idaveindy's blog

Jan. 14, 2021.

This started out as a bake of Steve Gamelin's 50% WW loaf, as shown here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcmS7uahscI

His formula is volumetric:

1. 1.5 cups bread flour.
2. 1.5 cups whole wheat flour.
3. 1.5 tsp salt.
4. 1/4 tsp instant dry yeast.
5. 1 tbsp vegetable oil.
6. 1 tbsp honey.
7. 13 fluid ounces cool water.

I'm doing a little longer bulk ferment, so I used 1/8 tsp instant dry yeast. I also changed to 1-1/8 tsp salt, and used 14 fl oz water because of the add-ins.  The rest is SOTSOT.

My formula:

1. 1.5 cups King Arthur bread flour.
2. 1.5 cups Bob's Red Mill stone ground whole wheat flour.
3. 2 tbsp corn meal.
4. 2 tbsp quick oats.
5. 2 tbsp fat-free powdered milk.
6. 2 tbsp dry whole chia seed.
7. 2 tbsp dry ground flaxseed.
8. 1 tsp ground toasted bread spice: sesame, caraway, coriander, fennel. 
9. 1-1/2 tsp poppy seeds.
10. 1 tsp whole raw caraway seeds.
11. 1-1/8 tsp salt.  (as opposed to 1-1/2 tsp.)
12. 1/8 tsp instant dry yeast. (as opposed to 1/4 tsp.)
13. 1 tsp sourdough starter, 100% hydration, 6 days since fed.
14. 14 fl oz bottled spring water. (as opposed to 13 fl oz tap.)
15. 1 tbsp E.V. olive oil.
16. 1 tbsp jaggery, aka brown sugar, instead of honey.

Mixed at approximately 3:30 pm.  Will shape, proof and bake tomorrow AM.

--

I couldn't help myself, and did one set of four stretch-and-folds at 5:26 pm.  The dough seemed a little stiff, so I sprinkled on about 1/4 tsp of water.

Did another set of four stretch-and-folds at about 6:30p, and sprinkled on another 1/4 tsp of water.

Did another set of four stretch-and-folds at about 7:30p, and sprinkled on another 1/4 tsp of water.

--

I was up around 4:15 am, so I decided to check on the dough which had been fermenting at about 68 F room temp. It had at least doubled, and was bubbly on top.

So I folded, shaped, stitched the seam, and put it in a 8" inner-upper-diameter banneton, seam up, with a cloth liner that was dusted with 50/50 rice flour and KA bread flour. I put plastic wrap on top, held in place with a rubber band, put in a plastic grocery bag, and put in fridge, which is about 38.8 to 39.4 F.

Bulk ferment was 13 hours at about 69 F.

Final proof was 4.5 hours at 39 F.  The dough had risen noticeably in the fridge and was pressed up against the plastic wrap.

Pre-heated oven to 465 F.  Turned dough over on parchment and scored. It had a nice skin and it did not spread out much. But due to the uneven scores it spread in one direction more.  Loaded it into the deep part of a Lodge 3.2 qt combo cooker.

• Bake started at 9:03 am
• Baked 10 min at 450, covered.
• Baked 10 min at 440, covered.
• Baked 10 min at 430, covered.  
• Uncovered after 30 min., good oven spring.
• Baked 10 min at 400, uncovered.
• Temp only 200 F after 40 min.
• Baked 10 min at 390, uncovered.
• Total time: 50 min. Final inner temp 205 F.

I forgot to weigh the final dough. But after cooling few hours, the baked loaf weighed 920 grams.

Dec. 30, 2020.

Goal: to add soluble and insoluble fiber to white (refined) bread flour with guar gum, psyllium powder, chia seed and flaxseed.

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A few days ago I did this by just throwing the ingredients together without measuring anything. I made a pita (flatbread) with it, and baked it in my toaster oven on a Lodge cast iron 9.25" serving griddle.

It came out surprisingly good.  So I decided to try again, measuring the ingredients this time so I can repeat it and share with others.

• 100 grams Gold Medal Bread Flour.
• 5 grams whole dry chia seed.
• 5 grams ground flaxseed.
• 1 gram pure psyllium powder. Purchased at an Indian grocery store, Patel Brothers.
• 1 gram guar gum, "Pure Organic Ingredients" brand, purchased from Amazon.
• 2 grams salt.
• .5 gram instant dry yeast.
• 10 grams cold starter, 100% hydration. Last fed evening of 12/26.
• 61 grams bottled spring water. Maybe 1 gram more was added during kneading.

