Danni3ll3's blog

Recipe

Makes 3 loaves

Porridge 

150 g rolled oats

300 g water

Dough

700 g Strong Bakers Unbleached flour

200 g freshly milled whole grain Spelt flour (200 g Spelt berries)

100 g freshly milled whole grain Kamut flour (100 g Kamut berries)

50 g freshly ground flax seeds

25 g black sesame seeds

700 g water + 25 g

22 g salt

30 g yogurt

50 g olive oil 

250 g levain (procedure in recipe)

Extra wholegrain flour of your choice for feeding the levain

The night before:

1. Mill the grains and place in a tub. Add the unbleached flour to the tub as well. Cover and set aside.
2. Take 10 g of refrigerated starter and feed it 20 g of water and 20 g of wholegrain flour. Let that rise at cool room temperature for the night. 

Dough Making day:

1. Early in the morning, feed the levain 100 g of filtered water and 50 g of strong baker’s flour and 50 g wholegrain flour. Let rise until doubled (About 5 hours, mine was ready in 4 and a half). 

2. About two hours before the levain is ready, put 700 g of water in a stand mixer’s bowl and add the flours from the tub.  Mix on the lowest speed until all the flour has been hydrated. This takes a couple of minutes. Autolyse for a couple of hours at room temperature. 

3. Make the porridge: Add the water to the rolled oats and cook on medium heat until the liquid is absorbed and porridge is very thick and creamy. 

4. Once the autolyse is done and the levain has doubled, add the salt, the yogurt, the porridge, the oil, and the levain to the bowl. Add the extra water if needed. Mine needed it. Mix on the lowest speed for a minute to integrate everything, then mix on the next speed for 9 minutes. 

5. Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and place in a lightly oiled covered tub. Let rest 45 minutes in a warm spot (oven with light on). 

6. Do 2 sets of coil folds at 45 minute intervals and then 1 more set after 30 minutes. Let rise about 30%.

7. Tip the dough out on a bare counter, sprinkle the top with flour and divide into portions of ~860g. Round out the portions into rounds with a dough scraper and let rest 30 minutes on the counter. 

8. Do a final shape by flipping the rounds over on a lightly floured counter. Gently stretch the dough out into a circle. Pull and fold the third of the dough closest to you over the middle. Pull the right side and fold over the middle and do the same to the left. Fold the top end to the center patting out any cavities. Finally stretch the two top corners and cross over each other in the middle. Roll the bottom of the dough away from you until the seam is underneath the dough. Cup your hands around the dough and pull towards you, doing this on all sides of the dough to round it off. Finally spin the dough to make a nice tight boule.

9. Sprinkle a  mix of rice flour and all purpose flour in the bannetons. Place the dough seam side down in the bannetons. Let rest for a few minutes on the counter and then put to bed in a cold (38F) fridge overnight.

Baking Day

1. The next morning, about 11-12 hours later, heat the oven to 475F with the Dutch ovens inside for 45 minutes to an hour. Turn out the dough seam side up onto a cornmeal sprinkled counter. Place rounds of parchment paper in the bottom of the pots, and carefully but quickly place the dough seam side up inside. 

2. Cover the pots and bake the loaves at 450 F for 25 minutes, remove the lids, and bake for another 20 minutes at 425 F. Internal temperature should be 205 F or more.

Same recipe that I’ve used in the past but I switched out the flours to use Spelt and Durum and decided to try broken wild rice rather than the regular long grain. It was quite a bit cheaper too!

Recipe 

Makes 3 loaves

Dough:

700 g strong bakers unbleached flour

200 g fresh milled Spelt 

100 g fresh milled Durum

75 g dry broken Wild Rice 

150 g dried cranberries 

700 g water

30 g yogurt 

35 g honey

22 g salt

250 g of 3 stage 100% hydration levain (procedure below)

Wholegrain and unbleached flour to feed the levain

The night before:

1. I use homemilled flour so if you are doing the same, measure out the stated amount for each type of flour in berries or grain, and mill it on the finest setting of your home mill. If buying flour, get the freshest that you can and try to ensure that it is wholegrain. 

2. Place the required amounts of the wholegrain flours in a tub and add the unbleached flour to it. Cover and set aside.

3. Cook the wild rice in plenty of boiling water for a half hour. I was shocked at how much more quickly the broken wild rice cooked. Usually, with intact grain wild rice, it takes about an hour and a half before he rice is soft enough to use in bread. Drain, add the dried cranberries, and refrigerate overnight.

4. Take 10 g of refrigerated starter and feed it 20 g of water and 20 g of wholegrain flour. Let that rise at cool room temperature for the night. 

Dough making day:

1. In the morning, feed the levain 100 g of water, 50 g of wholegrain flour and 59 g of unbleached flour. Place in a warm spot to double (I use my oven with the lights on). This takes about 5 hours.

