Baking on a Fall Sunday
One downside to working as a baker is that it doesn't allow me time to bake during the week. So now everything gets crammed into weekends. And frankly, sometimes after a week at the bakery, I really don't feel like spending a day off baking more. And yet, inevitably I find my two starters staring at me ruefully, and so on a beautiful Fall day when the temperatures felt more like September than mid-November, I decided to do a series of bakes.
Below, from the upper left moving clockwise: a 72% rye with soaker, Vermont Sourdough, a batard and a boule of Polish Country Rye.
On Saturday I got started by mixing and then retarding overnight Hamelman's Vermont Sourdough. I've discovered that even with giving the bread an hour and a half proof before final retarding, it still needs an additional three hours the next day at room temperature to finish proofing. But, the finished loaf rose nicely in the oven.
Here's a couple crumb shots of the Vermont sourdough:
Saturday evening I prepared the rye levains and soakers for the 72% rye and the Polish Country Rye. I've become so fond of the added sweetness imparted by soakers, that they are now a routine part of my rye preparation. However, a couple weeks back I had my first experience with the dreaded 'starch attack' and this has led me to now add either part of all of the salt in my rye formulas to the soakers as a preventative measure.
This morning while the Vermont sourdough finished its final proofing, I began with the 72% rye because I knew it would have the shortest floor time before final shaping and baking. In using a high proportion of the water for the recipe in the levain and soaker I unintentionally created a problem I had not foreseen: my kitchen was cold this morning, and I found that the flour temperature and those of the levain and soaker were only about 68° F. But there was so little water to be added to the final mix, that it was not possible to arrive at a DDT of around 80°. This necessitated both extending the bulk fermentation from 30 minutes to 50 minutes, and setting the dough container on top of my then-warming oven to increase its internal temperature. Note to self: it's important to retain a sufficient amount of water for the final mix to adequately adjust DDT!
In any event, the jury-rigged proofing worked, and once the loaf was air-shaped (the hydration was at 80%) and placed in a pyrex baking dish, it required a little under 50 minutes before it was ready for baking. I baked if for 60 minutes, starting out at 450° and dropping the temperature by 25 degrees every 15 minutes, so that the oven temp at bakes end was 375°.
Here's the final result: it will sit for 24 hours to completely set and then I'll add some crumb shots. But it's already got a pleasant sweetness about it.
The Polish Country rye I altered slightly by upping the percentage of rye from its usual 15% to 30%. Even with that, this is a most agreeable dough to work with - it has the gluten development and consistency of wheat-based doughs, so there is very little of the stickiness associated with high percentage ryes. Final proofing after shaping one into a boule and the other a bâtard was about two and a half hours and it baked at 440° for 45 minutes. Here's some more shots of the final result - crumb shots to follow.
All three breads were baked using a combination of SylviaH's wet-towel-in-a-dish method and my lava rocks in a cast iron frying pan to generate steam. As the loaves and cuts indicate, I cannot say enough good things about Sylvia's simple yet effective work around for those who, like me, struggle to maintain steam in our steam-venting gas ovens.
So, at the end of a beautiful Fall day I sit at my kitchen table surrounded by a week's worth of wonderful and varied sandwich breads, along with a rich rye loaf that will accompany some good cheeses and spreads.
Not a bad way to unwind after all.
Larry
EDIT: crumb shots of 72% rye and Polish Country rye below.
Comments
Larry--
Those are beautiful loaves. I especially like the Country Rye Boule. Is that a formula that is posted somewhere?
Sounds like a nice weekend.
Glenn
The original recipe for the 15% Polish rye with soaker can be found here. I altered it by upping the percentage of total rye to 30% from 15%, and I also created a soaker that incorporated 120g of rye and 240g of water. Unfortunately, this was all scribbled on various bits of paper I can no longer decipher, so I don't have an overall formula to give you. If I can reconstruct this I'll post it up for you.
Larry
I think I'll try this (at 15% rye initially). I need to make a rye starter this week.
Glenn
Those are simply stunning loaves of bread. And your slashing is spectacular. I have only done a soaker one time and really need to do it again. You have me sold. c
Thanks trailrunner. I'm sold on the virtues of soakers. They add sweetness combined with a mildness to the rye. And since they are made up at the same time as the levain build, it's really no more work (other than boiling water).
Go for it!
Larry
Hello Larry, You achieved gorgeous results with your bakes...that Polish rye boule and batard are so beautifully scored and your other two loaves look really good too. Nice job juggling the clock and formulae! PS love the picture of the leaves! From breadsong
Thanks breadsong!
The Polish Country Rye is my favorite from "Local Breads," but it barely qualifies as a rye bread. I like what you've done with it.
I have a tentative deal with brother Glenn to introduce him to rye baking over Thanksgiving weekend. If he sticks to it (hee hee), I'm sure he'll turn out some great loaves. I'm thinking about doing the Hamelman 80% rye with a rye soaker again but using pumpernickel flour rather than dark rye.
