ll433's blog

This is a follow-up of the recently concluded rye experiments, where it was established that:

1) A straight starter loaf gave a softer texture compared to a levain loaf (PFF 40%, all rye), fermentation time (16 hours) and dough components held constant, but

2) A straight starter loaf had less oven spring and was harder to shape than the levain loaf, though the straight starter loaf had an airier, less tight crumb.

3) The difference in taste was not that discernible. 

I wanted to confirm if the above held true, but this time with a 30% wholewheat loaf, 70% hydration, and lengthening the fermentation time to 19 hours - would the straight starter loaf hold up?

The straight starter loaf used 7g of starter for 240g of flour. BF and final proof 19 hours at DT 19 degrees.

The levain loaf had 30% wholewheat and 15% bread flour in the levain. Levain took 13 hours to mature, BF and final proof 6 hours at DT 19 degrees.

I also added a third loaf that used an overripe levain to see if that would increase the sourness of the loaf without compromising on dough strength, oven spring and crumb. Levain with 30% wholewheat and 15% bread flour; it peaked in 11 hours, and I left it for another two hours to collapse. The pH of this levain was 3.9 whereas that for the ripe levain loaf was 4.15. BF and final proof took the same time - dough strength was not affected. 

Results:

WhatsApp Image 2024-12-17 at 21.21.55.jpeg

Here you can see that the straight starter loaf had an equally good oven spring as the others. Like the previous experiment, the straight starter loaf yields an airier crumb.

Notes on taste, sourness, crust and crumb

This time I invited 3 other friends to do a blind tasting.

Straight starter loaf: Clearly softer texture. One taster said it was "mushier, drier, less bite". Flavour-wise: I thought it had a slightly more well-rounded flavour compared to the other two loaves, but not all tasters agreed on this. However, all tasters did place this loaf in the last place. (what!)

Ripe levain loaf: More bite and bounce than the straight starter loaf, but "weaker flavour" compared to the overripe levain loaf.

Overripe levain loaf: Slightly more sour than the other two loaves. Same bite as the ripe levain loaf. One taster had a strong preference for this loaf. 

So it seems the difference in bite and texture is pretty significant, and with my small sample group, more of them prefer bread with more bite. They did agree that the flavour was rather similar, though all discerned more sour notes with the overripe levain loaf. 

An interesting conclusion - a more elastic bite can clearly be controlled with the use of a levain, but the levain also at the same time retains complex flavours of long fermentation. Sourness can perhaps be manipulated by using an overripe levain (I do not know how far this can be pushed) without compromising on dough strength.

My next experiment would involve adding IDY to see if my results would agree with Rob's.

Following the most recently concluded einkorn experiments, I decided to plunge headlong into levain build experiments, but this time with rye.

One of my usual rye breads is a 45% dark rye bread, 75% hydration, with all the rye fermented for 11 hours in an overnight levain (thus PFF is also 45%). BF and proof the next day for 4-5 hours, baked on the same day.

I decided to bake two other rye breads for comparison. One in which the levain consists of a double build; the other in which I mix my starter (it's a 50/50 rye/AP 100% hydration) directly with all other ingredients, but proof the dough for the same amount of time that it takes for the other levain-built breads. 

All three loaves are identical in terms of composition, i.e. 74% water, 45% dark rye, 55% bread flour, 1.25% salt. (And walnuts and cranberries. I cannot resist.) Total fermentation time was 16 hours at 20 degrees. All baked for 30 mins at 220 degrees.

My initial predictions were:

1) Straight starter loaf would be the most sour, followed by the double build levain, followed by the single build.

2) Straight starter loaf would have the most flavour, followed by the single build, and then the double build. 

2) Straight starter dough would be harder to handle towards end of BF and shaping with more gluten degradation (since the bread flour is also fermented with SD from the start), potentially a soupy mess.

Composition details:

Straight starter loaf: Mixed 30g of starter with 97g of dark rye, 118g of bread flour, 155g of water, and 5g of salt. PFF is therefore 6.5%. Briefly gave this two folds and then went to bed. Two more folds in the morning before shaping. Dough was much looser by the time of shaping compared to other loaves. Baked 16 hours after initial mix.

