Whole Wheat (65%) Sourdough

 

Recipe source:  Weekend Bakery

A lovely loaf!  I’m really glad that I picked this recipe as my first experiment on sourdough bread.  The steps are easy to follow and the result is rewarding!  Bread is tasty, texture is superb!

Notes:

• Sourdough starter:  I used my bread flour culture. 100% hydration
• Flour:  Anita’s Whole Wheat Fine Grain and Roger’s Bread Flour
• I put 5ml (1 tsp) more of water during mixing the final dough. 
• As my dough was warmer (81F to 85F) than the suggested temp (75F) and the room temp was quite warm (24.5C), I shortened the time between each stretch & fold to 40mins. The dough was firmer than I expected.
• The time for second proof was slightly less than 2hrs
• Used steam tray, pizza stone and water spray method for baking.  Not much oven spring – may be second proof for too long?  But the bread ended up with very nice crumbs.
• Turn oven to 500F.  Reduce to 450F when baking start. Bake for 35mins in total until it reached 205F.
• Problem: No proofing basket. Used glass bowl, oiled and dust with flour, for proofing. Dough might not be tightly shaped into boule so it split  on top when inversed out from bowl to peel. Did slashing anyway. But when it baked up, all the splits and slashes were gone.  Need to work on shaping next time.  

 

Poolish after 12hrs on the counter.	After mixing the final dough ingredients for about 3mins with machine and another 3mins by hand.  Dough is rough, quite tacky and a bit shaggy.	Dough registered 85F – warmer than recipe suggested.	After resting for 40mins.
After 1st s&f.	2nd rest for 40mins.	After 2nd s&f.	After 3rd s&f.  Dough gradually becomes smoother and softer, just like after kneading for a long time.
After shaping, put in a oiled bowl lightly dusted with flour.	Start of proofing.	Around 1 hr. after proofing.	Around 2 hr. after.  Dough is ready to bake.

 

Whole Wheat Baguette (~50%)

 

Recipe source: King Arthur Flour Whole Wheat Baguettes by P J Hamel or here with weight measurement

Flour:  Rogers White Bread Flour, Anita’s Whole Wheat Fine Grains

Searched high and low for a french style whole wheat baguette and this one kept showing up on google with nice pictures of the crumb structure and also does not require a sourdough starter. The only down side is that, this is a three days affair.  In reality, it is time consuming, the waiting time I mean, but minimal labor required.

The formula:

• Starter:   
  • 21.6% whole wheat flour
  • 21.6% lukewarm water
  • pinch of yeast (1/16tsp for 524g total flour)
• Final dough: 
  • 27.1% whole wheat flour
  • 51.3% bread flour
  • 48.7% water
  • 1.63% (1 1/2tsp salt for 524g total flour)
  • 0.15% (1/4 tsp instant yeast for 524g total flour)

Modified procedures:

• Day 1:  Mix starter ingredient, keep at room temperature
• Day 2: Mix starter with other ingredients –> Hand or machine knead for 5 to 7 mins –> Wait for 40 to 60mins, do first stretch and fold –>Wait for 40 to 60mins, do second s&f –> wait for 40 to 60 mins, do 3rd s&f –> wait for 40mins –> divide dough and pat it down into oval shape –>wait for 15mins –> shape the dough –> wait for 30mins –> put it in the fridge
• Day 3: Take out dough 1 1/2 hr before baking –> prepare oven with baking stone, steam tray and spritzer –> slash dough –> bake at 425F for 18mins, cover with foil, bake for another 10mins until inside reach 200F

Notes:

• The original recipe does not tell you how long the initial kneading is (other than saying 7mins for  bread machine knead), so I hand knead for 7 mins.  Not sure if it require that long the time for the initial mixing.
• I did s&fs rather than just flipping over the dough on day 2. It just more fun and easier to do it since I have to take the dough out anyway.
• Did not expect that much with the recipe since I was using different types of flour and I wasn’t sure what the dough should feel like.  But it actually turned out really well. I think this is a very forgiving recipe. 
• Crumb structure is good with a few big holes, not a lot.  Crust is not as crisp and thick as white baguette but that is expected. Taste not too whole-wheaty, just enough of the nutty flavor with a tangy undertone. Overall it’s a keeper recipe.

 

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread (50%) #2

Made this bread the first time here.

