Purple Sweet Potato Pecan Einkorn Sourdough No. 2
I baked this bread a second time and adjusted what I was doing based on some comments and suggestions I received here and elsewhere. Because the sweet potato should already be adding sugars to the dough I skipped the diastatic malt. I also did bulk fermentation at a slightly lower temperature because I thought the last bake could have been a bit overproofed. I also baked the bread differently based on an idea that Kirsten of FullProofBaking posted. On the lowest rack I placed a roasting pan with rack and then baked the bread in my Dutch oven on this rack. This helped shield the bottom while keeping the top of the bread further away from the top of the oven. As of result of this I didn’t need to shield the top of the bread from burning by covering it and then achieved a more even bake. I think I will be doing this now going forward.
Before baking I tried to more thoroughly brush off the rice flour and the brushed on a fair amount of water, I hoping to achieve a shinier crust with better blisters. I didn’t get a shiny crust but I did get better blisters so I will probably do this again in the future.
I will post photos of the crumb once we cut this open but I’m hoping that the crumb will be an improvement from my first bake of this recipe. Oh another thing I changed, I recently had been wetting the counter when doing final shaping rather than using flour. I decided to go back to using flour as I thought perhaps the use of water on the counter contributed to a wetter outer skin of the bread which would then decrease the tension achieved when final shaping. I think that using flour for me works better, because I was able to get better tension this time so I think I’ll go back to this shaping going forward.
Comments
I now believe that my first go at this bread was a bit over-proofed. This turned out so much better after reducing the bulk fermentation temperature by 1ºF and eliminating diastatic malt powder. The crumb on this bake is much better. I do love the how the crust turned out, I’m not sure why but it is thin and really crisp and tasty. Do you think it was the water I brushed on before baking?
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Hi Benito great bake photography and write up, i tend to make up a boiled cornflour wash on my loaves rather than water , i think it is better than water because being a thin paste it stays where its been applied rather than running off, its great if you are wanting seed to stick and not brush off easily once baked. i also think it protects the surface of the loaf for longer when it hits the fierce heat of the oven. I know you are the person that would take up the challenge and apply water to half a loaf and the boiled cornflour to the other end for a true comparison!
kind regards Derek
Interesting idea Derek, I’ve not read anywhere of people using cornstarch/corn flour wash. Does it have the effect of creating good blisters on the surface of the crust?
Benny
Hi Benny ,I think the blisters are an integral part of the dough rather than anything that is added to the surface, but having said that if the dough piece is protected from the fierce heat of the oven by the thin paste for a few extra minutes it may allow those blisters in the skin to develop a little more and be more pronounced. if you are going to make up a cornflour wash a little goes a long way half a teaspoon will give you nearly a cup full, I tend to use a quarter of a teaspoon and half a cup of cold water , mix it well and it needs to be bought to the boil, if you use the microwave watch it carefully otherwise you will have a lot of cleaning up to do. I've also used Arrowroot instead of cornflour, it also give a sheen to the crust.
Thanks for the info yozzause.
Happy you are glad with round 2! I'm going to try making this one today!
Ilene, I hope you post your bake as well and if you find ways of improving it I’d love to know.
Benny
Although I plan on using regular sweet potato and 50% whole wheat so it won't be apples to apples.
Now that I’ve made this twice with purple sweet potato and once with orange sweet potato Elsie was right, the orange sweet potato flavour is more pronounced than the purple. I hope you enjoy the bread you bake today. It was fun to do the double lamination.
Benny
Mine didn't come out that well. Firstly, I did 23% sweet potato, but it is barely visible. Hmmm. Disappointing. The crumb is eh, but it is 50% whole wheat, but could be better for sure. I also think the fridge where I'm staying is warmer than I'm used to and it might be over proofing in the fridge. Disappointing, but I think it tastes okay.
Ilene, I think you and I are both harder on ourselves when judging our bakes. I actually think the crumb you achieved is quite good especially considering the 50% whole wheat, 23% sweet potato both of which will affect the gluten. Then there are the nuts as well. That is better than my first bake for sure.
Benny