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.

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.

French Bread

 

Mix all ingredients – dough seems to be too dry	After kneading for 2mins by machine, 1 min by hand and put a few more droplets of water in – dough is not sticky, and may not be tacky enough.  I put that in the fridge anyway.
After shaping, before proofing.	After proofing for 1 1/2 hr.

Crust is very good. Taste is ok but would like more holes for the texture.  Increase hydration next time.

 

Recipe source:  Classic French Bread from Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Every Day

Notes:

• Day 1:  Follow recipe exactly.  Dough is not sticky at all.  Put a few more droplets of water in when kneading by hand.  Finally a bit tacky.  Did 2 stretch and folds with 10 mins resting in between.  Dough is not wet and stretchy enough.
• Day 2:
  • Shaping – need more practice.  Should make smaller longer roll. Resting in between rollings.
  • Baking time is 12mins first, rotate and another 15 mins.
• Hydration calculation per original recipe:  66.76%

English Muffins

Recipe soure: Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day P.125
Notes:
- Use Rogers bread flour
- Follow weight measurement rather than volume ( 340g flour is a lot less that 2 2/3 cup)
- Batter came out too thick if follow recipe exactly, should add 1 to 2 tbsp next time
- Cook it on cast iron skillet top right stove lowest setting, otherwise it get browned very easily
- Store in freezer - wrap each one in plastic
                    - microwave for 40 to 45sec.
                    - split half and toast it in oven