Single build levain: Mixed 25g of starter with 97g of dark rye and 80g of water to make levain. Autolysed 120g of bread flour with 78g of water overnight. Levain left to ferment for 11 hours. Mixed everything together with 5g of salt to make final dough. Additional 5 hours of BF and proof.

Double build levain: Mixed 11g of starter with 33g of dark rye and 26g of water to make levain. Autolysed 123g of bread flour with 78g of water overnight. Levain left to ferment for 8 hours. To this levain, added 70g of dark rye and 60g of water then left to ferment for another 3 hours to double. Finally mixed with autolysed flour/water and 5g of salt to make final dough. Additional 5 hours of BF and proof.

Note: Both levains had reached the same height (i.e. equal rise) by the end of the 11 hours before mixing DT. I had hoped this would happen and was very surprised it actually happened.

Results:

WhatsApp Image 2024-12-10 at 14.37.03.jpeg

 The straight starter loaf spreaded out a little more and had less bloom. The double build appeared to have the most rise.

WhatsApp Image 2024-12-10 at 14.34.52.jpeg

Crumb-wise, I think the straight starter's is the most beautiful. What do you think?

WhatsApp Image 2024-12-10 at 14.38.31.jpeg

Differences in taste and bite:

The straight starter loaf was only very slightly more sour than the single build loaf. I liked it. The double build levain loaf was the least sour. If this is of interest to anyone: the final pH of the single build levain was 4.11 and of the double build levain 4.55. 

The flavour of the straight starter loaf and single build loaf are really, really close. Extremely good. The double build levain loaf was a little...flatter? The husband who was subjected to a blind taste picked this out immediately. 

The bite. Now, the bite was a little different. The straight starter loaf had a slightly better bite - somewhat more even, tender, a better mouthfeel, compared to the levain loaves.

So all in all, the winner this time was the straight starter loaf. This has really surprised me! 

WhatsApp Image 2024-12-10 at 14.40.39.jpeg

I asked the husband for a bread challenge yesterday and he said why not make an airy and not dense free-form 100% ancient grain loaf?

I thought I might as well take the opportunity to conduct some experiments regarding hydration levels of levains, pH levels and resulting crumb/taste. Since I didn't have enough emmer left, I went with einkorn. (Forgot I had an unopened bag of Khorasan in the cabinet - damn! Next time.)

I began last night by making three different levains.

Levain 1 had starter:einkorn:water ratio of 1:4:4, totalling 108g (I call this the liquid einkorn levain).

Levain 2 had starter:einkorn:water ratio of 1:4:3, totalling 96g (I call this the stiff einkorn levain).

Levain 3 had starter:rye:white AP:water ratio of 1:2:2:4, totalling 108g (I call this the rye-AP levain, and it's essentially a refresh of my mother culture).

I expected Levain 1 to be the most acidic, and Levain 2 to be the least acidic.

Levains after rising overnight for 11 hours at 20 degrees:

WhatsApp Image 2024-12-06 at 13.54.24.jpeg

I'm not so surprised that the rye-AP levain rose more than the liquid Einkorn levain, but I'm very surprised that the stiff Einkorn levain rose to almost as high as the liquid Einkorn (remember that the stiff levain is 12g less than the others).

pH levels:

Rye-AP levain: 4.05; Stiff Einkorn levain: 4.33; Liquid Einkorn levain: 4.22

I'm so surprised that the Rye-AP levain became more acidic than the Einkorns. We can also see that the stiff Einkorn levain is less acidic than the liquid Einkorn levain.

I proceeded to make three mini loaves by adding 78g of Einkorn to each levain, and water to make up to 75% hydration of the total loaf. BF and final proof took 4.5 hours - not surprising given that PFF is 40%. Added poppy seeds, walnuts and cranberries. I baked them at 220 degrees for 25 mins.

