justkeepswimming's blog

Abe posted this a few days ago, and I decided to give it a try. This had to be the easiest and best 100% whole wheat I have ever made!! For anyone who enjoys home milling, watch the video and give it a try. This is the first time I haven't had to do something else (add some AP or bread flour, follow Reinhart's "epoxy" biga/soaker method, or something else) to get a decent rise and crumb. Really happy with the simplicity of this!!

My dough info:

Hard spring white wheat 300 gm

Hard red winter wheat 150 gm

Water 405 gm 

Stiff starter (~ 70% hydration) 130 gm

Salt 9 gm

She encourages you to use any wheat, and these are what I had on hand. I suspect any good whole wheat flour works great for anyone doesn't mill their own. (For inquiring minds, I mill on a Mockmill 200.)

Also, this was a tad too much hydration for my wheat, next time I will drop it a little bit, maybe try 85% hydration. I wanted to follow her directions for my first attempt, just to see how it would go. The dough was still kind of slack after bulk with stretch and folds x4. The shape came out looking like it wants to be a manatee, lol. I tried to score it, but shouldn't have bothered.

The crumb is soft with a mild tang, not too much for our tastes. We had some for sandwiches today, and it worked great for that. This one will definitely be going into regular rotation. 

Link to the video:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jd_r69WauPk&feature=youtu.be

My results:

As a general rule, my husband and I tend to make do with what we have. It's an approach we adopted after a few too many spontaneous purchases that were never really needed in the first place. But once in a while it's really worth getting what you want or "need". 

After struggling with cutting loaves with our trusty old Cutco bread knife (on the right), I concluded there must be a better way. A little research here on TFL revealed several very affordable options. I opted for this Mercer 10 inch (on the left). Wowzer, what a difference!! Love it, and would highly recommend. At a little under $20 US, if it's not what you prefer for bread, it's certainly sharp enough to be useful for some other use.

Feb 3, 2021 - Abe's VSSD, take 2

I decided to start this during the day this time, so I could watch it and better understand the bulk proof. That allowed taking photos of the whole process.  It was a little warmer here than usual yesterday, about 4-5 degrees F warmer than the overnight room temperature than the last time.

Dough info:

Freshly milled hard red winter wheat 150 gm

Freshly milled hard white spring wheat 150 gm

KAF bread flour 200 gm

Water 340 gm (freshly milled flour tends to be thirsty, I went by feel)

Salt 9 gm

Stiff starter 15 gm

After Abe's great advice, I fed the stiff starter and got it going well a couple of days before using it. This is definitely more vigorous than the last time. 

Dough after kneading. Dough temp 79F, room temp 69F:

After ~ 4 hours:

After ~ 8 hours:

At the 11 hour mark, there was no discernable change. We are early risers and bed time was approaching faster than bulk was moving, so I put it into my makeshift proofing box (microwave with the lights on keeps it between 82-86F). 

After ~ 13 hours total:

Shaped and into the banetton, then into the fridge as we headed to bed.

Banetton came out of the fridge early this morning, and went back into my "proofing box" for about 4 hours. I checked it often, and when the poke test showed it was nearly ready, I preheated the oven and DO.

Scored and ready to go.

I had floured the banetton well last night, then sprinkled in some bran (had been playing with a new sieve) for a little decoration. Most of it stayed in the banetton, will see if what made it onto the loaf even shows after baking.

Spritzed with a little water, then baked at 470F with the lid on 25 min, lid off at 450 another 15 min. Internal temp 209 F. 

Cooling. All my DO bakes at these higher temps ,(internal oven temp verified, not going by what the oven settings say) have overcooked the bottom. I have been trying various cookie sheets etc. on the shelf below, which helps some. Parchment paper and cornmeal too. ??‍♀️ 

First impression - a little flatter than last time, will see what the crumb shows. It may be a tad overproofed. Crumb shot tomorrow. I'm predicting it may show some over proofing, guess time will tell..... 

After getting comfortable baking yeast breads with at least some amount of home milled flour, I decided to don my proverbial water wings and venture into the deeper end of the bread baking pool with the sourdough people. So far, it feels like I am doing a dog paddle, but my first SD bake came out good enough for us. 

I followed Abe's VSSD recipe (a 60% whole wheat bread). The bulk rise didn't go nearly as high as his experience, barely doubled after 12 hours overnight. Our home is only 67F at night,so that may have been part of the issue. While my 100% hydration starter is quite vigorous, the stiff starter may not have been quite ready for prime time yet. I gave bulk a little more time, then shaped/proofed in a banetton/scored and baked in a DO. 

Proofing was quite slow as well, and I was certain the crumb was going to prove it was terrible. Even though my expectations were quite low, I decided to bake it and learn from the experience. The result was a very pleasant surprise! I expected a brick, but the crumb had a soft and pleasant chew with a soft tang. And the crust had a great crunch without being too much. Now I can hardly wait for my next "swimming lesson". ?

....and getting brave enough to post my progress. This is a no knead yeast recipe. 50% KAF AP, 50% home milled hard red winter wheat, 76% hydration. Progress!

I'm starting to feel comfortable enough with the basics to want to get into the sourdough world. Onward!

Now to figure out how to add the crumb shot.

Edit: even figured out how to add photos! I had better quit for the day while I'm ahead. ?