David
Thanks David! I've been watching Glenn's growing prowess, so I think Thanksgiving would be an opportune moment to get him stuck on rye.
Hope your's and your family's is a wonderful holiday.
Larry
Thanks David! I've been watching Glenn's growing prowess, so I think Thanksgiving would be an opportune moment to get him stuck on rye.
Hope your's and your family's is a wonderful holiday.
Larry
I'm happy to get a lesson in wry flowers. But Larry's 30% sounds better to me than a 80% punkernibble. That way I can dip my toe in it, rather than having to be totally soaked.
Glenn
Let him stay a virgin. Glenn, don't come to the dark side... keep your innocence!
Larry, enjoying your photos! :)
Since David started this punnery, I think it's safe to say that if Glenn just sticks his big toe in, he may find himself stuck on rye. But it certainly doesn't hurt to wade into this fascinating grain (versus the big leap to 80%!).
Larry
I kept it in a jar for a long time, and added flour and water. I forgot about it and now its gone bad.
Glenn
Just don't let the rye know you're scared of it. It will smell your fear and get aggressive. Think of quicksand. The more you struggle, the faster you sink.
Hmmm ... I guess that analogy isn't so reassuring.
Well, with my expert guidance, you will triumph! Or, at least, survive.
The first step is to accept that rye is wet clay, not bread dough as you know it. (Why rye bakers never adopted the potter's wheel for shaping loaves is a mystery.) Once you've seen me handle the dough once, you will be fine.
It's like what they told me in surgery: "See one. Do one. Teach one."
Okay. 70% rye. Take it or leave it. How about this one? Hansjoakim's Favorite 70% Sourdough Rye
David
I have no fear of clay. I just don't like to eat it so much.
No offense to you, or Hansjoakim or Larry or anybody, but I'm just not that crazy about that sort of rye bread.
But, if that's what you want to teach me, I'm happy to learn. I think you should teach me and Stephanie to make Challah. But, it's your kitchen. So you decide (that was passive-aggressive, in case you didn't recognize it).
I guess learning surgery isn't one of my choices.
I just started a rye starter this evening, so I'll make Larry's delicious-sounding Polish Country Rye this weekend.
Glenn
I think it's better for turkey sandwiches than rye, anyway. And it's fun enough to possibly get Theo and Naomi involved. Challah was already on my Thanksgiving to-bake list. (Pg 7, No. 3).
David
Maybe bake a challah loaf and some double knot rolls, too? And that beautiful Apple Crostada. And a Tartine Country Bread. And....
Droolingly yours,
Glenn
Your crust , crumb, slashes...just a gorgeous display...the rye sounds delicious! I was just visiting the book store and, if these loaves would have been ona cover , it would have been the best looking bread book cover in the store. I would have bought it. It takes a lot of planning to pull a great loaf out of the home oven...I'm glad you got that gas breathing dragon to let off some steam : )
Sylvia
I've been doing these same breads for a year now and FINALLY I'm getting the oven spring and cuts opening the way they do at work!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and Mike -
Larry
Lovely in every conceivable way! LArry! You are such an inspiring baker.
Iam curious as to your ways of "airshaping". how do you do it?
Thanks Mebake! I stole that term from Mini actually. With really wet doughs you can shape them on the counter, but once you go to transfer them to the pan...all is lost. So I just wet both hands, pick up the dough and treat it like wet clay. Rough shape it so that it will fit my pyrex baking pan, and then plop it in and pat it down.
Works like a charm!
Larry
Exemplary, beautiful breads. The crumb shot is as good as it gets.
Appreciate the praise louie brown!
I'm becoming intrigued with this steaming method. It could be the new oven vents more effectively than the old oven because I am having a little trouble with the cuts opening that I hadn't had before.
Hm.
Anyway. Still tweaking away at some formulas. Learning a lot.
Again, nice bread...
I think you'll find that this is an exceptional (and exceptionally easy) way to guarantee continuous steam (until you decide to remove the pan and cloth).
Larry
I'm off to my cookbooks to find a recipe with soakers.
Pam
Pam - I think you'll discover a whole new world with them. They allow such a range of complexity of flavor and texture - and like preferments, they backload your final dough with all of this.
Larry
Despite the eulogies of others they all (perhaps not the rye) look far too dark for my taste.
If I baked bread like that I'd consider them burnt.
Mary
I bake most of my breads in a hearth style, Mary. Which means bold bakes and darks crusts. I like the flavor that's developed through this method and so I stick with it.
But I know many folks who would comment as you did.
Larry
Very nice Larry. The crumb shot looks amazing. I especially like they even spacing on the holes. So often I end up with evidence of growth at the top or bottom.
Eric
The Vermont Sourdough yielded the best crumb I've ever achieved with this bread. I'd love to attribute it to my finesse and virtuoso techniques....but back to reality.
I think the retarding and extended proofing period contributed greatly to the evenness of the crumb. And a good bit of luck!
Larry
Top notch baking session, Larry. Agree with Eric
All of them are very fine loaves indeed!
BW
Andy
Last week I ended up with gummy rye and an underproofed Vermont Sourdough. What a difference a week makes!