Results:

WhatsApp Image 2024-12-06 at 13.46.09.jpeg

It's hard to see from the picture, but the rye-AP had a substantially better rise, followed by the one made with the stiff levain, and then the one with the liquid levain. All loaves had the same 75% hydration.

Crumb shots:

WhatsApp Image 2024-12-06 at 13.47.10.jpeg

WhatsApp Image 2024-12-06 at 13.47.41.jpeg

I subjected the husband to a taste test.

In first place was the loaf made with rye-AP: "This loaf has quite a nice flavour. It's the most bready of all three loaves."

In second place was the 100% Einkorn loaf made with stiff starter: "This has an interesting crust. It's almost like a cookie crust rather than a bread crust. Taste is very earthy and nutty." (Agreed. The crust is really interesting.)

In third place was the 100% Einkorn loaf made with liquid starter: "I don't know what to say about this. It's quite similar to loaf number 2 but a little more dense, slightly more sour, less airy."

So there we are. Takeaways for me for future 100% Einkorn loafs: Use a stiff starter, make bigger loaves, and I think retain the same hydration (messy, but really nice crumb). It was very surprising to me that with just 20% of AP in an otherwise whole grain loaf, handling, rise and crust/crumb profile can change quite significantly. 

I first had these spinach pies (or pita, as it's called there) when hiking near Ljuboten a couple of years back. A very old lady invited us to her hut for a pita made with nettles and cheese. That was the best pie I've ever eaten. Since then, I've tried to replicate it at home with spinach (no success with Belgian nettles - tasted very grassy).

The pie uses a dough that is just a little thicker than phyllo. 

Dough for one pie

250g of white flour mixed with water to about 50% hydration, with 2g of salt added. You need a dough that is rather dry - creases remain on the surface and the dough is not smooth at all. Rest the dough for at least 3 hours - I tend to rest it for at least 5. It is much easier to stretch if it has had more time to rest. By the end of the resting period, the dough is smooth and pliable. 

Filling for one pie

220g spinach; 2 yellow onions, 110g feta

1. To make the filling: Saute onions until translucent, then add in spinach in three batches. Season with salt, oregano and pepper. Cook off as much water as you can - if there's too much you need to drain it. Towards the end, add a tablespoon of flour to make the mixture drier. Once the mixture is very dry, take it off the heat and let it cool on a plate. Let the mixture completely cool then add the crumbled feta before you make the pie.

2. To assemble the pie: Preheat the oven to 175 degrees. Oil a big pie form (I prefer a cast iorn pan) with olive oil. Roll and stretch your dough until extremely thin. I start by using a rolling pin to roll the dough out to about 2mm thick. After that, I stretch it out with my hands, starting from the sides, then draping it over my arms to stretch the middle of the dough - let gravity do the work. Stretch till the windowpane stage then lay it out on the floured counter to continue assembling.

WhatsApp Image 2024-11-24 at 03.52.19.jpeg

3. Put some spinach mixture in a long horizontal manner at one end of the dough like a sausage. Roll the dough over the sausage until covered. Brush pastry that is covering the top of the sausage with olive oil, and make another round of pastry over the sausage. This sausage is now done. Use a knife to cut off the sausage from the rest of the dough. Make sure the ends are pinched closed. Assemble it in the pie form starting from the middle, like a snail, then broadening out. Make sure that the crease of the sausage is always facing down on the pan. Continue in this manner until your filling is finished.

WhatsApp Image 2024-11-24 at 04.01.28.jpeg

4. To bake the pie: Brush the top of the pie and the sides of the outermost layer with olive oil. Put pie into oven and bake until golden brown, about 30-40 mins. And then you eat it.

WhatsApp Image 2024-11-24 at 03.52.18.jpeg

It might seem somewhat incredulous that there would be yet another bachelor party bake within two weeks of the previous one, but yes - seems many men in our circle are getting married. 

This was a somewhat small party of 5 men, so I produced but 2 durum semolina matera-type loaves and 2 five-grain five seed/nut loaves. These went down very well, with the semolinas being the clear preference.

