Oat Porridge

And I thought the potato porridge was creamy.  

I got rolled oats from Lonesome Stone Milling (where I get my flour), and soaked them in water for about a day and a half, changing the water once.  After this brief fermentation, the oats started to smell just faintly sweet.  I cooked them at a simmer for about 20 minutes, seasoned with salt to taste, pulled them from the heat, and let them sit from the morning until adding them in after autolyse.  

The formula:

Again, for clarity: 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.  Started with about 75% hydration, then added up to (guessing), around 90%.  The oat porridge was quite wet, and I may have added a touch more than the dough could truly handle at that point.  As a result, the dough was a bit too wet for my liking, but I managed to shape it to some degree and retard the dough in the refrigerator, just as I did for the potato porridge.  The timeline was almost identical to last time; the only exception was a much later morning bake. 

The timeline:

Preferment is sourdough leaven/levain, mixed at about 100% hydration (sometimes a bit higher).  For this, I used about 40g of ripe starter to 120g each of ASBF and room-temperature water.  Retardation was done in refrigerator, right around 40 degrees Fahrenheit.  Bake was in Lodge combo cooker, 500 for ~20 minutes, sealed; 450 for ~34 minutes, opened.  Here is a picture of the crust, via IG.  The crumb was surprisingly tight, but ultra-creamy.  Actually tasted like cheese and butter, which was a revelation.  Excited that I have this porridge method in my arsenal!  

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Happy baking,

Bradley,

IG/Twitter: @bmeilinger