2. Take the wild rice and the cranberries out of the fridge to warm up. 

3. Two hours before the levain is ready, in a stand mixer, mix the water with the flour, and mix on speed 1 until all the flour has been hydrated. Let this autolyse for a couple of hours.  

4. Once the autolyse is done, add the salt, the yogurt, the wild rice and cranberries, the honey, and the levain to the bowl. Mix on speed one for a minute to integrate everything, then mix on speed 2 for 9 minutes.

5. Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and place in a lightly oiled covered tub. Let rest 45 minutes in a warm spot (oven with lights on). 

6. Do 2 sets of coil folds at 45 minute intervals and then 2 more sets at a 30 minute interval. Then let the dough rise about 30%. It should have irregular bubbles visible through the sides of the container and  bubbles on top as well. 

7. Tip the dough out on a bare counter, sprinkle the top with flour and divide into portions of ~810 g. Round out the portions into rounds with a dough scraper and let rest 15-30 minutes on the counter. 

8. Do a final shape by flouring the top of the rounds and flipping the rounds over on a lightly floured counter. Gently stretch the dough out into a circle. Pull and fold the third of the dough closest to you over the middle. Pull the right side and fold over the middle and do the same to the left. Fold the top end to the center patting out any cavities. Finally stretch the two top corners and fold over each other in the middle. Roll the bottom of the dough away from you until the seam is underneath the dough. Cup your hands around the dough and pull towards you, doing this on all sides of the dough to round it off. Finally spin the dough to make a nice tight boule.

9. Sprinkle a  mix of rice and all purpose flour in the bannetons. Place the dough seam side down in the bannetons. Let rest for a few minutes on the counter and then put to bed in a cold (38F) fridge for 10 to 12 hours. 

Baking Day

1. The next morning, heat the oven to 475F with the Dutch ovens inside for 45 minutes to an hour. Turn out the dough seam side up onto a cornmeal sprinkled counter. Place rounds of parchment paper in the bottom of the pots, and carefully but quickly place the dough seam side up inside. 

2. Cover the pots and bake the loaves at 450 F for 25 minutes, remove the lids, and bake for another 22 minutes at 425 F. Internal temperature should be 205 F or more.

I grow peppers in pots on the south side of the house. With the hot dry weather if this summer, I ended up with a bumper crop of beautiful red sweet peppers. I chopped them up in small pieces and dried them in a dehydrator. I remember reading here that drying and rehydrating fruits or vegetables enhanced their flavour. So along with minced garlic, shredded Parmesan, dried parsley and some olive oil, this should be one tasty bread. I’ll have to wait for my friends to let me know as I sold out completely. 

Recipe

Makes 3 loaves

Porridge 

100 g rolled oats

200 g water

Add-ins

25 g dehydrated sweet peppers (chopped in small pieces)

25 g hot water 

30 g olive oil

150 g shredded Parmesan 

1 tbsp dried parsley 

2 tsps minced garlic in oil

Dough

700 g unbleached flour

200 g freshly milled whole grain Spelt flour (200 g Spelt berries)

100 g freshly milled whole grain Durum flour (100 g Durum berries)

700 g water

22 g salt

30 g yogurt

250 g levain (procedure in recipe)

Extra wholegrain flour of your choice for feeding the levain

The night before:

1. Mill the grains and place in a tub. Add the unbleached flour to the tub as well. Cover and set aside.
2. Soak the dehydrated peppers in the 25 g of water overnight. 
3. Take 10 g of refrigerated starter and feed it 20 g of water and 20 g of wholegrain flour. Let that rise at cool room temperature for the night. 

Dough Making day:

1. Early in the morning, feed the levain 100 g of filtered water and 50 g of strong baker’s flour and 50 g wholegrain flour. Let rise until doubled (About 5 hours, mine was ready in 4 and a half). 

2. About two hours before the levain is ready, put 700 g of water in a stand mixer’s bowl and add the flours from the tub.  Mix on the lowest speed until all the flour has been hydrated. This takes a couple of minutes. Autolyse for a couple of hours at room temperature. 

3. Make the porridge: Add the water to the rolled oats and cook on medium heat until the liquid is absorbed and porridge is very thick and creamy. 

4. Once the autolyse is done and the levain has doubled, add the salt, the yogurt, the porridge, the soaked peppers, the rest of the add-ins, and the levain to the bowl. Mix on the lowest speed for a minute to integrate everything, then mix on the next speed for 9 minutes.

5. Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and place in a lightly oiled covered tub. Let rest 45 minutes in a warm spot (oven with light on). 

