idaveindy's blog

Nurnberger rye from Chicago Specialty Bakers:

 

Latvian rye from Racine Bakery:

 

Dec. 8, 2021.  74th bake.

The goal is to make at least 1300 g of dough, of approx 90% whole grain.  1300 to 1350 of WW dough fits nicely in the lid portion of my Lodge 3.2 qt combo cooker.

I want to try out this whole grain rye flour, just to get a taste of it.  And I have this roller milled whole grain durum I need to use up.  

• 75 g Sher Brar Fiber Wala whole grain durum. 
• 75 g whole rye, Malsena brand from Lithuania. 
• 14 g salt, mostly Himalayan pink salt. 
• 572 g bottled spring water. 
• 456 g Bob's Red Mill stone-ground whole wheat, from red wheat. 
• Let it soak for 90 minutes. 
• 35 g bottled water. 
• 67 g Gold Medal Bread Flour. 
• 46 g of refrigerated starter, 100% hydration. (16 g of "Red" homebrew. 30 g of CHF San Fran.) 
• 2 tsp of ground toasted bread spice. [1] 
• 1 tsp of dry whole caraway seeds. 

75 + 75 + 456 + 67 + 23 = 696 total flour.

572 + 35+ 23 = 630 water.

75 + 75 + 456 = 606 whole grain.

This came out to 1340 g (calculated) less whatever sticks to bowl, utensils, and gloves.

3.3 % pre-fermented flour. 23 / 696.

90% hydration. 630 / 696.

87% whole grain. 606 / 696.

Dough weighed 1322  g at time of shaping and putting in banneton. 

---- 

Notes:

1. Bread spice formula (courtesy of Hanseata): 2 parts (by volume) whole coriander, 1 part whole caraway, and 1 part whole fennel. Toasted in a dry frying pan until fragrant, then cooled, then ground.

---

The pan that it was baked in is the lid of the combo cooker. The dough did not fully expand out to the sides, or else if it did, it shrunk back during baking. The paper plate is 9" in diameter.

Dec. 6, 2021.  72nd bake.

The previous batch of these muffins, #71, came out pretty good. So I scaled it up to four pots from three. And made some slight adjustments, including adding 60 grams of whole rye flour.

Soaker:

• 20.5 g old-fashioned rolled oats, the thick kind. 
• 19.9 g quick oats, not instant. 
• 16.9 g whole dry chia seeds. 
• 8.6 g whole dry poppy seeds. 
• 20.8 g corn meal. 
• 28.2 g shredded coconut, unsweetened. 
• 1 tsp whole fennel seeds, 2.1 grams. 
• 270 g water @ room temperature. 
• added after 20 minutes: 
• 70 g honey. 
• 50 g water, room temp. 
• 25.4 g powdered fat-free milk. 

Dry ingredients:

• 50 g Sher Brar Fiber Wala whole grain durum flour, roller milled. 
• 110 g Bob's Red Mill stone-ground WW flour. 
• 50 g Arrowhead Mill's organic AP flour. 
• 40 g almond flour, blanched. 
• 60 g whole grain rye flour from Lithuania, Malsena brand. 
• 6.6 g salt. 
• 2 tsp pumpkin-pie spice, Kroger brand. 
• 1 tsp ground ginger. 
• 3 tsp baking powder, Rumsford brand. 

Wet:

• 133 g water. 
• 17 g peanut oil. 
• 13 g grape seed oil. 
• 16 g regular olive oil.

Pre-oiled the 4" diameter clay pots. Pre-heated oven to 350 F. Did not pre-heat the pots.

Baked at 350 F for 62 minutes, pots sitting on aluminum foil, shiny side up, until tops seemed brown enough and a knife inserted in the test muffin did not come out gooey.

Dec. 1, 2021. Bake #71.

The taste of the previous batch of muffins was good, though perhaps a little too sweet. But they were way too dense, with no oven rise except for some tunneling because I added baking powder to the batter instead of dispersing it well in the dry flour.

This has less flour (therefore higher hydration), less honey, less oil, more baking powder, and the BP was properly dispersed in the flour. Other ingredients just had minor tweaks.

These were baked without a baking stone, higher up in the oven, and on aluminum foil shiny side down. The center of the bottom was a bit pale, while the side crust was well browned, so I will bake with shiny side up next time.