WhatsApp Image 2024-11-12 at 13.32.20.JPG

Interesting points on the bread bake:

1. The semolina loaves had 30% levain and the multi grain/seed/nut loaves had 40% levain. Before mixing, I measured the pH of the levains. The semolina levain came in at 4.43 and the other at 4.88 (both had the same ratios and were mixed 10 hours before).

2. After mixing, both doughs ended up with the same pH: 5.13!

3. Due to the morning rush, I baked them a little earlier than I usually would. I baked the nut/seed ones, then the semolina. Both were baked at 4.45. My semolina loaves had the craziest oven spring ever!

_ _ _

I also decided to reproduce a macaron bake that I had attempted a few days ago for a gluten-free party. These took me three tries! (pic above)

To make 28 single shells

1. Prepare 70g of egg whites (from about 2 eggs). Briefly warm up over bain marie.

2. Blend 93g of blanched almonds with 93g of icing sugar. Pass through a fine sieve twice.

3. Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt and 55g of caster sugar until stiff peaks. Invert the bowl above your head to be sure.

4. Mix almond-sugar mixture in three parts. Use a folding movement rather than a stirring one. Keep folding until the mixture flows from the spoon barely breaking but still keeps a figure 8 in the mixture that stays for a couple of seconds. If the mixture feels like soup or if the figure 8 disappears within a second or two, it is overdone. For me, this step took about 15 folds.

5. Pipe and let the shells dry on the tray until they are dry to the touch. Bake at 145 degrees for about 12 mins.

6. For the filing: I did a lemon buttercream and chocolate coconut buttercream. 

Notes for reference

1. Egg whites should be slightly warm. Do not skip this step.

2. Blending almonds and icing sugar is very important. Do not skip this step even if you're using almond flour. 

3. Inverting the bowl is a great test for stiff meringues. Very important that beater and bowl are completely clean. Even if you believe they are clean, it's better to wash and dry them again before using. 

4. While piping - if the mixture seems thick and doesn't settle into nice circles (e.g. tips remain visible and don't sink), give the mixture another fold or two and it should be fine.

5. Drying the shells is important. Don't skip this step.

6. Baking on a steel pan produced the best results. Aluminium failed me.

This was hectic. Baked 12 loaves (2 of each type) and 3.5kg of granola for the bachelor's party that the husband was organizing. Prepped the levains all in the morning before I left for work (cycled to the train station in record time), and started mixing dough the moment I was home at 8 pm. Was done baking 10 loaves at 3:30 am, and then had to bake the oat loaves at 8 am as they need a much longer rise.

WhatsApp Image 2024-10-27 at 10.44.59.jpeg

Recipes:

60% rye

40% einkorn-emmer malt

100% durum semolina

50% oat

50% spelt (I replaced the 30% autolysed emmer in the original recipe with 20% red spelt)

The holey white was a request from my brother-in-law AKA the groom for whom the bachelor party was organized. When asked what bread he would most like me to bake, he said "a very holey mostly white bread with a thick crust". 

I initially went with a simple full white SD loaf, 20% levain, but I was really disappointed with the taste. It surely was holey, but after eating really colourful grainy loaves for so long, it's very hard to go back to a full white loaf.

I then decided to do a 90% white and 10% wholewheat. I thought that with a mostly white bread, a good long poolish for most of the white and a little bit of SD complexity with the wholewheat might be interesting. So that's what I did, and it tasted fabulous. I was very pleased with it. For the sake of completeness, this is the very basic recipe:

Holey white 

For a 800g loaf

Make a 24 hour poolish with 300g of white flour, 300g water and 1/10 teaspoon of IDY. 

Make a 10 hour levain with 50g of wholewheat, 4g of starter, and 45g of water.

When mixing the dough, simply add enough white flour to the levain and poolish to make a manageable dough. I ended up mixing 89g of flour, making it 78% hydration. Add 12g of salt and 1/8 teaspoon of IDY.

BF took 4 hours and proofing took 1.5 hours. I should have scored this deeper than my usual wholegrainy type loaves as the oven spring with this was tremendous. Baked it at 220 C for 40 mins. 