6. Do 2 sets of coil folds at 45 minute intervals and then 1 more set after 30 minutes. Let rise about 30%. This took only another 45 minutes or so. I’m finding that my bulk fermentation is done after about 3 hours on average. It’s a bit difficult to gauge because I do 4 batches in succession and the first couple of batches do get some extra fermentation time. 

7. Tip the dough out on a bare counter, sprinkle the top with flour and divide into portions of ~845g. Round out the portions into rounds with a dough scraper and let rest 30 minutes on the counter. 

8. Do a final shape by flipping the rounds over on a lightly floured counter. Gently stretch the dough out into a circle. Pull and fold the third of the dough closest to you over the middle. Pull the right side and fold over the middle and do the same to the left. Fold the top end to the center patting out any cavities. Finally stretch the two top corners and cross over each other in the middle. Roll the bottom of the dough away from you until the seam is underneath the dough. Cup your hands around the dough and pull towards you, doing this on all sides of the dough to round it off. Finally spin the dough to make a nice tight boule.

9. Sprinkle a  mix of rice flour and all purpose flour in the bannetons. Place the dough seam side down in the bannetons. Let rest for a few minutes on the counter and then put to bed in a cold (38F) fridge overnight.

Baking Day

1. The next morning, about 12-13 hours later, heat the oven to 475F with the Dutch ovens inside for 45 minutes to an hour. Turn out the dough seam side up onto a cornmeal sprinkled counter. Place rounds of parchment paper in the bottom of the pots, and carefully but quickly place the dough seam side up inside. 

2. Cover the pots and bake the loaves at 450 F for 25 minutes, remove the lids, and bake for another 20 minutes at 425 F. Internal temperature should be 205 F or more.

The aroma put out by these loaves is amazing!

I recently made a Brie appetizer that was topped with a combo of cranberries, pecans, orange juice, maple syrup and spices. I decided to use similar flavours in this bread. 

Recipe

Makes 3 loaves 

Add-ins

• 150 g Dried Cranberries 
• 30 g Grand Marnier
• 150 g walnuts, chopped 
• Zest of 1 orange
• 30 g maple syrup
• 1 tbsp cinnamon 
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg 

Dough

• 770 g Strong Bakers Unbleached flour
• 160 g freshly milled Selkirk wheat flour
• 70 g freshly milled Rye flour
• 700 g Water + 50 g
• 21 g Pink Himalayan Salt
• 250 g levain (Procedure in recipe)

The night before:

1. Mill the grains if you are using Selkirk wheat and Rye berries. Otherwise use the freshest wholegrain flours that you can find. Place the required amount of flour in a tub. Add the unbleached flour to the tub as well. Cover and set aside.

2.Take 10 g of refrigerated starter and feed it 20 g of water and 20 g of wholegrain flour. Let that rise at cool room temperature for the night. 

Dough Making day:

1. Early in the morning, feed the levain 100 g of filtered water and 50 g of strong baker’s flour and 50 g wholegrain flour. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled (about 5 hours). 

2. About two hours before the levain is ready, put 700 g filtered water in a stand mixer’s bowl and add the flours from the tub.  Mix on the lowest speed until all the flour has been hydrated. This takes a couple of minutes. Autolyse a couple of hours at room temperature. 

3. In a small bowl, layer all the add-ins making sure that the cranberries are soaking in the Grand Marnier at the bottom of the bowl. (This could definitely be done the night before)

4. Once the autolyse is done and the levain has doubled, add the salt, the add-ins, and the levain to the bowl. Mix on the lowest speed for a minute to integrate everything, then mix on the next speed for 9 minutes. Drizzle the extra water in at the beginning of the mixing time. 

5. Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and place in a lightly oiled covered tub. Let rest 45 minutes in a warm spot (oven with light on). 

6. Do 2 sets of coil folds at 45 minute intervals and then another two sets at 30 minute intervals. Then let rise about 30%.

7. Tip the dough out on a bare counter, sprinkle the top with flour and divide into portions of ~805 g. Round out the portions into rounds with a dough scraper and let rest 30 minutes on the counter. 

8. Do a final shape by flipping the rounds over on a lightly floured counter. Gently stretch the dough out into a circle. Pull and fold the third of the dough closest to you over the middle. Pull the right side and fold over the middle and do the same to the left. Fold the top end to the center patting out any cavities. Finally stretch the two top corners and cross over each other in the middle. Roll the bottom of the dough away from you until the seam is underneath the dough. Cup your hands around the dough and pull towards you, doing this on all sides of the dough to round it off. Finally spin the dough to make a nice tight boule.

9. Sprinkle a  mix of rice flour and all purpose flour in the bannetons. Place the dough seam side down in the bannetons. Let rest for a few minutes on the counter and then put to bed in a cold (38F) fridge overnight. I try to keep proof under 12 hours. 