Make sure the guar gum and psyllium are well distributed/mixed with the flour prior to adding water, otherwise they will clump.

I forgot that I had used some fat-free milk powder and a dash of nutritional yeast in my previous attempt, and did not use them this time.

Started first ferment around 11:30 am.  Dough is a _little_ stiff.

Shaped into 8.5" diameter round flatbread, started final proof, around 1:00pm.  The dough had softened and loosened up noticeably, and was easy to shape.

--

Pre-heated toaster oven, with both upper and lower elements turned on, to 400 F indicated. I'm not sure what actual is. Held temp at 400 for 10 minutes to get cast iron griddle/plate up to temp.

At 2:00pm, after a 1 hour final proof, I docked the flat dough with a fork, so it wouldn't puff up, and loaded in the toaster oven,  with the side with holes facing up. Lowered thermostat to 350 F, and turned off upper element, leaving lower element enabled.

Baked 5 minutes, flipped the bread over, and baked 4 minutes more.

Internal temp was 206 F.

The first down side (the side without holes) resulted more crispy than I wanted, but the other side was perfect.  I will likely pre-heat to only 350 next time, and bake 4.5 minutes each side.

-- 

There is a mild off taste that I think is the psyllium. So I will eliminate it next time.

Dec. 17, 2020.

Based on previous experiments, I've concluded that "blended" (in a Vitamix blender, as opposed to being milled into flour) wheat berries need to be combined with milled flour to make a decent loaf.

The wheat in this recipe is a combination of 200 grams Prairie Gold (hard white spring wheat)  whole berries soaked for 11 to 12 hours, 25 grams of fine grit semolina, and 22 grams of Gold Medal bread flour.  So the P.G. was 200 / 247 = 81% of the total "flour."

At first I ran the berries through a flimsy "Ambiano" (Aldi) brand food processor, but that had little to no effect on the berries.  Maybe soaking them longer, or in warm water would have made a difference.

The wheat berries were then blended in a Vitamix with enough water to make a slurry, not a "paste" as previously done.

I forgot to weigh the water.

After pouring and scraping the slurry out of the blender into a bowl, I added 30.5 grams of dry quick/minute oat flakes (not Old Fashioned, not instant), 31.5 grams of whole dry chia seeds, and then let it sit a while to hydrate.

Then I added 25 grams of fine grit semolina, and let it hydrate some more. It was "Deep" brand Pani-puri semolina flour (gritty, not true flour, but fine grit) UPC 0-11433-11281-9, from Patel Brothers (same package as this: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Deep-Semolina-Pani-Puri-2-Lb/388456304 )

Then I added 6.0 grams of salt, 22 grams of Gold Medal bread flour, 1/16 tsp instant dry yeast, and about 12 grams of sourdough starter at 100% hydration. Starter was made from GM bread flour.

Bulk fermented at about 71 F for 2 hours, including some stretch-and-folds, then shape and put in a banneton.

Proof was approximately 1.5 hours at 70/71 F.

Baked covered, 18 minutes at 430 F.  Uncovered, 20 minutes at 430 F.  Inside temp still not reached. Then uncovered, 9 minutes at 445 F. Inner temp 208.5 F.

The loaf feels heavy for the size, so it's likely to be gummy.

Yup, crumb is too moist and gummy.

Nov. 29, 2020.

This is my third attempt at the "Adventure Bread" from the Josey Baker Bread book. But, this is my first attempt to make it exactly as written. Previously, I swapped out the psyllium husk for other binders, but I never matched the absorbancy of psyllium, so it was overly wet, and the oats totally dissolved.  (IE., I violated my own rule of not making substitutions until after you make something at least once, so that you know what it is supposed to look like. Once you know what it is supposed to look like, then have fun with it.)

A similar publicly available recipe is here: https://liezljayne.com/overnight-oat-nut-seed-bread-gluten-free/

I got the psyllium husk powder at Patel Brothers (Indian) grocery store.

Both formulas said just "psyllium husk" and did not further specify "whole" versus "ground" (powder).  Whole husks can be had at Whole Foods.

Metamucil has other ingredients beside psyllium, so I would not recommend using it.

Pre-bake: 

After bake, top:

After bake, bottom:

Nov. 27, 2020.