Best-
Larry
Beautiful autumn leaves, beautiful breads - wow, that crackly crust is amazing!
Fantastic crumb; the shape of the bread in your crumb shots remind me of the leaves.
Glad to see your lovely silver sugar bowl in the photos, Larry.
It got a special (i.e., long overdue) polishing for the photo session :>)
Larry
especially when they came from a home oven! They are so PRO! If you don't mind me asking, what kind of oven do you use? And what is a day working in a bakery like? You're so lucky that you get to use the real tools, instead of the 'toys' we play with at home.
Thanks for sharing.
Yippee
I'm using an old GE gas oven at home. What is a day in a bakery like? Well, I'm about to go to bed having mixed 1500 lbs. of dough today, so the word that comes to mind is...exhausting. But I learn more each day.
Larry
Hi Wally, I can't imagine 1500 lbs. of dough! Ugh, who does the lifting? Your breads are truly amazing, your concentration must be excellent to juggle that many loaves with their different handling etc. Crumb pictures are beauties, and your dark crakcling crusts, wow. Sure beats raking leaves. I am going back for a longer, or is that longing, look. Ray
Thanks Ray! The lifting is done by me. The dough is my own personal trainer you could say.
Larry
Hi Larry,
Sorry to get here so late, but I wanted to tell you how great all of your breads look.
I totally relate to the 'bake at work then bake at home' issue you mentioned. What motivates me most of the time is that where I work I never get to make what I call 'real' bread, unlike the type of bakery you work at. But still, it can be difficult sometimes to get at it when you finally get home and off your feet.
What Eric says about the crumb shots is right on the mark for me as well. I particularly like the one of the Vermont Sour. Looks to me like you had a perfect fermentation, judging by the uniformity of it. Really nice!
The Polish Rye looks like one I'd like to try soon. Thanks for providing the link.
I always enjoy your posts Larry, not only for the bread but for the beautiful photography as well.
Cheers,
Franko
My home baking is inspired by the same things as yours: we do a lot of artisan baking at work, but it's not always the breads I love or would love to learn. So every weekend I'm torn between wanting to relax and wanting to pursue my passion.
The Vermont sourdough was so perfect, and yet I have to chalk it up as much (or more) to luck as skill.
Try the Polish rye - and go for a 30% rye (with a soaker). It's really good!
Larry
and nice crumb too! very nice bakes, Larry. Didn't know you're a baker, wow.
i love soakers too. I first tried one with a Hamelman bread and i agree it gives such incredible taste.
I just failed miserably to shape a very wet dough into a boule. What do you do when it's a freestanding one i.e. not baked in a pan. I had mine just spreading on me.
Thanks for your comment. The main reason I use a bread pan with high hydration ryes like this one is to achieve a higher profile than otherwise possible.
The next best solution is shaping in a brotform or banneton, but even then once you turn out the loaf onto your loader the dough is going to spread out. If you have a copy of Hamelman's Bread you'll find a picture of a gorgeous boule of 80% rye. But it has the profile of miche, which is what you'll get.
Finally, if by 'freestanding' you mean a loaf shaped without benefit of a form (brotform or banneton), then you're just involved in a disasterous undertaking with any high hydration dough, especially ryes.
Larry
has made me chuckle out loud! I am currently attending a week of breadmaking classes at John Campbell Folk School in North Carolina, having a fun and very instructive experience. I brought my camera and hope to have pictures to post after I get home.
Yesterday we baked an Onion Rye, the first time I've had it, and I fell in love!!
Does anyone else have a favorite formula?
Sue
Daisy_A- Thanks so much for your comments. I was well pleased with this bake, because everything turned out nicely. At home (and even at work) that doesn't happen often enough.
Best-
Larry
Hi Larry,
See Kaplan on this, it is a French term. It is about good crumb structure in a finished loaf revealing well fermented dough. I think it would be a part of the "aspect" which Jeffrey Hamelman refers to in his section on judging good bread.
BW
Andy
That cleared up a mystery to me.
Enjoy your weekend!
Larry
Hi Daisy_A,
Yes, even with my schoolboy Latin [failed "O" Level, 1981!], I should have recognised the latin word!!
Thanks for adding this
BW
Andy
Larry--
I have enjoyed making the Polish Rye. I used 20% Rye, adding more to the soaker and adjusting the water in the final mix. And for the white flour, I am using the just-acquired Central Milling Co. Organic Artisan Bakers' Craft (Malted) flour. But otherwise I'm following your formula. I am using the tried-and-true steaming combo of Sylvia's Magic Towels and cast iron pan with lava rocks. I just removed the steam (baking tip: remove glasses before opening steamy oven if you want to see what you're doing). The loaves have sproinged better than any I've baked before (pictures and descriptions to follow on blog).
Can't wait to taste it (I have decided that six hours of cooling will have to be enough because I'm opening one of the loaves tonight).
Thanks for this great bread (tactilely and visually great is confirmed; great tasting yet to be confirmed).
Glenn
Pages