Pecan Multi-grain Sourdough Miche

I love everything and anything that has pecans in it.  While I was at a local market called Wild by Nature which is similar to Whole Foods I stumbled on some pecan butter, and a couple of new grains I have not seen before.

These were Millet and Amaranth which you can find out more information at this neat website I found: http://www.wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101/whole-grains-a-to-z/.

I made a soaker with the Millet, Amaranth and some Rolled Oats and let it sit for about 1 hour.

I wanted to get a nice tender crumb so I used som 00 Italian style low protein flour and added some White Whole Wheat, White Rye, Wheat Germ and to make it even more nutty, I added some Hazelnut flour.  Oh, and I added some chopped pecans to round off the final bread.  If you don't like pecans feel free to substitute your favorite nut.

This dough ended up very moist especially due to the added water absorbed in the soaker but ended up rising very nicely in the refrigerator and ended up with some nice oven spring as well.

I decided to try one of my new baskets I found at Good Will so I formed the dough into 1 nice size Miche with the final bread weighing in at 3.5 lbs.  The bread ended up with a nice crunchy crust and open crumb.  The pecan flavor is not overwhelming and combined with all the other ingredients this bread has  nice mulit-grain, nutty flavor as expected.

Procedure

For the starter, I refreshed my standard AP white starter the night before and used most of it in this bake.  I have also included the ingredients to make the exact amount of starter needed from your seed starter.  Mine is kept at 65% hydration so adjust yours accordingly.

Soaker

100 grams Amaranth

100 grams Millet

50 grams Rolled Oats

276 grams Boiling Water

Mix boiling water in a bowl with other ingredients and let sit covered at room temperature for 1 hour or longer.

Starter

71 grams Seed (Mine is 65% AP Flour Starter)

227 grams AP Flour

151 grams Water (85 - 90 degrees F.)

Mix seed with water to break up for a few seconds and then mix in flour until the starter form a smooth dough consistency.  Put it in a lightly oiled bowl and loosely cover and leave at room temperature for at least 10 hours.  The starter should double in volume.  Put the starter in the refrigerator for up to 1-2 days or use it immediately.

Main Dough

Ingredients

425 grams Starter from above (all of the starter)

250 grams Soaker (all of soaker from above)

250 grams 00 Italian Style Flour (KAF)  (You can use AP Flour if you don't have 00)

100 grams White Whole Wheat Flour (KAF)

50 grams White Rye (KAF)

30 grams Wheat Germ

50 grams Hazelnut Flour

26 grams Pecan Butter

53 grams Chopped Pecans

400 grams Water (85 - 90 degrees F.)

18 grams Sea Salt (or table salt)

Procedure

Mix 350 grams of the water with the levain and break it up with your hands or a spoon.    Next add the flours and mix on low for 2 minutes.  Let the dough rest for 25 minutes and then add the soaker, levain, pecan butter, remainder of water and the salt and mix on low for 4 minutes.  Add the chopped nuts and mix on low for 1 additional minute.  Transfer the dough to your work surface.  Resist the urge to add too much bench flour (I didn't add any) and use a bench scraper to do about 5-6 stretch and folds.  Put the dough into a lightly oiled container/bowl and let it sit for 15 minutes.  Do another stretch and fold in the bowl.  Cover the bowl and let it sit for another 15-20 minutes.  Do this 2 additional times waiting about 15 minutes between S&F's.  By the last S&F the dough should start developing some gluten strength.  Let the dough sit out at room temperature for around 1.5 to 2 hours.  Do one last stretch and fold and put in your refrigerator overnight for 12-36 hours.

The next day take the dough out of the refrigerator and let it sit out at room temperature for 1.5 hours.  After 1.5 hours you can form it into loaves and put them in floured bannetons and let them rise covered for 2 hours (note: make sure to watch the dough and depending on the temperature of your kitchen and the refrigerator adjust your timing as needed).

Score the loaves as desired and prepare your oven for baking with steam.  I use a heavy-duty baking sheet on the bottom rung of my oven and I pour 1 cup of boiling water into the pan as soon as I load the loaves in the oven.  Pre-heat your oven to 500 degrees F. before placing the loaves in the oven.

Once the loaves are loaded onto your baking stone and you add your steam turn the oven down to 450 degrees and bake until both loaves are golden brown and reach an internal temperature of 200 - 210 degrees F.  For an extra crispy crust once done baking turn the oven off and crack the door and leave the loaves in the oven for another 10-15 minutes.  Once done place on a wire cooling rack and resist the temptation to cut the bread until they are sufficiently cooled.

For some of my older posts you can search TFL site or visit my other blog at www.mookielovesbread.wordpress.com.

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