Making Whole Wheat Bread on Saturday, just because

When you hear the term “artisan bread,” do you automatically think preferment, overnight sponge or sourdough (aka wild yeast)?

Usually when I make an artisan loaf, I like to add some sort of preferment or at least let the dough rest in the refrigerator overnight to help develop the flavor.

However, this past Saturday, I decided to answer the question: Can you make a whole wheat artisan loaf in one day and will it taste good?   

I started the effort late morning. I chose a multi-grain bread which utilizes the straight dough method. Straight dough means it doesn’t include any preferment such as an overnight poolish or a sponge or sourdough. It’s just a straight dough.

This bread is based on the method for the 75% Whole Wheat Saturday Bread from Flour, Water, Salt & Yeast by Ken Forkish.  The total amount of whole grain flour used (375 grams) is seventy-five percent of the total flour used (500 grams). I used a combination of hard red spring wheat, Durum wheat and rye flour for the whole grain portion.

I’m happy to report that you can make a whole wheat artisan loaf in one day and it does taste pretty good, especially with peanut butter, which is my litmus test to see if I like a bread.  It also tastes great with butter or  cheese. I haven’t tried it other ways because I ran out of it.

 

75% Whole Grain Saturday Bread

Adapted from: Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza by Ken Forkish

Makes: One loaf (about 1 1/2 pounds)

Ingredients:

• 125 grams (~ 7/8 cup) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 35 grams (scant 1/3 cup) coarse rye flour
• 200 grams (scant 1 1/3 cup) whole wheat flour
• 140 grams (scant 7/8 cup) Durum wheat flour
• 360 grams (~ 1 3/4 cup) warm water (90 degrees F. to 95 degrees F.)
• 10 grams coarse sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon instant dried yeast

Directions:

1) Mix the flour and water

Combine the all-purpose, whole wheat, Durum and rye flours and water and mix by hand using a wooden spoon or a Danish dough whisk until thoroughly incorporated.

2) Autolyse (rest the dough)

Cover the dough and let it rest for 20 to 30 minutes.

3) Mix in the Salt and Yeast

After the dough has rested, sprinkle the salt and yeast over the top of the dough. Mix by hand until the salt and yeast are fully incorporated into the dough. Using wet hands for this part makes it really easy. Continue to wet your hands as necessary throughout the mixing process.

 

4) Fold and Turn the Dough

Instead of kneading the dough, Mr. Forkish uses the pincer method.  I love the name of his method, but I’m more proficient with the fold-and-turn method from Chad Robertson’s Tartine Bread so that’s the method I usually use for mixing dough.

With the fold-and-turn method, you basically do a series of turns and folds in the bowl to develop the gluten structure.

Refer to my Tartine Bread post for a photo tutorial on performing the fold-and-turn method.

   

5) Bulk Fermentation

Cover the dough and let it rise. Do two folds during the first 1 1/2 after mixing. The first fold should be done about 10 minutes after mixing and the 2nd fold should be done within the next hour.  When you see the dough spread out in the bowl, you’ll know it’s ready to be folded 

You can fold the dough a little later if necessary, but be sure to let the dough rest during the last hour of rising. The dough should be triple it’s size in volume after about 5 hours after mixing. I started this process at Noon and the dough was ready to be shaped at 5 pm.

 

6) Shape the Loaf

I only made one loaf so I didn’t need to divide the dough. I just shaped it into a ball and placed it in a well-floured banneton basket. A mixture of all-purpose and rice flour works really well for this purpose.

   

 

7) Final Proof

Lightly flour the top of the dough. Cover the basket with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel. Let the loaf proof for an hour to an hour and a half. If your kitchen is warm, it will only take about an hour.

Use the finger dent test to see when the loaf is fully proofed and ready to be baked.  Watch a demonstration by Ken Forkish of the finger-proof test.

 

8) Prepare the Oven for Baking

45 minutes to an hour before baking the loaf, preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.  Remove the middle rack from the oven and place a Dutch oven on the bottom rack. I used the Dutch oven combo baker for this bread but you can use any Dutch oven.

 

9) Transfer the Loaf to the Dutch Oven

When the loaf is fully proofed and the oven is sufficiently preheated, carefully remove the Dutch oven using heavy oven mitts. Be careful not to burn your arms or hands on the sides of the oven or the pot. Gently invert the loaf from the proofing basket onto the bottom of the Dutch oven combo baker or into the large part of a regular Dutch oven.  I sprinkled the bottom of the combo baker with cornmeal before inverting the loaf onto it.

 I didn’t score this loaf, but you can if you like.

 

10) Bake and Enjoy!

Place the Dutch Oven on the bottom rack of the oven and cover it with the lid. Turn the oven down to 450 degrees F. Bake the loaf for 20 minutes with the lid on.

Remove the lid and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until the loaf is a medium dark brown.  Just be careful not to burn the bottom of the loaf. 

Remove the loaf from the Dutch oven to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.