And yesterday, for a little treat with my parents-in-law, we decided to have some molten chocolate cake (picture above). My go-to quick dessert for extreme satisfaction. 

Molten dark chocolate cakes

For three individual cakes

Melt 60g of chopped 70% dark chocolate with 30g of unsalted butter over hot water. In the meantime beat 1 egg and 1 egg yolk with 3 tablespoons of sugar until very thick, about 8 mins (whisk leaves very clear trail in batter when lifted).

Mix the chocolate+butter into the egg batter gently, then also gently whisk in 1 tablespoon of flour. Put about 3 big tablespoons of this into each ringform which has been buttered and floured (it should come up to about half the form), each set on a square of baking paper.

Chill in the fridge until you need to eat, heat up oven to 200 C then put these in on a baking tray for about 9-11 mins. Keep an eye on them at the 8 mins mark - you know they are ready when you see the sides rise, and the middle is only slightly set, still very wobbly. I transport each to a plate, pull off the baking paper below while holding the form, and gently encourage the cake to slide down the form as I pull it up (use a small knife to dislodge any small sticky sides).

This recipe uses way less sugar and butter than most others, so increase amounts if you want something sweeter and more molten...

Loaf is exceptionally tasty. Really deep flavour with very little sourness, excellent complex crust. Smoky, earthy and smooth. Definitely my best rye bread so far.

I wanted to try making a 60% rye (whole and medium 50/50) that was flavourful, not too sour, and had most of the rye in the pre-ferment so that the grains were more broken down (for flavour, but also digestibility), and BF and proof would be relatively fast, about 5 hours or so, with some sort of rise in the oven. 

I decided to do separate levains, one for the medium rye and the other for the wholegrain rye. For the medium rye, I thought I would go for my standard 1:3:3 ratio, which leaves me with levain at peak after 10 hours of overnight rise, ready to be used in the morning. For the wholegrain rye, I decided to experiment with a 1:10:10 ratio, which I would also use after 10 hours, when it would only be at 1.5x (this ratio usually requires about 14-16 hours to peak here). Part of the liquid used here would also be malt syrup, to further slow down fermentation. The idea was that some flavour would be developed, but hopefully with a manageable about of LAB and yeast to not mess up BF, given that 60% of the flour would now be pre-fermented.

In the morning, the medium rye had tripled and the wholegrain rye had risen by 50%. Mixed everything. BF took 4 hours, proof 1 hour, and baked at 220 degrees for 40 mins.

Figures for a 565g loaf (excluding inclusions):

Wholegrain rye levain: 8g starter, 92g whole rye flour, 73g water, 20g malt syrup

Medium rye levain: 30g starter, 92g medium rye flour, 96g water 

Final dough: 122g bread flour, 47g water, 4g salt

Cranberries and walnuts added during shaping

Overall hydration is about 70%.

Would be adding this loaf to the baking spree for the husband's party next weekend.

WhatsApp Image 2024-10-18 at 16.52.59 (1).jpeg

I was pleasantly surprised by this loaf. This is a 40% whole einkorn loaf, hydration 70%, with some barley malt syrup mixed in and poppy seeds on the crust. All the einkorn is in the overnight levain. The high PFF makes this a fast bread to bake on the same day as mixing - I mixed it at 8:30 am, baked it at 12:30, and (don't frown) ate it at 2 pm with carrot lentil soup.

I wasn't expecting myself to develop strong feelings over this loaf (yes, intense relationship with bread), but I actually loved it. The slightly grassy flavour of einkorn paired with the deep, almost caramel notes of the malt syrup, further lifted by the nutty, almost seaweed-umami crunch of the poppy seed-studded crust ---- all that eaten fresh, even almost slightly warm, with butter.... .... .......

Figures for a 610g loaf:

Overnight einkorn levain: 24g starter, 135g whole einkorn flour, 115g water

Final dough: all of the levain, 203g white flour, 128g water, 10g barley malt syrup, 5g salt

Process

Levain took 11 hours to peak.