More photos of the clay pots and the instruction/recipe booklet at: https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/69351/clay-flower-pot-baker-recipes

Soaker:

• 15 g old-fashion rolled oats (the thick ones). 
• 15 g quick-oats (not instant). 
• 12 g whole dry chia seeds. 
• 6.7 g whole dry poppy seeds. 
• 15 g yellow corn meal. 
• 20.7 g dried shredded coconut, unsweetened. 
• 200 g bottled water, at room temp. 
• After 20 minutes, added: 
• 53 g honey. 
• 25 g powdered fat-free milk, Kroger brand. 
• 50.4 g more bottled water at room temp. 
• 1 tsp whole fennel. (Maybe should have used 3/4 tsp, and put it in at the beginning.) 

Dry:

• 50 g roller-milled WW durum, Sher Brar Mills Fiber Wala. (I had used up my Patel stone ground WW durum.) 
• 110 g Bob's Red Mill stone-ground WW flour, from red wheat. 
• 50 g Arrowhead Mills organic AP flour. 
• 5 g salt. 
• 1.5 tsp pumpkin pie spice. 
• 3/4 tsp ground ginger. 
• 30 g almond flour, blanched. 
• 3 tsp baking powder. I remembered to stir it well into the flour! Could have gotten by with 2.5 tsp. 

When combined, added:

• 93.5 g bottled water at room temp. 
• 23 g peanut oil. 
• 13.5 g grapeseed oil. 

When using WW, I like to add oil last, so that the bran, and the larger particles of the stone-ground flour get the water first before any oil. When it gets oil too soon, that seems to interfere with water absorption.

Baking: 

Pre-heated oven to 375 F.  No baking stone was used. Clay pots were freshly oiled on the inside, and not pre-heated.  3 pots were used, and were filled about 50%. Baked at 350 F, for 44 minutes.

Results:

Great!  The batter wasn't as sticky as before. Good oven rise, muffins came out soft, but well browned.  No sticking at the bottom of the pot. Waiting for them to cool, then running a knife around the sides did the trick.

The shredded coconut was softer this time because it was pre-soaked, and the coconut flavor did not dominate. The fennel, pumpkin pie spice, and ginger came through.  The fennel should have been in the soaker from the beginning, and dialed back a bit.

Adding water to the clay pot immediately after removing the muffin, allowing it to soak a bit, makes for easy cleanup.

Undersides:

Nov. 29, 2021.  Bake #70.

More photos of the clay pots and the instruction/recipe booklet at: https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/69351/clay-flower-pot-baker-recipes

WARNING: Do not follow this recipe, #70. It did not turn out well. See my next blog entry, #71, for a much better batch: https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/69373/71st-bake-120121-more-sotsot-clay-pot

--

Soaker: 

• 11 g old fashioned (thick) rolled oats. 
• 11 g quick oats. 
• 20 g whole chia seed. 
• 5 g poppy seeds. 
• 11 g corn meal. 
• 200 g bottled filtered water, at room temp.
• 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) (82 g) honey. 

Dry ingredients:

• 28 g Patel brand stone-ground WW durum flour. 
• 22 g Sher Brar brand roller-milled WW durum flour, "Fiber Wala." 
• 25 to 30 g (forget the exact amount) durum semolina, Swad brand.
• 112 g Bob's Red Mill stone-ground WW flour. 
• 50 g Arrowhead Mills organic AP flour. 
• 56 g Sharbati Gold WW flour, Swad brand.
• 5.3 g salt. 
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice, Kroger brand. 
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger. 
• 1/2 tsp whole fennel seed. 
• 1/2 cup (45 g) fat-free powdered milk, Kroger brand. 
• 25 g dry shredded coconut. 
• 25 g almond flour (blanched).
• 2 tsp baking powder (After cutting one open, I think it would have been better to use 3 tsp.) 

Wet:

• 150 g bottled filtered water at room temp.  (After cutting one open, I think it could have used 50 to 70 g more water.) 
• 30 g peanut oil. 
• 20 g grapeseed oil.  

Mistakes: I forgot to add and disperse the baking powder in the dry ingredients. I slowly folded it in after mixing the soaker, the final water and the other dry ingredients, but before adding the oil.

