Yippee's blog

To learn more about concentrated lactic acid sourdough (CLAS), please see here and here. 

Chef Michaud is the founder of Baking Elements and Bakehouse in Hong Kong, and he is also a member of TFL!  You can learn more about him here, here, and here.

This bread is from one of Chef Michaud's books, "La Boulangerie Baking at home". 

I followed Chef Michaud’s overall formula as much as possible, but since my flour could not absorb more water (and I did not push it), I reduced the hydration from 75.7% to 64%. Because CLAS works at higher temperatures, I also reduced the amount of yeast. The whole process took about three hours. My formula is as follows:

Beehive AP (ash .56%) 97%

whole wheat CLAS 3%

water 64%

yeast 0.7%

sugar 0.7%

salt 3%

milk 3%

olive oil 3%

Provence herbs, dried 3%

chopped sundried tomatoes 7%

black olives 4.3%

ham 4.3%

My final dough weighed about a pound and yielded one fougasse. 

When I decided to bake a bread that is not in Rus's collection, I was a bit hesitant. Because for a long time, I didn't need to worry about anything when baking Rus's bread---his formulae are so precise and reliable, the quality of bread is guaranteed as long as I follow his procedures! Rus has definitely spoiled me with his formulae!

However, to explore white bread that suits my family's taste, I must be independent and accustomed to working with CLAS alone. So, here it is,  my first CLAS bread without Rus's "supervision". 

The crispy crust, the savory ingredients, and the aroma of olive oil and Provencal herbs are undoubtedly a delicious combination that one enjoys. Also, there is an invisible flavor enhancer, CLAS, which brings the taste of this bread to another level. CLAS has never let me down!

Same bread made with CLAS, but using a different flour. 

I'd been a loyal customer of another brand of flour for over a decade, but I felt being ditched during this time when flour is so difficult to source.  So, I "deflected".  Maybe it's about time to change, and I love the new flour!

The color is more even, and the crust is more crackly---I heard the bread "sing" after it's out of the oven. 

 My family loves this bread.  It's going to become one of our staples from now on. 

 No more "begging" for flour from store to store every week!

Rebaked the same bread...

to make sure that the crackly crust I got last time was not by accident.

The result is consistent.

I am very happy with Beehive.

Now I am the only baby in the house, Mommy hand-sewed this mask for me using PJs my brothers wore when they were toddlers.  She misses them! To make more cute masks, she needs to get a new sewing machine because she just donated her Singer not too long ago!

Mommy has started baking and sewing again because of COVID!

I am so happy today because I successfully made bread, and I had not made bread for almost a year. 

Last year, I threw away all my sourdough starters as I did not need them. I know that I can make delicious bread with CLAS, and it only takes a day to make. 

Because I had not made bread for a long time, I chose this relatively basic formula from Rus's bread collection: 60% hydration, bread flour (I used Whole Foods 365 all-purpose flour), CLAS, and yeast. Although this bread only takes about three hours from start to finish, its quality is comparable to bread that has gone through long fermentation.  I do not need to spend any energy and time to maintain a traditional sourdough starter, and CLAS guarantees the quality of my loaf. All I need to do is make a CLAS twenty-four hours before baking bread; why not do it? 

If you want to learn more about Rus's CLAS, please see here and here. 

pH Before

 pH After

 I have not made bread for almost a year.  Scoring this Ukrainian bread the traditional way is a bit intimidating - hence a simple slash. 

 Doesn't the shape of this loaf look a bit weird?  Because I squeezed this gigantic 1kg dough in the little basket and proved it there! 

 Crumb shot

 Crumb shot

This loaf was made with CLAS, whey, mashed potatoes, lard, spices (coriander, caraway, and fennel seeds), and 100% home-milled rye flour. 

Thank you, Rus!

CLAS after refreshment, pH 3.4

Straining home-made yogurt to collect the whey

Whey, pH 3.8, from home-made yogurt

100% wholemeal rye loaf

I might not have mixed the dough evenly, as bits of mashed potatoes are still in the crumb. And the sides are a bit mushy. Could it be that I used too much lard to grease the pan? 

Tap to enlarge

I haven't refreshed my CLAS for almost a month, so this "bake" "forced" me to check on it.  Thankfully, it's doing fine in the fridge; the pH is 3.9 after a brief warm-up in the water bath. 

See my new toy? 