The goal of this bake is to use no pre-milled flour, just soaked whole berries that have been blended in a Vitamix blender.  Add-ins are then used to get the hydration right.

This time I weighed most things. I forgot to weigh the approximately 1 tbsp starter. Guessing it to be 19.5 grams.

I started with 225 g of whole berry hard white spring wheat, Prairie Gold, and soaked it in what looked like enough water for 17 hours. I exchanged the soak water during this period.

I weighed the berries and water at the end of the soak, and figured I put 284 grams of water and 225 grams of wheat in the blender.  

Part way through blending, it looked like it needed more water to fully blend, so I added 22 grams of water for a total of 306.

It blended into a paste. I gave it an extra 30 seconds at high speed to break up the small bits. The paste got a bit warm.

Upon scraping it out of the blender, I could see strands, so it developed gluten.

Weighed the bowl of paste, and figured I "lost" 25 grams of paste/dough that I could not scrape out of the blender container. I did not try to flush the residue out of the blender container using water, as that may have necessitated adding flour to the thinner paste.

Using a silicone scraper, folded in 35 grams of whole dry chia seed, 15 grams of dry uncooked old fashioned rolled oats and 15 grams of dry uncooked quick 1 minute oats (not instant).

Folded in 4.5 grams of salt.

Folded in 1/8 tsp instant dry yeast and 19.5 grams of cold starter, 100% hydration, made with Gold Medal Bread Flour, last refreshed yesterday afternoon.

The dough was a little rubbery and bouncy. Yup, there's gluten! Same behavior as yesterday's second bake, only a little more so -- so that one had gluten formed in the blender too, but I did not realize it.

After mixing in the add-ins, I realized that I didn't need to add any flour. Woo hoo!

At the 40 minute  mark, the rolled oats are still lumpy. So in the future, if I don't want oat lumps, I'll use just the quick oats, not the thicker un-cut old fashioned variety.

Baker's percentages:

• 306 / 225 = 136% hydration, not counting add-ins.
• 306 / 290 = 105.5% hydration including add-ins.
• (19.5 / 2) / ( 225 + (19.5/2) ) = 4.1% prefermented flour.
• 35 / 225 = 15.5% dry chia.
• 30 / 225 = 13.3 %  dry rolled oats.

 Baked with lid on, at 425 F for 20 minutes. Then with lid off, at 425 F for 23 minutes. Internal temp 209.5 F.

Nov. 25, 2020.

2nd bake of the day. Started the dough in the morning.  Again, not much measuring, just 3/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp instant dry yeast, which turned out to be too much.

Soaked some whole berry hard white winter spring wheat (Prairie Gold) for 18 hours. Around 9 am ran it through the blender with enough water to make a smooth paste. Emptied the paste into a mixing bowl. Had to use more water to get the remnants of the paste out of the blender container.

Added whole chia seed and old fashioned (ie, thick) rolled oats. Let it soak a while, then added some Deep brand semolina. Let it soak some more, then added more semolina. And 3/4 tsp salt.

Finally added some Gold Medal bread flour, a dollop of sourdough starter, and 1/4 tsp of instant dry yeast, all mixed/dissolved in spring water. Used a silicone scraper to fold it into the dough.

It seemed the right hydration, so let it bulk rise, doing at least 2 stretch and folds.

Went and did some other things, and it rose too much.

Did a final fold, a shape, put in banneton, put in fridge, and immediately pre-heated oven.

Baked in 3.2 qt  Lodge combo cooker. Lid on, 20 min at 425 F.  Lid off 25 min at 425 T.  Final internal temp 209.5 F.

Gonna wait until tomorrow AM to cut open. 

Nov. 25, 2020.

A variation on the previous bake.  Sourdough starter, Deep brand semolina (gritty, not flour), whole  not-soaked chia. 

New to this: added whole not soaked not toasted yellow millet, some ground roasted malted wheat (Briess Midnight wheat malt, non-diastatic https://shop.greatfermentations.com/product/briess-midnight-wheat-malt/specialty-grains ), and some Gold Medal bread flour.

Bulk ferment with 4 stretch and folds, final fold shape and put in lined dusted banneton, 40 min room temp proof, overnight proof in fridge.

Bake covered 19 minutes at 425 F, and uncovered for 19 minutes at 425 F. 

Internal temp: 208.0 F.