 --

Baking:  Pre-heated the oven and a baking stone to 375 F.  Did not pre-heat the pots. Placed aluminum foil (shiny side up) on the baking stone. Placed pots on the foil. Baked at 350 F for 48 minutes.

This was removed from pot and cut open before it cooled:

 

This one was allowed to cool first (3 photos), bottom:

 

Allowed to cool first, ran a knife around inside, and pryed the knife tip against the bottom of the muffin. It did not leave too much residue:

Nov. 20, 2021.

From the Russian grocery store in Carmel, IN.

Monastyrsky dark rye bread:

Monastyrsky label:

 

Monastyrsky top and end:

 

Monastyrsky side:

 

Monastyrsky crumb:

 

Borodinsky:

Borodinsky label:

Borodinsky top:

Borodinsky end:

Borodinsky side:

 

Borodinsky crumb:

Sweetened cream cheese spread:

Nov 20, 2021.

Went shopping at a tiny Russian grocery store in Carmel, the suburb just north ot Indianapolis. I got some rye flour from Lithuania, a Russian salt/spice/herb blend, 2 loaves of different kinds of rye bread (made in the Chicago IL area), and a Russian sweet cream cheese spread.

Bread and cheese spread in next post.

"Viso grūdo" means "whole grain,"
"ruginiai miltai" means "rye flour,"
and "rupiai sumalti akmeninėmis girnomis" means "coarsely ground with stone groves" according to duckduckgo's translate.
 

Miller's web site page for this product: https://www.malsena.lt/produktas/viso-grudo-ruginiai-miltai/

The flour was $5 for 1.75 kg/3.85 lb, or $1.30/lb, which is reasonable.

Nov. 17, 2021. 69th bake.

Continuing along the lines of the last several bakes, this was about 300 grams of BRM WW red wheat and about 100 grams of Patel stone-ground WW durum.

Tweaks: Full 2% salt this time. No milk. 1 hr autolyse with salt. All sourdough this time, 41 grams, no commercial yeast.  1 tsp of ground-toasted bread spice*, plus another 1/2 tsp of whole caraway. 10 grams whole chia seed pre-soaked in 40 grams water.  

Did 100 folds of "kneading in the air" prior to some stretch-and-folds during bulk.

Used about 5% PFF instead of my normal 3.5% and it over-fermented on me. And it was a tad too wet.  

But taste, after 22 hours after baking, was great.

--

My bread spice recipe is from Hanseata:  2 parts (by volume) whole coriander, 1 part whole fennel, 1 part whole caraway. Toast it in a dry fry pan until fragrant, let cool, then grind in a spice/coffee grinder.

Nov. 11, 2021. 68th bake.

Almost the same as #67:  same types and amounts of flour, same amount of starter (though a little fresher), 8 grams less water, 8 g salt instead of 7, and added 1/2 tsp of ground toasted bread spice.  Same day bake instead of an overnight bulk ferment.

Nov. 8 to 9, 2021.  67th bake.

 Ingredients:

• 24 g, 100% hydration starter, from fridge, last fed 3 days ago. 
• 300 g bottled spring water. 
• 103 g Patel brand stone ground whole wheat durum flour. 
• Mixed and Let above sit for about 5 minutes to hydrate well. 
• Added 7 g salt. 
• Added 1/8 tsp active dry yeast, and mixed.
• Added 309 g Bob's Red Mill stone ground whole wheat, and mixed. 
• folded in 20 grams more water. 
• folded in 20 grams more water. 
• Kneaded for a little while. 
• Folded in 8 g more water, and kneaded just a little. 
• % WW: 412 / 424 = 97%. (12 grams bread flour in starter.)
• % Hydration: 12 + 300 + 20 + 20 + 8 = 360. 360 / 424 = 85%.
• finished mix/knead at 6:55 pm. 
• 7:34 pm, kneaded some. 
• 8:50 pm, kneaded some. Oiled the steel mixing bowl, turned the dough to coat with oil, covered with clear plastic film, and put in fridge overnight.

(Baking info to be filled in later.)

The taste was a little bland. Could have used more salt, or bread spices (coriander, fennel, caraway.)

Crumb is not as open as a higher hydration and all sourdough loaf, but it is very light and airy.