Bread - What are you baking today…..
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Nope. I've gone anti-hipster.
The 80% Biga recipe I do, is so good, I just cant be arsed with the starter, for what in my opinion is an indistinguishable improvement in taste. So, I chucked both of them away….
I am currently on a let's try different flour combinations with the Biga gig, to try and refine that.
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Nope. I've gone anti-hipster.
I think going anti-hipster actually makes you über-hipster.
Also looking at refining what has become my standard bake. I’m still having problems with timing. The spelt loaves especially have a tendency to be overproofed. The overnight retarding session is too long I think.
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@Chap thanks for that. Interesting how bread is so different on so many places. Here in America it’s as white and bland as most of the people! Also neat to hear about the availability of alternative grains/flours. I can get some of those here at the local health food store, but they are not common and rather expensive- say up to 4-5 usd/pound vs wheat at about 1.30/pound (all organic). I think they are largely favored by gluten free people, despite those grains containing gluten! I guess it’s somehow different, or perceived to be. Who knows.
…:o that's pretty expensive. About half the price here. Have a Rye/Emmer in the oven atm…
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@Chap that looks awesome!
@Giles i agree, the 80% biga is my favorite in the book. My only problem with it (same with a starter) is remembering to get it ready the night before!
This week I am going to try to replicate an all time favorite. When I lived in Philadelphia, I would frequent https://metropolitanbakery.com/. Their French Rye was my favorite, I’d eat a loaf a week at least. I emailed them to see if they’d share bakers percentages, and of course they said no but referred me to a particular recipe in their book, saying to omit one ingredient and I’d have the same thing. So going to try for that. The owner/founder of the company was the one who got back to me, so cool!
Testament to their bread that it’s been almost 20 years and it still stands out in my mind… -
Damn, that looks nice.
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Finally, after 8 weeks of lockdown, I was able to buy decent flour… Well, just flour at all was an achievement. I had to arm wrestle a 78 year old at the checkout for it though...
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That looks great!
@Giles Here is what I came up with…
Their recipe in the book is by volume, 1.5 c starter, 2 c water, 2 tsp malt extract, 2 tbsp hard cider, 4.5 c bread flour, .75 c dark rye flour, 1 tbsp salt. So using 128 g/c I got the following:
Bread flour- 646 g/80%
Dark Rye-166 g/20%
Water-613 g/75.5%
Malt extract-10 g/1% (I omitted this)
Cider- 30 g/3.6%
Salt- 19 g/2.3%
Method: started the levain using 70 g starter, 70 g of the bread flour, 70 g rye, and 140 g water. 2.5 hours later, I mixed the remainder of the flour and water to autolyse- 576 g bread flour, 96 g rye, 473 g water, target temp 78 degrees. 30 min later (planned, was actually more like an hour as I am playing daddy daycare) I added all of the levain, the cider, and the salt and mixed until incorporated, with maybe 3 min of slap and fold in the bowl to end. Bulk for 3.5 hours, with 3x folds, at 15 min, then two spaced at 30 min after. I then divided and preshaped, let sit for 20 min, then shaped, and into the fridge overnight. Into the oven at ~25 hours after I started. Preheated for an hour at 500F, then baked at 450F with steam for 20 min, then without steam for 30 min. Remember to jack your oven back up for maybe 30 min to reheat between loaves.
Notes: For cider, I used a funky French one-Etienne Dupont Cidre Bouche Brut Organic 2009 vintage https://www.calvados-dupont.com/en/organic-cider.htm(I got it for free, and my last bottle now ten plus years on was still remarkably good!). A Basque cider could work well here too, but ultimately buy something you'll drink as you only use a little of it. And that little makes a difference! I could taste it in the dough, smell it during baking, and taste it in the final product.
The measurements I used made two smaller loafs then I am used to, so I'd bump the total flour up to 1000g and do math off of that for two better sized loafs. Also the original recipe counts the starter as an additional ingredient rather than part of the total formula, so I would probably treat it that way using the same measurements as above rather than make it using part of the total formula (so 70/70/70/140 g PLUS the measurements for the recipe) OR add those amounts to the total, which would make 75% bread flour, 25% rye, and 79% water (but I'd probably go 78% water to account for the cider). Either way, you'll change the percentages in the end.
The hydration looks low, but remember the cider adds more liquid, taking it to around 80%… I'd probably bump the cider up to 4% just for a nice even number.
Next time I'll try the proportions a few lines above- 75% bread flour, 25% rye, 78% water, 4% cider with salt the same... It won't be long, because 24 hours later I've already finished a loaf by myself!
Lots of scribbly notes. Math is not my strong suit.
Couldn't wait, so it looks a little smooshed.
@Stuart.T I feel your pain! I felt like a hoarder, but when I saw AP Flour at the store I bought 5/2 lbs bags. Gotta keep that pantry stocked! -
I knew baking bread was not easy, but I didn't think it was rocket science.
Turns out it IS rocket science ???