The brown color is entirely from the dark roasted malt wheat. This particular one "Midnight," from Briess, lends a coffee flavor. This product comes already malted and roasted, all I did was run it through a coffee grinder.

The crumb is dense, likely from not enough hydration.

The centers of the millet seeds are uncooked, so they should have been soaked or toasted prior to adding to the dough. 

I don't like the mild coffee flavor added by the roast-malt wheat. Perhaps it would be better with an added sweetener. Or, toasting the bread, and eating with jam.

The millet seeds pop out, roll around and make a mess as the bread is sliced.

Nov. 23, 2020.

No measuring on this except for 3/8 tsp salt.

Starter, spring water, "Deep" brand Pani-puri semolina flour (gritty, not true flour, but fine grit) UPC 0-11433-11281-9, from Patel Brothers (same package as this: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Deep-Semolina-Pani-Puri-2-Lb/388456304 ),  whole chia seed.  The chia was not soaked prior to adding, and it was incorporated -- not used as a coating.

Bulk ferment, with 3 sets of stretch and folds.  Final fold, shape, proof in a round banneton lined and dusted with white rice flour. Banneton outer diameter 6.3", inner diameter 5-5/8" at upper rim.

Baked in a 1.75 qt enameled cast iron sauce pan, Crofton brand from Aldi. 6-3/8" inner diameter at upper rim. See it here: https://www.aldi.us/fileadmin/fm-dam/Weekly_Assets/2019/10_2_2019/Warranties/9.25.19_Crofton_Cast_Iron_1.75_Qt._Saucepan.pdf

Baked 20 min at 425 F lid on. 18 min at 400 F lid off.

Inner temp 210.0 F at end.

The paper plate is 9" diameter.

A "Sot-sot" flatbread. Some of this - some of that.   Nothing was measured except for a scant 1/8 tsp of salt.

1. Some starter discard, last fed 8 days ago. 100% hydration. Store brand AP flour.

2. Some bottled spring water.

3. Some home-milled whole grain Prairie Gold, hard white spring wheat.

4. Some home-milled whole grain Kamut.

5. Some home-milled whole grain generic hard red winter wheat, at least 9 years old. It had been sealed in a pouch with oxygen absorber.

6. Some whole chia seed.

7. Slightly less than 1/8 tsp salt.

8. Hand mix. Hand knead. The above flours were added until it "felt right."

9. Ferment for "a while," maybe 1 to 2 hours.

10. Hand pressed it out to about 8", maybe 1/8" thick.

11. Final proof for "a while," maybe 1 to 2 hours.

12.  Cooked in non-stick skillet on stove-top. Larger burner, setting 4 (out of 10). Flipped several times, until brown spots on both sides. Maybe 5 min total each side. Maybe 10 min overall.

13. Plus 11 seconds in microwave on high, "just to be sure."  It did partly inflate in microwave.

#wbd2020

#worldbreadday

#worldbreadday2020

https://www.kochtopf.me/world-bread-day-2020

(Above photo is just after mixing.)

Sept. 26, 2020. 

Second attempt at the "Adventure Bread" of rolled oats and seeds, from the Josey Baker Bread book. 

If you don't have the book, a nearly identical publicly available formula is here:

https://liezljayne.com/overnight-oat-nut-seed-bread-gluten-free/

I don't like psyllium. This formula calls for 25 grams of psyllium husks. Last time, I substituted whole chia seeds in for the psyllium husks.  This time I used ground chia seeds, swapped 1:1 by weight, 25 grams, and it did a much better job of absorbing water and working as a binder. 

My previous attempt at this formula was too wet, and the oat flakes disolved and congealed. And there was insufficient "binder" holding the ingredients together. 

I think psyllium absorbs more water than ground chia, so I also added 12 grams of guar gum, but  it clumped. I took out what clumps I could. I'm estimating 2 to 4 grams of guar gum still made it in. 

The ground chia and guar gum absorbed a lot of water and produced a lot of mucilage.  You can see the shiny mucilage and the intact oat flakes in the photo. 

I modified the mixing instructions too.  I added the water to the mixing bowl, then added the ground chia and guar gum. (then took out the guar gum clumps.) This was to ensure the binders got well hydrated first, so the rolled oats would not disolve. The rolled oats (old fashioned style, not quick/minute style) were added last. 

It's in the fridge now, resting, and will be baked later today.