I read the post below, so I'll have to try that sometime. I hope you like your bread if you try making it next week! Regards, breadsong
Love the way the sesame seeds toast while the bread is baking. I find I can taste them more when they're on the crust, instead of in the dough itself. I'm partial to the texture of breads which use soakers, as you can see in the crumb picture below. My method is a bit simpler than breadsong's. I proof first, then spray the top with water, then pour sesame seeds on and gently pat them onto the loaf. Lastly, I score and bake under a large stainless steel bowl. Because I spray only at the end, there's no problem transfering the loaf into the oven with the parchment paper.
http://dragonspalate.blogspot.com/
Hello, that's a really nice crumb you've got there, and there's all that good stuff you've mixed in. Thanks for writing! Regards, breadsong
The sesame crust on your loaf looks perfect, very even. Proofing the loaf with the sesame covered side down probably presses the seeds into the loaf just right. I'll definitely try it, but because my dough is usually very slack, I worry about turning it upside down and rolling it around in the sesame seeds. I'll see if I can manage it. Thanks for the description, I learn something new here every day .
I hope this technique works out for you. I was grateful to learn the new technique too. Regards, breadsong
at producing a decent looking boule. I tried the the recipe and instead of kneading by hand, I used the s&f method and gave it 5 folds within the hour and left the dough in the fridge for 8 hrs plus another 2 hrs in room temp giving it the final s&f and resting the dough for 10 mins before shaping it into a boule. Gave 2nd proof 1 hr. to double and baked at 220c using a pan of boiling water for steam. The end product looks acceptable except for the scoring which still needs more practice. The crumb was dense and somewhat gummy/chewy with a touch of bitter aftertaste. Needless to say, I'm most disheartened with the outcome.
I intend to give this another go using the normal push and roll kneading method which I used on the loaf shown below. While this is not the best looking piece of work, as least it closely resembles a boule. Hopefully I can improve on the shape and crumb texture the next time.
Not one to give up I made another sesame loaf today using 300 grms of 60% wbf and 40% mixed grain flour to substitute for the whole wheat flour . I kneaded the dough using Bertinet's method and while my scoring technique still, I'm pleased to say that the bread tastes much better than the wholewheat version even though it doesn't look too good...
I just don't have what it takes to be a good baker.
Judy
Hi Judy,
I think you've got exactly what it takes to be a good baker, trying different flours, methods and techniques to get the bread you want. There are so many variables!
I've struggled with aspects of bread making, and have felt discouraged too. This is countered by the inspiration provided by so many talented bakers on this site.
I hope with trial and error I will be able to consistently produce decent loaves.
I admire your perseverance and wish you all the best with your baking.
Regards, breadsong
I started out thinking that I could knead this but found that the mixed grain flour which also had rye flour plus 73% hydration was a little too wet and sticky to knead after trying to push and roll the dough a couple of times. I think I will try this another time using the breadmachine to help with the kneading and see if I can get a finer/softer crumb.
I was unable to get my oven up to 250C and maybe I did not use enough steam. I baked the second loaf on a pizza stone but it was a little to large and went all the way to the back of my oven which may have affected the heat from rising and circulating properly. I will try this again with fine wholewheat flour without the bits and wbf another time and see if it can hold its shape better. Incidentally, how much flour did you use for your boule?
Happy baking, Judy