Mixed the dough together and did 4 mins of walk-and-stretch (my mobile version of SF lol). Rested and did actual SF thrice during 3-hr BF at room temp 23C. Shaped and proofed for another hour and baked at 220C for 33 mins.

Will need to try out another two or three types of loaves for a big bake coming up next weekend. The husband is organising a stag party and I'm keen to offer ten loaves. 

A friend recently asked if I could try making some semolina loaves. He missed them after his vacation in Italy and sent me references to the Matera bread.

After reading a couple of posts here, I ventured on my first loaf.

First loaf - Complete failure

I started off with what seemed to be a standard recipe. 500g semola rimacinata, 100g 70% hydration starter, 350g water, 1.5% salt.

BF took 7 hours without dough degradation but also without much gluten development. I did a final proof of about an hour and then shaped it before putting it into the oven.

There was very little rise in the oven. Crumb was dense. Most importantly: poor flavour. Bland and flat. Sour. No durum taste.

Verdict: Very disappointed. Decided to not cut any corners. Converted my wheat starter to a semolina starter.

Second loaf - Better flavour but flat 

Kept to the same recipe but used a semolina starter. Taste was better. Still too sour and overpowered the durum, I thought, but the dense crumb problem persisted.

Verdict: Still not right. Need to find a way to increase oven rise. Perhaps knead the dough more and stretch BF and final proof.

Third loaf - Even flatter

I extended BF to 8 hours and final proofing to almost 2 hours. The dough collapsed considerably during shaping, before going into the oven. As a result, the loaf was even flatter.

Verdict: Ready to throw in the towel. How can durum wheat be harder than spelt and rye? I've worked with it so much with pasta and lower % in standard loaves. Then I remembered: this is a new brand of semola rimacinata that I'm using. I remember that what I used previously was a just a little finer. Could this explain it? Ordered three bags.

Fourth loaf - Some volume, but sourness bugs me

 Dough felt so much better during mixing. Increased hydration slightly as this flour seemed to soak up much more. I went back to BF 7 hours and final proof 1 hour, this time using the newer, finer semola rimacinata. Dough felt so much better during BF - good strength. Final proof and shaping went well, and loaf doubled in the oven, major improvement.

Verdict: Achieved the volume I wanted. But I think the durum will come out better if I can reduce the sourness. Decided to increase the % of PFF.

Fifth loaf - Happy for now

Final recipe for now gives 76 % hydration and 17% PFF.

In numbers for a 1kg loaf: 454g semola rimacinata, 332g water, 206g 90% semola rimacinata starter, 8g salt.

The bizarre thing is that BF still took 6 hours despite the increase in PFF. Very pleased with the flavour profile now. This loaf baked for a total of 45 mins at 250/240/230/220 degrees with the decrease every ten mins. Think for my next loaf I might increase the bake by just a little more, though it was completely cooked. I think the crust can take a little more thickness!

Overall: Fun journey, and will be making this loaf as one of my standards.

WhatsApp Image 2024-10-12 at 13.05.41.jpeg

This is a follow-up to Precaud's interesting post on enhancing oatiness. And my, what a journey. I love my oats, and have lots of experience making them for granola, incorporating a portion into my bread and so forth, but at a high percentage, oats do very funny things. 

So I made three oat breads this weekend, all with the same ratios of 5:4:1 for oat: white bread flour: red whole wheat. Apart from the first bread being made with SD and the other two made with IDY, the most significant change was the hydration.

The idea was to do what I have always done for my granola, albeit at a higher hydration. I found that soaking the oats for a couple of hours before baking them really brought out their oatiness (aside: I started doing it to make them more digestible for family members, but in the meantime found out that this was a great method to also make granola clusters!!!)

For this bread, the method is as follows: The night before baking, I soak the oats in milk, some lemon juice and a sprinkle of rye flour, and leave overnight in the fridge. The next day, I mix the soaked oats with the white and wholegrain flours, water and yeast. Note: I use normal cooking oats, not quick-cooking or steel-cut.