Baking Day

1. The next morning, about 10-11 hours later, heat the oven to 475F with the Dutch ovens inside for 45 minutes to an hour. Turn out the dough seam side up onto a cornmeal sprinkled counter. Place rounds of parchment paper in the bottom of the pots, and carefully but quickly place the dough seam side up inside. 

2. Cover the pots and bake the loaves at 450 F for 25 minutes, remove the lids, and bake for another 20 minutes at 425 F. Internal temperature should be 205 F or more.

Simple but delicious. One of my most popular loaves. 

Like last week, dough was moving really fast and it got 3 folds rather than 4. It also spent more time in the fridge than usual. 

Recipe

Makes 3 loaves

Porridge 

100 g rolled oats

200 g water

45 g honey

40 g butter

Dough

700 g unbleached flour

200 g freshly milled whole grain Red Fife flour (200 g Red Fife berries)

100 g freshly milled whole grain Einkorn flour (100 g Einkorn berries)

50 g flax, freshly ground

700 g water +25 g

23 g salt

30 g yogurt

250 g levain (procedure in recipe)

Extra wholegrain flour of your choice for feeding the levain

The night before:

1. Mill the grains and place in a tub. Grind the flax seeds in a bullet and add to the tub. Add the unbleached flour to the tub as well. Cover and set aside.

2.Take 10 g of refrigerated starter and feed it 20 g of water and 20 g of wholegrain flour. Let that rise at cool room temperature for the night. 

Dough Making day:

1. Early in the morning, feed the levain 100 g of filtered water and 50 g of strong baker’s flour and 50 g wholegrain flour. Let rise until doubled (about 5 hours). However, today, my levain peaked at 4 hours and 30 minutes. I caught it just as it flattened and was about to head back down. 

2. About two hours before the levain is ready, put 700 g of water in a stand mixer’s bowl and add the flours from the tub.  Mix on the lowest speed until all the flour has been hydrated. This takes a couple of minutes. Autolyse for a couple of hours at room temperature. 

3. Make the porridge: Add the water, the butter and the honey to the rolled oats and cook on medium heat until the liquids are absorbed and porridge is very thick and creamy. Let cool. 

4. Once the autolyse is done and the levain has doubled, add the salt, the yogurt, the porridge, and the levain to the bowl. My dough needed an extra 25 g of water. Mix on the lowest speed for a minute to integrate everything, then mix on the next speed for 9 minutes.

5. Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and place in a lightly oiled covered tub. Let rest 45 minutes in a warm spot (oven with light on). 

6. Do 2 sets of coil folds at 45 minute intervals and then 1 more set after 30 minutes. Let rise about 30%. This dough was moving fast so I skipped the fourth fold I would normally do. This is the second week this has happened. I’m not sure why. Maybe I just have a super happy starter these days. 

7. Tip the dough out on a bare counter, sprinkle the top with flour and divide into portions of ~810g. Round out the portions into rounds with a dough scraper and let rest 30 minutes on the counter. 

8. Do a final shape by flipping the rounds over on a lightly floured counter. Gently stretch the dough out into a circle. Pull and fold the third of the dough closest to you over the middle. Pull the right side and fold over the middle and do the same to the left. Fold the top end to the center patting out any cavities. Finally stretch the two top corners and cross over each other in the middle. Roll the bottom of the dough away from you until the seam is underneath the dough. Cup your hands around the dough and pull towards you, doing this on all sides of the dough to round it off. Finally spin the dough to make a nice tight boule.

9. Sprinkle a  mix of rice flour and all purpose flour in the bannetons. Place the dough seam side down in the bannetons. Let rest for a few minutes on the counter and then put to bed in a cold (38F) fridge overnight. I try to keep proof under 12 hours, however, due to life happening, the first batch went in after 14 and a half hours and the second after almost 16 hours. 

Baking Day

1. The next morning, about 11 hours later, heat the oven to 475F with the Dutch ovens inside for 45 minutes to an hour. Turn out the dough seam side up onto a cornmeal sprinkled counter. Place rounds of parchment paper in the bottom of the pots, and carefully but quickly place the dough seam side up inside. 

2. Cover the pots and bake the loaves at 450 F for 25 minutes, remove the lids, and bake for another 20 minutes at 425 F. Internal temperature should be 205 F or more.

I wanted something simple and uncomplicated. Can’t get more simple than flour, water and salt. And sourdough of course!

Recipe 

Makes 3 loaves

Dough

670 g strong bakers unbleached flour

405 g freshly milled wholegrain Red Fife flour 

750 g water (700 + 50 g)

23 g pink Himalayan salt

250 g levain (procedure in recipe)

Extra wholegrain and unbleached flour of your choice for feeding the levain

The night before:

1. Mill the grains if you are using Red Fife berries. Otherwise use the freshest wholegrain Wholewheat flour that you can find (freshly milled flour does make an incredible difference in flavour). Place the required amount of flour in a tub. Add the unbleached flour to the tub as well. Cover and set aside.