Recipe source:  Transitional Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread from Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads P.99

Because of using the wrong flour when making the biga, I ended up making two loaves using two different types of flour. One was using Rogers bread flour and Anita’s whole wheat, just like the first time. The other one was using Anita’s all-purpose and whole wheat. Here is what happened with the all-purpose flour loaf:

• I used buttermilk instead of milk with this loaf, just because there were some in the fridge.  The biga was a bit drier and not as sticky.  I ended up putting more milk (may be 1 tsp to 2 more) in to get the stickiness. 
• On baking day, I also put in 1 tsp of vital gluten.
• During hand kneading, I noticed the dough was slightly firmer than the bread flour dough.
• Because I had to do the mixing separately for the two different loaves with different types of flour, each loaf followed its own proofing time, I ended up had to bake the two loaves separately.  When the first loaf was in oven, the second loaf (all-purpose flour loaf) was in 2nd proof. I had to stop it from rising too quickly and proofing for too long,  so I put it in the fridge for a while.  It did rise a bit higher than the first loaf before baking, but luckily, there was still some oven spring and it did not over-proofed. 
• The result: The volume, texture and the taste of the two loaves were very similar.

Bagels

Mix malt syrup, yeast, salt and water together.	Mix at low speed for 3 mins.
Dough is stiff, coarse and barely tacky.	After hand knead for 3 mins.
Before 1st proofing.	After 1 hr. Dough is put into the fridge.
Divide dough into 8 pcs and roll it into balls.	Shaping.
Boiling.	After boiling.

After baking for 17 mins. The bagels are crispy and chewy on the outside and soft but not very dense inside.  A bit disappointed at first. But after cutting it up in half, toasted and buttered it, it was very delicious.  Not sure if the authentic NY bagels are really like this, but as long as it tastes good, that’s all that matters.

Recipe source:  Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Every Day P.74

Flour:  Rogers bread flour, Anita’s whole wheat fine grain

Adjusted recipe to incorporate 1/4 portion of whole wheat flour:

• 340g bread flour
• 114g whole wheat flour
• 283g lukewarm water
• 1 Tbsp barley malt syrup
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 10.5g kosher salt
  

Notes:

• Easy recipe
• With the whole wheat flour and adjusted water amount, the dough turned out to be exactly what the recipe asked for without adding any more water and flour.  The dough was stiff, barely tacky.
• Not sure why the surface of the baked bagels are not smooth.

Here’s other references:

• A New York bagel video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrJ1zpJGrfA  The structure of the crumbs (or the holes) is really similar to what’s showing in the video at 8:51.

Multigrian Sandwich Bread #2

Recipe source:  American’s Test Kitchen
Finally, a successful loaf of multigrian sandwich bread. I tried this first time here. The few things that I did differently this time:

• Changing recipe to make just 1 loaf, using 8.5 x 4.5 loaf pan, using bread flour, shortened proofing time, using the pizza stone and steam technique when baking
• Flour:  Rogers white bread flour, Anita’s whole wheat fine grain flour
• The adjusted recipe:
  • 3 1/8 oz. hot cereal
  • 10 oz. boiling water
  • 7 1/2 oz. bread flour
  • 3 1/4 oz. whole wheat flour
  • 2 Tbsp honey
  • 2 Tbsp butter, melted
  • 1 1/4 tsp yeast
  • 1/2 Tbsp salt
  • 3/8 cup sunflower seeds

Using bread flour without changing water ratio, the dough is much less sticky and it clears the bowl easily. This is 4mins mixing after autolyse.	After another 4 1/2mins mixing, with scraping the side once, the side of the bowl is quite clean. The dough only sticks to the bottom of the bowl.  Dough is also elastic, a bit shinny, and pass a brief window pane test.

Bulk fermentation - 0mins.	20mins.	40mins.

Sample from bulk fermentation.	After 40mins.
Ready for 2nd proofing in a 8.5” x 4.5” loaf pan.	After 35-40mins, it’s ready to bake.

Fresh out of the oven, after 30-35mins of baking.

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread (50%)

 

Soaker	Biga – quite sticky.  After knead for a while (supposed to be 1min but I think I kneaded it longer than that), it became very tacky, less sticky, but still has quite a bit of residue on the hands.
Cut soaker and biga into 12 pcs.	Mix.
Mix all together other ingredients.	After hand kneading for 4mins, dough is very soft and tacky. Like post-it, not much residue sticking to the hands.
Before bulk fermentation.	After 45mins on the counter, supposed to be 1 1/2 times.
Before.	After.

Before final proofing. After 40mins (much less than the 45-60mins the recipe asked for), slight indentation with finger poking, time to bake.

Use pizza stone and baking sheet steaming technique to bake. Bread has nice tall oven spring.  End result is soft tasty and satisfying.

Recipe source: Transitional Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread from Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads P.99

Notes:

• Flour:  Rogers white bread flour, Anita’s whole wheat fine grain flour
• First time making soaker and biga.  This is actually a very easy process and do not take up that much time.
• Biga is really quite sticky.  Did not put additional flour in.
• Both 1st and 2nd proofing used up much less time than the recipe.  I think the kitchen in summer time is really warm.
• Lovely bread.  Will definitely do it again.