First loaf

For the first loaf I decided to apportion some of the bread flour and all the whole wheat flour to a levain. I went with a conservative 100% hydration of the oats (so equal weight oats and milk). The next day, all the oats had soaked up the milk and were not mushy at all. I mixed up the dough, levain and added enough water to make a dough that felt like 80% hydration. BF and final proof took 8 hours.

Results: Very tasty, but sourness overpowers oatiness. Dough got drier and drier during BF, which told me that the oats could have soaked up more water overnight. Pleasant loaf, but could definitely be more moist.

WhatsApp Image 2024-09-27 at 21.47.12.jpeg

Second loaf

Decided to increase hydration of soaked oats to 130%. Mixed in instant dry yeast to dough the next day. Added water to go beyond what I'm comfortable dealing with in a loaf, anticipating dough becoming drier like previous attempt. I was not comfortable, indeed. But dough ended up being where I wanted it to be, and bread turned out extremely well. Oatiness comes through much better now. But I wondered if the rise would be even better with increased hydration?

WhatsApp Image 2024-09-28 at 19.27.51.jpeg

Third loaf

Encouraged, I decided to increased the hydration of the soaked oats to 150%. I think this version is the one I'm most happy about (the picture right at the top of the post). Here are the figures to make a 600g loaf :

Oak soaker: 150g normal cooking oats, 225g room temp or cold milk, squeeze of lemon juice, 1 tbsp of rye flour

If possible, leave this at about 22-25 degrees for 3 hours before refrigerating it overnight. If not, just dump it into the fridge. The next day, all the oats would have soaked up the milk - there should be no milk left in the container. Add to the oats: 120g bread flour, 30g wholewheat flour, 1g instant dry yeast, 4g salt, 10ml agave syrup (optional), about 65g water.

Note: We do end up with the ratio of dry:wet ingredients being 1:1. (I'm cautious about calling this 100% hydration because most of the liquid was used as a soaker.)

When first mixed, the dough is unruly and hopeless.

WhatsApp Image 2024-09-29 at 22.48.05.jpeg

But after 3 hours, it gets better.

WhatsApp Image 2024-09-29 at 22.48.06.jpeg

BF took 8 hours and final proof took 2 hours. I baked it for 25 mins at 220C and 15 mins at 205C.

Too late here now to take a crumb shot, but essentially the same as the second loaf - moist, not crumbly at all, good bite with oats texture.

WhatsApp Image 2024-09-28 at 19.27.52.jpeg

The real winner of this loaf is the crust - it is insanely delicious, like eating a granola crumb. I really have never achieved anything like this before. I will certainly be baking more of this bread in future.

Some notes:

1. It's a horribly wet dough to be confronted with. I simply used a spatula to fold the batter-dough upon itself, a couple of times over the first 4 hours of BF. Obviously there's no kneading whatsoever. I suppose it could work with a mixer but I don't have one.

2. I think my oats probably reach maximum hydration overnight in the fridge at about 120%, so it is possible to apportion more liquid content to be added to the final dough the next day, instead of soaking the oats in more liquid overnight. I do this simply to break down the oats a little more, and to be hyper sure that the oats have soaked up enough such that they don't start drying out my dough. If you prefer your oats to have a firm bite, I advise sticking with an overnight hydration of not more than 120%, then adding more water to the final dough.

3. I think the wholewheat does contribute a distinct flavour and bite to the loaf. I like it, but if you want even more oatiness, that would be something to completely omit. I would incorporate spelt, emmer or einkorn instead. In fact I will try that soon.

4. There is barely any rise during BF. I shaped it when it started smelling really good and yeasty, and the surface of the dough had some tension. Again, no real idea when to bake it. The bread looks and tastes good, so the timings kind of worked. Don't know what would have happened if I waited longer, but I was hungry!!!

5. I think replacing the agave syrup with oat malt, and further coating the bread with oats will bring the oatiness to the next level. 

And finally, a shot of my granola to bring an end to this oaty post:

WhatsApp Image 2024-09-29 at 23.26.59.jpeg