Matera-inspired 100% durum wheat loaves
A friend recently asked if I could try making some semolina loaves. He missed them after his vacation in Italy and sent me references to the Matera bread.
After reading a couple of posts here, I ventured on my first loaf.
First loaf - Complete failure
I started off with what seemed to be a standard recipe. 500g semola rimacinata, 100g 70% hydration starter, 350g water, 1.5% salt.
BF took 7 hours without dough degradation but also without much gluten development. I did a final proof of about an hour and then shaped it before putting it into the oven.
There was very little rise in the oven. Crumb was dense. Most importantly: poor flavour. Bland and flat. Sour. No durum taste.
Verdict: Very disappointed. Decided to not cut any corners. Converted my wheat starter to a semolina starter.
Second loaf - Better flavour but flat
Kept to the same recipe but used a semolina starter. Taste was better. Still too sour and overpowered the durum, I thought, but the dense crumb problem persisted.
Verdict: Still not right. Need to find a way to increase oven rise. Perhaps knead the dough more and stretch BF and final proof.
Third loaf - Even flatter
I extended BF to 8 hours and final proofing to almost 2 hours. The dough collapsed considerably during shaping, before going into the oven. As a result, the loaf was even flatter.
Verdict: Ready to throw in the towel. How can durum wheat be harder than spelt and rye? I've worked with it so much with pasta and lower % in standard loaves. Then I remembered: this is a new brand of semola rimacinata that I'm using. I remember that what I used previously was a just a little finer. Could this explain it? Ordered three bags.
Fourth loaf - Some volume, but sourness bugs me
Dough felt so much better during mixing. Increased hydration slightly as this flour seemed to soak up much more. I went back to BF 7 hours and final proof 1 hour, this time using the newer, finer semola rimacinata. Dough felt so much better during BF - good strength. Final proof and shaping went well, and loaf doubled in the oven, major improvement.
Verdict: Achieved the volume I wanted. But I think the durum will come out better if I can reduce the sourness. Decided to increase the % of PFF.
Fifth loaf - Happy for now
Final recipe for now gives 76 % hydration and 17% PFF.
In numbers for a 1kg loaf: 454g semola rimacinata, 332g water, 206g 90% semola rimacinata starter, 8g salt.
The bizarre thing is that BF still took 6 hours despite the increase in PFF. Very pleased with the flavour profile now. This loaf baked for a total of 45 mins at 250/240/230/220 degrees with the decrease every ten mins. Think for my next loaf I might increase the bake by just a little more, though it was completely cooked. I think the crust can take a little more thickness!
Overall: Fun journey, and will be making this loaf as one of my standards.
Comments
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/65269/presenting-pane-di-matera-ancient-bread-basilicata-style
Enjoy the photo montage. This bake is from back when I was young reckless and fearless. I am older than that now.
I read your post before I tried these out! Alas, I'm still a far cry. Why not get more reckless and fearless with age?
Well done for persevering Lin and getting to a good loaf at the end. I also had very many disappointments along the way to understanding how to use such flour.
Durum wheat flour in general and rimacinata in particular are very idiosyncratic.
For a start, the flours themselves are much less standardized than with soft wheat and can vary in behavior substantially.
Then, it has very strong gluten up-front, but it can decay and become very extensible very suddenly. This means that it is also very easy to think that a dough is underhydrated in the beginning, add more water and then find it turn to gloop as the fermentation proceeds. I tend to err on the side of caution with any rimacinata on the hydration front, usually going for a 65% total hydration figure. I find that this also helps keep the gluten more in tact for longer.
Also, the fermentation can take a while to get going, but then go at quite a pace and it is very easy to misjudge and go from under to over fermented.
I have found that this is a flour that the 'shaggy' SD biga we have been discussing works really well with. Try it. You will be amazed how much difference the dough handling will have. It is no surprise that many southern Italian bakers use a biga for making bread with this flour.
It's lovely bread when you get it right, so don't give up. It takes some time and some disappointments to figure it out.
Appreciate the encouragement and advice, Rene. I considered switching over to the shaggy biga after the first three attempts but thought I ought not to change too many variables, given that the new flour has just arrived. The levain works well, but I will try the biga, also with the new flour, and compare.
I agree with all your observations! An interesting flour to work with, and excellent flavour.
-Lin
Lin, one of the TFLers here, Michael once said that you have to really knead the dough very very fully when working with Semolina. In my experience he is correct, the dough may seem strong at first, but keep going and knead it longer and your results will be better.
Benny