The old one... 

because I "proved" it with the dough in my humid and warm bread machine.  So the new meter has to be waterproof!

The key to success in CLAS is controlling the temperature in every step, and, of course, following Rus' formula and instructions !

Bubbly batter

Crepe made with 33% rye, including my homemade red rye malt, which I want to use whenever I can. 

I made my son's favorite weekend breakfast with Rus' pancake.  Thank you, Rus!

I seldom made pancakes, so some of their shapings looked quite weird. 

Practice makes progress.

 Rus asked why my pancakes were so tiny.  I guess these are tiny no more!

Guess why and how I used this potato to make the pancakes?  It saved my waistline!

You wouldn't believe these full-flavored, cute little rolls fermented for only about two hours! Amazing CLAS thanks to Rus! 

I used my homemade red rye malt for the first time in this bake, and I'm so proud of myself! 

P.S. How to revive a frozen roll (102g) to get a crispy crust and soft crumb: microwave on power 1 x 30s, then toast @450F x 4-5 mins. Let cool for a minute before serving.

If you are looking for a quick and fool-proof method to create a starter that has a high concentration of lactic acid, check out Rus's CLAS procedures on YouTube and Blogger. Mind you though, the formula uses commercial yeast ("CY") to boost leavening power because CLAS is yeast-free.  If you're a hard-core purist who does not use CY,  this method is not for you.

Thanks to Rus for sharing this opening technology with us!

 100% Rye

pH @ 1500 hr

@ 2400 hr

pH @ 2400 hr, it's ready for bread making 

pH after refreshment; acidity continues to increase

Rus Brot's blog post about red rye malt, and Rus Brot's Youtube instructions 

Did you ever wonder why the black bread you made was brownish and not black? Did you know crystal rye malt has only 10% of the required flavor of the red malt, and it's much, much lighter in color than what red malt should be? Did you know the formulae shown on the U.S. sites for making red rye malt are wrong?   

Thanks to Rus, now we can make authentic red rye malt at home❗️❗️❗️

Procedures as follows:

1) Sprout rye berries for 4-5 days, increase the temperature on the last day to 50C. 

If using rye malt, rehydrate it with water 1:1 by weight for 12-16 hours in a cold place (18C). Stir occasionally. 

2) Cover the rehydrated malt and ferment for 48 hours at 65C. Stir occasionally.

3) Dry it for 36-48 hours at 80-85C. 

click to enlarge

Before and after

 click to enlarge 

Don't trust me if I tell you the statement because I'm just a novice rye baker; but if Rus says so, it's probably true! 

This is the most demanding formula I've ever tackled.   I messed up every stage at least once.  Even the loaves you see below have defects - I forgot to shape them in the typical "submarine" form because I'm so used to shaping the "torpedo" Borodinsky.   And one loaf got that unwanted "scoring."  Otherwise, I would have considered myself done with this bread and move on, but I guess not yet.  I am out of berries so I can only make it again when my 25-lbs order arrives. 

Because of making this bread,  I've started grinding rye berries to get the required whole-grain flour. I'm not crazy about the extra work it adds to my busy schedule, but I'm glad I'm no longer an "outsider" when you guys talk about milling. 

This bread requires a thermophilic starter, which is quite tricky to make due to the specific high-temperature requirement. I bought a BT especially for making this finicky starter. But to my disappointment, I had to work around it to reach the ambient target temperature. Can you imagine my frustration?! 

So with all that "hardship," what do I get eventually? The thermophilic starter/sourdough re-balances the maltiness in the scald. The resulting loaf is a refreshingly fruity, moist, and springy 90% whole-grain rye bread.  My favorite way of eating it is not with butter, not with cold cuts, not with cheese, not with sardine and whatnots, but by itself. I don't even toast it because toasting ruins the moist crumb. I merely nuke a frozen slice for 15-20 seconds on power 1, and I get a warm and aromatic, slightly sweet springy slice of rye bread with a thin, somewhat chewy crust.  So rewarding and satisfying after all the hard work!   

Give it a try if you're ready for a challenge!  Thanks to Rus for another delicious rye bread!

 20190324 re-bake

Off it goes to 

and 

Misshaped, so I have to re-bake 

My first rye bread using home-milled, whole-grain rye flour

Close-up

The fussy thermophilic starter

Then you make the thermophilic sourdough

The "scoring" was not supposed to be there.