2.Take 10 g of refrigerated starter and feed it 20 g of water and 20 g of wholegrain flour. Let that rise at cool room temperature for the night. 

Dough Making day:

1. Early in the morning, feed the levain 100 g of filtered water and 50 g of strong baker’s flour and 50 g wholegrain flour. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled (about 5 hours). 

2. About two hours before the levain is ready, put 700 g filtered water in a stand mixer’s bowl and add the flours from the tub.  Mix on the lowest speed until all the flour has been hydrated. This takes a couple of minutes. 

3. Autolyse a couple of hours at room temperature. 

4. Once the autolyse is done and the levain has doubled, add the salt, and the levain to the bowl. Add 50g water as well if needed. My dough definitely needed the extra water. Mix on the lowest speed for a minute to integrate everything, then mix on the next speed for 9 minutes.

5. Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and place in a lightly oiled covered tub. Let rest 45 minutes in a warm spot (oven with light on). 

6. Do 2 sets of coil folds at 45 minute intervals and then another set after 30 minutes. Let rise about 50-60%. This dough was moving really fast. I had planned to do another set of coil folds and let the dough rise only 30% but by the time I was ready for the fourth fold, the dough was well on it’s way to doubling. So I preshaped it instead of folding. Total bulk was less than 3 hours.  

7. Tip the dough out on a bare counter, sprinkle the top with flour and divide into portions of ~700 g. Round out the portions into rounds with a dough scraper and let rest 30 minutes on the counter. 

8. Do a final shape by flipping the rounds over on a lightly floured counter. Gently stretch the dough out into a circle. Pull and fold the third of the dough closest to you over the middle. Pull the right side and fold over the middle and do the same to the left. Fold the top end to the center patting out any cavities. Finally stretch the two top corners and cross over each other in the middle. Roll the bottom of the dough away from you until the seam is underneath the dough. Cup your hands around the dough and pull towards you, doing this on all sides of the dough to round it off. Finally spin the dough to make a nice tight boule.

9. Sprinkle a  mix of rice flour and all purpose flour in the bannetons. Place the dough seam side down in the bannetons. Let rest for a few minutes on the counter and then put to bed in a cold (38F) fridge overnight. I try to keep proof under 12 hours. 

Baking Day

1. The next morning, about 11 hours later, heat the oven to 475F with the Dutch ovens inside for 45 minutes to an hour. Turn out the dough seam side up onto a cornmeal sprinkled counter. Place rounds of parchment paper in the bottom of the pots, and carefully but quickly place the dough seam side up inside. 

2. Cover the pots and bake the loaves at 450 F for 25 minutes, remove the lids, and bake for another 20 minutes at 425 F. Internal temperature should be 205 F or more.

Decided that a combo of Parmesan and Rosemary is what was needed for this weekend’s loaves. Of course, this has porridge in it. I added olive oil to it and skipped my usual yogurt in the dough. 

Recipe 

Makes 3 loaves

Porridge 

100 g large rolled oats

200 g water

30 g Virgin olive oil

Add-ins

200 g Parmigiano Reggiano, grated coarsly 

3 g rosemary, chopped finely 

Dough

800 g strong bakers unbleached flour

200 g freshly milled wholegrain Red Fife flour 

700 g water (650 + 50 g)

20 g pink Himalayan salt

250 g levain (procedure in recipe)

Extra wholegrain and unbleached flour of your choice for feeding the levain

The night before:

1. Mill the grains if you are using Red Fife berries. Otherwise use the freshest wholegrain Wholewheat flour that you can find (freshly milled flour does make an incredible difference in flavour). Place the required amount of flour in a tub. Add the unbleached flour to the tub as well. Cover and set aside.

2.Take 10 g of refrigerated starter and feed it 20 g of water and 20 g of wholegrain flour. Let that rise at cool room temperature for the night. 

Dough Making day:

1. Early in the morning, feed the levain 100 g of filtered water and 50 g of strong baker’s flour and 50 g wholegrain flour. Let rise until doubled (about 5 hours). 

2. About two hours before the levain is ready, put 650 g filtered water in a stand mixer’s bowl and add the flours from the tub.  Mix on the lowest speed until all the flour has been hydrated. This takes a couple of minutes. Autolyse for at least a couple of hours at room temperature. 

3. Make the porridge: Add the water  and the olive oil to the rolled oats and cook on low until the liquids are absorbed and porridge is very thick and creamy. Let cool. 

4. Once the autolyse is done and the levain has doubled, add the salt, the porridge, the cheese, the rosemary, and the levain to the bowl. Add 50g water as well. Mix on the lowest speed for a minute to integrate everything, then mix on the next speed for 9 minutes.

5. Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and place in a lightly oiled covered tub. Let rest 45 minutes in a warm spot (oven with light on). 

6. Do 2 sets of coil folds at 45 minute intervals and then two more sets st 30 minute intervals. Let rise about 30%. This was done after 30 minutes for a total bulk of 3 hours. 

7. Tip the dough out on a bare counter, sprinkle the top with flour and divide into portions of ~835 g. Round out the portions into rounds with a dough scraper and let rest 30 minutes on the counter. 

8. Do a final shape by flipping the rounds over on a lightly floured counter. Gently stretch the dough out into a circle. Pull and fold the third of the dough closest to you over the middle. Pull the right side and fold over the middle and do the same to the left. Fold the top end to the center patting out any cavities. Finally stretch the two top corners and cross over each other in the middle. Roll the bottom of the dough away from you until the seam is underneath the dough. Cup your hands around the dough and pull towards you, doing this on all sides of the dough to round it off. Finally spin the dough to make a nice tight boule.

9. Sprinkle a  mix of rice flour and all purpose flour in the bannetons. Place the dough seam side down in the bannetons. Let rest for a few minutes on the counter and then put to bed in a cold (38F) fridge overnight. I try to keep proof under 12 hours. 

Baking Day

1. The next morning, about 11 hours later, heat the oven to 475F with the Dutch ovens inside for 45 minutes to an hour. Turn out the dough seam side up onto a cornmeal sprinkled counter. Place rounds of parchment paper in the bottom of the pots, and carefully but quickly place the dough seam side up inside. 

2. Cover the pots and bake the loaves at 450 F for 25 minutes, remove the lids, and bake for another 20 minutes at 425 F. Internal temperature should be 205 F or more.

• I baked these after exactly 12 hours in the fridge. I didn’t get any ears but they still turned out huge! These are the biggest loaves that have come out of these new cast iron pots. The recipe for the last three weekends have basically been the same aside from the add-ins. I’m not quite sure why these are so big but I’m not going to complain. Unfortunately, these are all sold so no crumb shot. 
  
  
  

It was time to try replacing all the water in the main dough with beer. I looked for a locally made lighter tasting golden beer. And of course, this is another porridge bread. The porridge is made with water, butter and honey. I blame Ian for getting me hooked on porridge breads! 

I’m also experimenting with doing only 2 builds of my refrigerated starter instead of 3. I make sure to give my refrigerated starter a good stir before putting it back in the fridge. If it’s getting low, I feed it so that it’s quite thick and pop it back in the fridge without counter time. Since I bake once a week, the beasties have time to build up, but still have lots of food. I don’t want it going too acidic again. It definitely smell better with this routine. I don’t have any hootch on top and no acetone odours. So far, so good. 

Recipe 

Makes 3 loaves

Porridge 

100 g large rolled oats

200 g water

40 g Honey

40 g butter

Dough

800 g strong bakers unbleached flour

200 g freshly milled wholegrain Red Fife flour 

650 g Sleeping Giant Northern Logger Beer + 25 g

23 g pink Himalayan salt

40 g yogurt

250 g levain (procedure in recipe)

Extra wholegrain and unbleached flour of your choice for feeding the levain

The night before:

1. Mill the grains if you are using Red Fife berries. Otherwise use the freshest wholegrain Wholewheat flour that you can find (freshly milled flour does make an incredible difference in flavor). Place the required amount of flour in a tub. Add the unbleached flour to the tub as well. Cover and set aside.

2.Take 10 g of refrigerated starter and feed it 20 g of water and 20 g of wholegrain flour. Let that rise at cool room temperature for the night. 

Dough Making day:

1. Early in the morning, feed the levain 100 g of filtered water and 50 g of strong baker’s flour and 50 g wholegrain flour. Let rise until doubled (about 5 hours). 

2. About two hours before the levain is ready, put 650 g beer in a stand mixer’s bowl and add the flours from the tub.  Mix on the lowest speed until all the flour has been hydrated. This takes a couple of minutes. Autolyse for at least a couple of hours at room temperature. 

3. Make the porridge: Add the water, the butter and the honey to the rolled oats and cook on medium heat until the liquids are absorbed and porridge is very thick and creamy. Let cool. 

4. Once the autolyse is done and the levain has doubled, add the salt, the yogurt, the porridge, the extra 25 g of beer, and the levain to the bowl. Mix on the lowest speed for a minute to integrate everything, then mix on the next speed for 9 minutes.

5. Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and place in a lightly oiled covered tub. Let rest 45 minutes in a warm spot (oven with light on). 

6. Do 2 sets of coil folds at 45 minute intervals and then 2 more set at 30 minute intervals. Let rise about 30%. 

7. Tip the dough out on a bare counter, sprinkle the top with flour and divide into portions of ~780 g. Round out the portions into rounds with a dough scraper and let rest 30 minutes on the counter. 

