An interesting development.
Recently I decided to start blending flours to try to lower the protein content while maintaining or playing with the flavour. I also noticed that my mother culture (kept in the fridge and fed once per week) has recently started smelling fruity and particularly of bananas. This last loaf I made was a 25% Rye with a blend of 2 white flours, one (the tastey one) with a 14% protein level and the other (the fluffy one) with a 10.8% protein level. I used a two stage starter (1st stage kept in the fridge for 4 days) and added poppy seeds, sunflower kernels and pumpkin seeds to the mix.
Brisvegas is getting pretty warm this time of the year (27 degrees during the day) so I used refridgerated water for the loaf. After 4 hours total fermentation time (Autolyse + BF + Prove) it was ready to bake.
Although the crumb was a little denser than I would have liked, the result was a very rich, fruity taste with only a hint of sourness.
Yummo.
Replies
Instead of using cold water to make your doughs, have you tried doing prolonged fermentation and proofing in the fridge?
Even though it's not nearly as warm here in Auckland, I quite often ferment overnight or while I'm at work in the fridge, take it out shape it, then put it back in the fridge for another o/n or all day chill time. The slow ferementations give the loaves a nicely developed flavour and an awesome crust!
Hey Karniecoops,
I also retard in the fridge but lately i've been finding that the high temps have been getting to overproof stage at the end of my normal BF time.
So I've been experimenting with different ways to give me more leeway on the BF and shaping process. Using cold water and a larger loaf weight allows me to BF and shape without it getting too far gone so I can prove in the fridge.
The loaf in the last post would have been way overproved if I had put it in the fridge after shaping.
S.