Hi everyone,
I am trying to find a good recipe for a sourdough loaf with unbleached white bread flour, wholemeal and a little rye PLUS wholegrains. I would love to add soaked wholegrains, however, it doesn't seem to matter which soaker recipe I use, the dough turns out to be too wet and doesn't rise well. I really want to make this one: http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2010/03/08/seeded-multigrain-sourdough-it-i...
but it's soggy even when I reduce the water by up to 40g. My unbleached white flour is from Marg and Maree's in Melbourne, Victoria. I think the protein content is around 11%.
I have read that wholegrains - even though they are soaked - could tear the gluten sheets and that the gluten will not be strong enough to sustain a long retardation overnight in the fridge. I have seen some photos of great wholegrain breads that seem to rise well. Any ideas for a good recipe?
Thinking hats on!
PS Have just made a lovely rye and caraway loaf.
Replies
Hi peregrine...
I use this one often with great success:
50% Organic White
50% Stone ground wholewheat
20% Rye leaven (100% hydrated)
10% grain of choice, 50% linseed and 50% sunflower is my choice, thoroughly soaked overnight then drained and rinsed and drained again at least 1 hour before use.
70% hydration
Mix flours, leaven and water to initial dough, add drained rinsed grain and mix to combine, then develop.
Bulk ferment for 2 to 3 hours, scale and give bench time for half an hour, shape and prove again at least 2 hours. I dredge loaves in sesame after shaping but not essential.
I hope this is of some help
Regards...T
Many thanks,
I will bake it next weekend. I just made the Ciabatta integrale from this site and it was fantastic - soft, open crumb and great flavour...but I found myself wanting more wholewheat. Maybe your suggestions will give me the answer. I keep a 100% rye starter in my fridge for occasional use - I like using it as much as possible.
Cheers.
Try 100% Whole Wheat. Works for me, but then I have fantastic flour from La Milanaise and know that not all whole grain wheat flours are the same.
One thing I do is soak the grain for 8-12 hours with the water in the recipe. This makes it really soft and elastic. Then I add in the starter and salt and do a couple of stretch and folds within a couple of hours of that mixing. Then, although I never get the same rise as a white loaf, I nearly always get a loaf with nice crumb structure, occasional big bubbles and so forth. It tastes very good and makes you wonder what all the fuss about white flour is.
Until you taste a drop-dead perfect artisanale baguette in Paris with loads of loverly Rillettes (fatty pork bits ground together and you probably don't want to know of what exactly!) and a glass of vin ordinaire.
I can't figure out how to do pictures here - although I did once before! - but if you look on my home page at www.frenchroadbakery.tk you'll see down a ways a picture of the crumb of my 100% whole wheat (no white flour).
But for those who must mix, go easy on the rye because it breaks down the crumb structure. Best to have it in the starter (very good in starters of course) and then maybe 5% or so of the flour. Then you can have up to 50% of the whole grain wheat flour and the rest be white. I personally use around 70% hydration. If with the fuller grain mixes you have the loaf too dry, it has a harder time developing a good crumb structure for some reason, I guess because the flour particles are larger and thus don't get as stretchy.
But with my Milanaise Whole Wheat, that is not an issue. I can stretch and fold it almost as far as white flour so well is it milled.
Aha! I remember how to do it:
Thank you CaperAsh! I have since been experimenting with all sorts of multigrain and seed and flour types. I have settled on a couple of recipes that do just what I want. I like Johnny's Ciabatta Integrale for its light, soft crumb and spectacular rise. But I also love Clotilde's action packed multi everything baguettes (http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2010/11/multigrain_starter_brea...) which I make into individual rolls, freeze and take to work. They're wonderful popped in the microwave to reheat from deep frozen (only takes 40 seconds and it's just like they're fresh out of the oven!). I have to ration them out to work colleagues or I'd be making everyone lunch every day! Clotilde uses heaps of seeds and grains that are barely contained by the dough (see quantities below). Within the 600g flour, I have used 350g organic unbleached bread flour, 150g wholewheat flour and 100g wholemeal spelt flour. I don't add any extra gluten. It's worth reading the rest of her post - she's wonderfully straight forward and enthusiastic! Thanks again.
For the soaker:
- 90 grams (3.2 ounces) mixed seeds (my mix includes sesame, poppy, sunflower and flax seeds)
- 50 grams (1.8 ounces) rye berries
- 40 grams (1.4 ounces) oat groats
- 200 grams (7 ounces) boiling filtered water
For the dough:
- 250 grams (8.8 ounces) ripe 100%-hydration sourdough starter
- 600 grams (21 ounces) mixed flours of your choice (I use partially whole wheat and spelt flours)
- 2 tablespoons wheat gluten (optional, only if you use flours that are low in gluten, as French flours tend to be)
- 300 grams (10.5 ounces) filtered water
- 10 grams (2 teaspoons) sea salt