8. Do a final shape by flipping the rounds over on a lightly floured counter. Gently stretch the dough out into a circle. Pull and fold the third of the dough closest to you over the middle. Pull the right side and fold over the middle and do the same to the left. Fold the top end to the center patting out any cavities. Finally stretch the two top corners and cross over each other in the middle. Roll the bottom of the dough away from you until the seam is underneath the dough. Cup your hands around the dough and pull towards you, doing this on all sides of the dough to round it off. Finally spin the dough to make a nice tight boule.

9. Sprinkle a  mix of rice flour and all purpose flour in the bannetons. Place the dough seam side down in the bannetons. Let rest for a few minutes on the counter and then put to bed in a cold (38F) fridge overnight. I try to keep proof under 12 hours. 

Baking Day

1. The next morning, about 11 hours later, heat the oven to 475F with the Dutch ovens inside for 45 minutes to an hour. Turn out the dough seam side up onto a cornmeal sprinkled counter. Place rounds of parchment paper in the bottom of the pots, and carefully but quickly place the dough seam side up inside. 

2. Cover the pots and bake the loaves at 450 F for 25 minutes, remove the lids, and bake for another 20 minutes at 425 F. Internal temperature should be 205 F or more.

My starter is back to its old self! Love the oven spring I got on these. 

Recipe

Makes 3 loaves

Add ins:

150 g dried cranberries

75 g crumbled feta

60 toasted sunflower seeds (I buy raw and toast them in a dry frying pan)

Main dough:

700 g Strong Bakers Unbleached Flour

200 g freshly milled Spelt flour 

100 g freshly milled Durum flour 

700 g filtered water 

20 g pink Himalayan salt

30 g yogurt

250 g levain (procedure in recipe) 

Extra wholegrain and unbleached flour to feed levain

The afternoon before:

1. Take 2 g of refrigerated starter and feed it 4 g of filtered water and 4 g of any kind of wholegrain flour. Let sit at cool room temperature for about 8 hours. 

The night before:

1. Mill the Spelt and Durum berries and place the required amount in a tub. 
2. Add the unbleached flour to the tub. Cover and reserve. 
3. Feed the levain 20 g of water and 20 g of wholegrain flour. Let that rise at cool room temperature overnight. 

Dough Making day:

1. In the morning, feed the levain 100 g of filtered water and 100 g of unbleached flour. Let rise until doubled (about 5 hours). 
2. Two hours before the levain is ready, put 700 g of filtered water in a stand mixer’s bowl and add the flours from the tub.  Mix on the lowest speed until all the flour has been hydrated. This takes a couple of minutes. Cover and autolyse for a couple of hours at room temperature (73F).
3. After the autolyse, add the salt,  the cranberries, feta and toasted sunflower seeds, the yogurt, and the levain to the dough. Mix on the second speed for 9 minutes. 
4. Remove dough from bowl and place in a lightly oiled covered tub. Let rest 30 minutes in a warm spot to begin bulk fermentation. My warm spot is the oven with the door cracked open and the lights on. I get an ambient temperature of around 82F. 
5. Do 2 sets of coil folds at 30 minutes intervals and then 2 more sets of coils folds at 45 minute intervals. Then let the dough rise by 30%. Total bulk was about 3 and a half hours. 
6. Tip the dough out on a bare counter, sprinkle the top with flour and divide into portions of ~770 g. Round out the portions into rounds with a dough scraper and let it rest 15 minutes on the counter. 
7. Do a final shape by flipping the rounds over on a lightly floured counter. Gently stretch the dough out into a circle. Pull and fold the third of the dough closest to you over the middle. Pull the right side and fold over the middle and do the same to the left. Fold the top end to the center patting out any cavities or big bubbles. Finally stretch the two top corners and fold over each other in the middle. Roll the bottom of the dough away from you until the seam is underneath the dough. Cup your hands around the dough and pull towards you, doing this on all sides of the dough to round it off. Finally spin the dough to make as tight boule as you can.
8. Sprinkle a mix of rice  and all purpose or baker’s flour in the bannetons. Place the dough seam side down in the bannetons. Cover with plastic bowl covers or shower caps. Let rest for a few minutes on the counter and then put to bed in a cold (38F) fridge overnight.

Baking Day

1. The next morning, heat the oven to 475 F with the Dutch ovens inside for an hour.
2. Turn out the dough seam side up onto a cornmeal sprinkled counter. Place rounds of parchment paper in the bottom of the pots, and carefully but quickly place the dough seam side up inside. 
3. Cover the pots and bake the loaves at 450 F for 25 minutes, remove the lids, and bake for another 22 minutes at 425 F. Internal temperature should be 205 F or more.
   
