Semolina Rye Pain Au Levain
A friend of mine who traveled a lot, returned from a trip to Africa (Ghana I think) and announced "everything goes with everything." This meant apparently that one needn't fuss about colors or styles - one could simply wear anything with anything. I have begun taking that perspective with bread. Today I tried a formula where I baked with 68% bread flour, 16% rye, 15% semolina (not durum flour.) As I was mixing it up, I had doubts. Does everything really go with everything? The bread is baked. I still say yes.
The formula with 68% hydration, 95% bread flour, 5% whole rye starter.
| KAAP | 300 | 147 | 447 | 68% |
| Rye | 100 | 8 | 108 | 16% |
| Semolina | 100 | 100 | 15% | |
| Water | 385 | 105 | 490 | 75% |
| Starter | 260 | 24% | ||
| Salt | 12 | 12 | 1.8% | |
| 1157 |
Mix all but salt and autolyze for 1 hour. Add salt and mix. Ferment for 3 hours with two stretch and folds on counter. Cut and shape into batards. Proof seam side up in couche for 2 hours. Bake at 450F for 25 minutes with steam, 20 minutes without.
This is tasty but just slightly overcooked. I wish I'd removed after 40 minutes. Also I meant to steam for 20 minutes, not 25 but I made a mistake with the timer and then got distracted before I could correct it. I don't think that made a difference.
Comments
Hello Varda, Those beautiful loaves are boldly baked and I love the crust color.
The scoring is gorgeous, as is the crumb. I love how the scores opened up into such pretty teardrop shapes. Lovely!
from breadsong
BTW, I wish I'd had your red-and-white teatowel? tablecloth? for my recent miche shot...are those fleur-de-lys in the pattern? :^)
when I pulled that napkin out for the photographs. I am often mystified by the shape of the open scores. If I had better mathematical skills I'd try to figure out the geometry. Thanks for your comments. -Varda
What a lovely twins, Varda! Did you use an all white starter? what hydration was it at?
I used my regular starter which I keep at 95% bread flour, 5% whole rye. Recently I have been keeping it at 68% hydration. I had been going even lower - around 62% - but I upped it to make it easier to mix. I use the starter directly out of the refrigerator, then feed the remainder, leave on the counter for a few hours, then refrigerate until the next bake. I also use a fairly low ratio of total flour to old for the feeding - for this bread 2.5. Hamelman does a ratio of around 9 for his Pain au Levain. I have been taming this beast for awhile now. I feel like I finally have control over it. Thanks for your remarks. -Varda
A perfect breed, Varda. The crumb doesn't look like it's overbaked. Do you mean it's dry?
It's a subtle thing - if it were really overcooked the crust would be charred. I just thought a minute or two less and the crumb would have a bit more sheen. But I just had this for breakfast, and I am happy, so no use being too fussy. Thanks for your comments. -Varda
That's a good combination (the recipe reads well!) and is a good basic bread. I can taste all kinds of tweeks with herbs and spices! Easy too if you have the sourdough!
Good bake!
Yes a good basic bread. I can't specifically taste the semolina nor really see it in the crumb. I am always surprised that when you combine different grains they produce a whole new taste, so for instance a combination of bread flour, whole wheat and rye doesn't taste like a rye bread or a whole wheat bread. Same with this. Thanks for your comments. -Varda
Scoring was wonderful. The crumbs look great. It sounds and looks like one tasty loaf. A good combination of flours too.
Sue
http://youcandoitathome.blogspot.com
Thanks Sue. And it was healthy until I slathered it with butter for breakfast this morning. -Varda
Lovely looking bread. Lovely scoring. :)
Best,
Syd
Thanks so much Syd. -Varda
Very nice loaves, Varda! The scoring is remarkable!
Best wishes,
Akiko
Somehow slashing bread takes courage. I've finally worked mine up. Thanks so much for your kind words. -Varda
Hi varda,
Not that I've put them together, but I love to use both rye and semolina in bread. Tasty!
And Akiko is right about your scoring here too.
Very good bread
Best wishes
Andy
I appreciate your comments. And I used your insights from an earlier post to tweak my starter so I don't get bread volcanoes. -Varda
Hi Varda,
I love how your overall breads looks especially the shape went well with the slashing in my opinion. The semolina flour you are using is Atta durum flour, am I right? I have a small package of them because I make a lot of chapatti in spare time to give to my vegetarian friends. Thank you for posting the recipe.
Kimmy
Hi Kimmy, I didn't use Atta durum. Instead I used semolina which is more of a meal and intended for pasta rather than bread making. I have no idea why it came out reasonably well - perhaps just because I didn't use all that much. You could certainly try it with Atta but I don't know what would happen. Thanks for you comments on my shaping and slashing. I think it is all about proper fermentation. When you get that right the dough practically shapes itself and then the slashing is that much easier. But I meant to comment on your latest post because your bâtards were so beautifully shaped and scored - I think you are way ahead of me there. -Varda
Hi Varda,
Thank you for your clarification. My friends just gave me 10 pounds of Durum Semolina flour. I already see a couple recipes to use my flour including yours but I have to wait for a cooler weather for now. I think to get the slashing right in my case; it has to do with proper shaping and final fermentation. Thank you for the nice comments on my bâtards.
Kimmy
The crumb, crust and like Akiko says, the scoring all look beautiful and delicious!
Sylvia
I thought this was just a strange impulse bread, but it actually tasted pretty good and held up nicely over a few days. -Varda
Hi folks,
The description for this beautiful bread says “Today I tried a formula where I baked with 68% bread flour,...” The formula says KAAP - which I take to mean King Arthur All Purpose - which is admittedly a confusing beast, at 11.7% protein with AP in the name. Can you clarify? Thanks!
I actually created an account just because I needed to tell you how much I love this recipe! This is the first time I'm becoming aware of hydration, and this recipe results in fantastic results for a n00b. Thanks so much for posting!
So glad you like this. I had completely forgotten about this bread - it is 10 years ago after all. I'm glad it is working for you, and that you are thinking about hydration which is a clritical variable for bread. My thoughts on bread baking have changed so much over the last many years. I would never maintain a starter as described in this post, and would probably not mix (or even use) semolina with rye. But that's ok. I was experimenting back in the day, and that led to many other things. Hope you have a lot of baking ahead of you!
Varda