Potato Porridge
Hey bakers,
This is my first post, so allow me to introduce myself a bit. Or skip to the bread.
I'm an environmental science student at UW Madison, long lurking here on TFL; finally decided to post a loaf. I spent last semester baking for a student-volunteer cafe (Slow Food UW, our university's branch of the international organization), and I am continuing that role this semester. I bake levain bread for about 250 people for our a la carte lunch service each Wednesday. I learned most of what I know from Tartine No. 3, experimentation, staging, and some e-mail mentoring via Dave Muller of Outerlands Cafe in San Francisco.
I was fortunate enough to spend much of my winter break in San Francisco, where I staged in the kitchen at Bar Tartine and behind the counter a bit at The Mill. I got my hands on the dough of both. I ate more than my fair share of crazy good bread, not to mention pastries (pain au chocolat!) and a handful of incredible dinners at BT at the end of service. I ate at Outerlands and shook Dave's hand, and I was also able to meet some amazing chefs and bakers, including Josey Baker, Cortney Burns and Nick Balla. I've been back in Madison for a week now, and the baking bug is biting hard!
A few days ago I made a bread in the Tartine No. 3 porridge style, using cooked, grated potato as the porridge.
The formula:
Item | Weight | Percent |
ASBF | 650g | 65 |
GBC | 350 | 35 |
Potato | 350 | 35 |
Water | 700 | 70 |
Leaven | 150 | 15 |
Salt | 29 | 2.9 |
ASBF is a local flour: Artisan Sifted Bread Flour (Lonesome Stone Milling, Madison, WI). Similar to T85, or so I am told. GBC is Giusto's Baker's Choice, a white flour with around 11% protein, from California. The potatoes (Russet) were boiled until the skins split, then cooled, peeled, and grated on a coarse box grater. The hydration only started at 70; I added extra after the autolyse, for a total somewhere right around 85% overall hydration.
The timeline:
Step | Planned Time | Actual Time |
Preferment | 12:30pm | 12:30pm |
Mix | 4:30 | 5:00 |
Autolyse | 4:40 | 5:10 |
Final Mix | 5:30 | 5:40 |
Bulk | 6:00 | 6:10 |
Preshape | 9:00 | 9:00 |
Bench Rest | 9:15 | 9:15 |
Shape | 9:45 | 9:45 |
Retard | 10:00 | 10:00 |
Bake | 7:00am | 8:00am |
Preferment is sourdough leaven/levain, mixed at about 100% hydration (sometimes a bit higher). For this, I use about 20g of ripe starter to 100g each of ASBF and room-temperature water. Retardation is done in refrigerator, right around 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake is in Lodge combo cooker, 500 for ~20 minutes, sealed; 450 for ~34 minutes, opened.
I really like this bread and will continue to make it. The crust is relatively thin and crisp, and the crumb is intensely creamy and moist. My first real success with a porridge style.
Happy baking,
Bradley,
IG/Twitter: @bmeilinger
Comments
Bradley,
How lucky you are to experience knowing and learning from such amazing bakers.
Your bread looks perfect and must taste great.
My question to you is why you would consider this a porridge bread. I love making porridge breads and have posted many of my own creations. I changed some of the techniques that Chad uses to my own routine and have had amazing results. To me a porridge needs to have some kind of grain mixed with water or milk. I happen to love potatoes and use them in many of my bakes as well, but they are not really a grain.
Sorry for maybe nitpicking as I said your loaf looks awesome but just wondering if I missed something.
Regards,
Ian
I call this a porridge bread because of the technique, not necessarily the additional ingredient. I realize that grated potato would not constitute a porridge if one were to eat it, but the concept, to me, fit the porridge method of Tartine better than any other application.
Also, alliteration.
Thanks so much for the kind words - you have some beautiful breads yourself!
Best,
Bradley
bmeilinger: Just love the spectacular crumb, and I am really impressed with your knowledge bread making skills. I, too, learned a ton from this site. It's wonderful that you can get the artisan flour in Madison. While we live in California now, I am originally from Wisconsin (Milwaukee); I will have to see what great flours I can find when I am in town. Congrats on your baking. Best, Phyllis
p.s. Ian's porridge breads are so good. I hope to make his latest (with Parmesan) when I get a chance.
Though I, too, was a bit surprised about the term "porridge".
Like Ian, I really like porridge breads and bake a lot of them. I wouldn't use the term for a bread with add-ins that are inherently moist, like potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin etc, and don't require cooking or soaking to incorporate water.
Otherwise, awesome is certainly the right word for such a great looking loaf!
Happy baking,
Karin