   
4. 

I’ve been working on strengthening my starter for the last two weeks. I found fascinating info from Doc Dough on determining when a starter was ready for a feed or to be used. Link here: https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/67214/2-weight-loss-method-judging-levain-maturity 

Long story short, your starter including the container should lose 2% of the weight of flour added for the feed. I’ve been using this to judge my feeds and my starter has more than doubled each time. I also no longer have that acetone smell when it came to the next feeding. Feeds were generally 12 hours apart as I left very little in the container and fed between 40 and 50 g of some rye and mostly unbleached flour. 

Now that my starter seems back up to speed, I fed it pure rye and put it in the fridge. I made it a bit thicker but not as thick as Doc Dough stated in his post as I plan to do builds with it rather than using it right away. I’ve learned my lesson about neglecting my starter! Never agsin

Recipe

Makes 3 loaves

Add ins

130 g Kalamata Olives, sliced

40 g Sun Dried Tomatoes, chopped, not in oil (See note in recipe)

100 g crumbled feta

30 g olive oil 

Dough

700 g unbleached strong baker’s flour

200 g freshly milled Red Fife flour

100 g freshly milled Spelt flour

50 g freshly ground flax seed

700 g tomato soaking liquid/filtered water

21 g salt

250 g levain (Procedure  in recipe)

The afternoon before:

1. Take 2 g of refrigerated starter and feed it 4 g of filtered water and 4 g of wholegrain flour. Let sit at cool room temperature for the rest of day. 

The night before:

1. Mill the Red Fife and  Spelt berries. Place the required amounts in a tub. Add the unbleached flour to the tub. 
2. Grind the flax seeds in a bullet and add to the flours in the tub. Cover and set aside.
3. Soak the sun-dried tomatoes in 300 g of lightly salted (pinch of salt) hot water until the skin is easily pierced with a knife (~2 hours). Place in the fridge overnight.
4. Feed the levain 20 g of water and 20 g of wholegrain flour. Let that rise at cool room temperature for the night. 

Dough Making day:

1. Early in the morning, remove the tomatoes from the fridge and let warm up on the counter. 
2. Feed the levain 100 g of filtered water and 25 g of wholegrain flour as well as 75 g of strong baker’s flour. Let rise until doubled (about 6 hours). 
3. Two hours before the levain is ready, drain the tomatoes but be sure to save the tomato water. Put the tomato water in a stand mixer’s bowl and add filtered water until you have 700 g. Add the flours from the tub.  Mix on the lowest speed until all the flour has been hydrated. This takes a couple of minutes. Autolyse for at least a couple of hours at room temperature. 
4. Chop the olives and crumble the feta if needed. Add to the tomato mixture (no point having a million bowls out). 
5. Once the autolyse is done, add the salt, the olive oil, the olives, the drained tomatoes, the feta, and the levain to the mixing bowl. Mix on the lowest speed for a minute to integrate everything, then mix on the next speed for 9 minutes.
6. Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and place in a lightly oiled covered tub. Let rest 30 minutes in a warm spot (oven with light on). 
7. Do 2 sets of stretches and folds at 30 minute intervals and then 2 sets of sleepy ferret folds (coil folds) at 45 minute intervals, and then let the dough rise to about 25-30%. This took about another 45 minutes on this particular day.It should have irregular bubbles visible through the sides of the container and bubbles on top as well. 
8. Tip the dough out on a bare counter, sprinkle the top with flour and divide into portions of ~800 g. Round out the portions into rounds with a dough scraper and let rest 30 minutes on the counter. 
9. Do a final shape by flipping the rounds over on a lightly floured counter. Gently stretch the dough out into a circle. Pull and fold the third of the dough closest to you over the middle. Pull the right side and fold over the middle and do the same to the left. Fold the top end to the center patting out any cavities. Finally stretch the two top corners and cross over each other in the middle. Roll the bottom of the dough away from you until the seam is underneath the dough. Cup your hands around the dough and pull towards you, doing this on all sides of the dough to round it off. Finally spin the dough to make a nice tight boule.
10. Sprinkle a  mix of rice flour and all purpose flour in the bannetons. Place the dough seam side down in the bannetons. Let rest for a few minutes on the counter and then put to bed in a cold (38F) fridge overnight. 

Baking Day

1. The next morning, heat the oven to 475F with the Dutch ovens inside for an hour. Turn out the dough seam side up onto a cornmeal sprinkled counter. Place rounds of parchment paper in the bottom of the pots, and carefully but quickly place the dough seam side up inside. 

2. Cover the pots and bake the loaves at 450 F for 25 minutes, remove the lids, and bake for another 22 minutes at 425 F. Internal temperature should be 205 F or more.

I can’t complain about these loaves considering the amount of add-ins. I’m quite happy with the oven spring.