 

 

I’m sending these loaves to be Yeastspotted and to Bake Your Own Bread.

Happy Baking!

Cathy

Would you like some bread with your jam?

It’s been raining so much lately, that I haven’t wanted to venture out to the store to get food supplies. I decided it was time to make some comfort food using some grains and other ingredients I had on hand. Can you guess what I made?

 

I’ll give you a clue. I love to make jam during the summer months when berries and stoned fruit are at their peak, and I always end up with a bunch of jars at the end of the season. I decided to make some bread to go with the jam.

If you guessed that the comfort food I was craving was a PB&J sandwich, you’re right!  For this sandwich, I made a multi-grain bread using a mixture of seven grains, and then I spread it with some CranStrawberry Jam. I also added some creamy organic peanut butter (not shown). It was very comforting on a loud and stormy night!

To learn how to make this multi-grain bread, look for my Multi-Grain Bread for a Rainy Day post on the Grain Mill Wagon.

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy

Einkorn Bread made with an Overnight Sponge

I’m continuing my experiment with Einkorn. This time, I made a basic whole wheat bread using freshly milled Einkorn flour and an overnight sponge. You can also make this bread with regular whole wheat or spelt flour if you prefer.

 

Einkorn was the first wheat to be cultivated by man over 12,000 years ago. It is starting to make a come back because of its high protein content and the fact that it grows easily on marginal land and in adverse conditions. Einkorn has a creamy color and a light, rich flavor. It doesn’t rise as much as Emmer or Spelt, and the texture is different, but I really like it!

 

 

Einkorn Bread made with a Sponge

Makes: 1 Small Loaf

Adapted from: Bread Science by Emily Buehler

Ingredients:

Sponge:

• 187 g (1 2/3 cups) Einkorn flour
• 140 g (2/3 cup) water (50 to 55 degrees F.)
• 1/8 tsp instant yeast

Final Dough:

• 210g (~1 3/4 cups) Einkorn flour (plus more for kneading)
• 327g Sponge (all of it)
• 140g (2/3 cup) water (60 to 65 degrees F.)
• 1/2 tsp instant yeast
• 2 tsp salt

 

Directions:

Mixing the Sponge:

Mix the sponge 12 to 15 hours before you plan to make the dough. If the temperature is cooler in the house, then use warmer water, if it is warmer in the house, then use cooler water. Final temperature should be about 65 degrees F.

Cover the sponge and let it rest at room temperature for 12 to 15 hours. This is the sponge after 12 hours. It’s ready to be used in the dough.

 

Mixing the Dough:

Mix all of the dough ingredients, including the sponge, until it forms a dough.

I used a Danish dough whisk to mix the ingredients, but you can use a wooden spoon or a mixer; but this dough doesn’t really need a mixer.

 

Kneading the Dough:

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until it is soft and supple. This was a very sticky dough so I let it rest (autolyse) on the counter for about 15 minutes before kneading to help the gluten structure develop. 

 

Bulk Fermentation:

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover it with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel.

Let it rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about one hour.

When the dough has doubled in bulk, punch it down, fold it, and let it rise again, covered, until doubled in bulk again, about one hour.

 

Shaping and Final Proof:

When the dough is fully risen, shape it into a boule (ball) and place it smooth-side-down in a floured banneton basket or a bowl lined with a towel heavily dusted with flour. Make sure the bowl is large enough to allow for expansion, but small enough that the sides of the container support the loaf.  Cover with plastic or a towel so that the outside of the dough doesn’t dry out.

Let the loaf proof until it is soft and full of gas.  The dough will be ready when you poke it and the indention remains. 

 

Scoring the Loaf:

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. (for about an hour) with a pizza stone on the middle rack and a steam pan underneath.

Carefully flip the loaf onto parchment paper and score it.  My loaf stuck to the basket in one place so I had to coax it out of the basket. It got a little bit smashed, but overall looked okay.

I reused the parchment paper. This is the good stuff so you can use it more than once.

 

Baking the Loaf:

Slid the loaf (on the parchment paper) onto the hot pizza stone. Carefully add a cup of hot water to the steam pan. Spray the inside walls of the oven, using a spray bottle, 3 times at 30-second intervals, then immediately lower the temperature to 450 degrees F. Bake 20-25 minutes until the loaf is browned and makes a hollow sound when thumped on the bottom. Remove the parchment paper partway through baking to ensure the bottom gets baked through.

 

Cooling the Loaf:

Cool the loaf completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Slice and enjoy!

This Einkorn Loaf has a distinct and nutty flavor. Definitely wheat, but different from regular whole wheat. This formula did not include any sweetener, but I think honey might be a nice addition.  Even so, I like it.

 

Happy Baking!
Cathy

Walnut and Seed Bread

I attended a luncheon this past weekend, and we were supposed to bring a dish that started with the first letter of our last name. I needed to bring something that started with W.  Some of my friends asked me what bread I was going to bring.  I said, “Bread! What makes you think I’m going to bring bread?”  Lol…they know me too well.

I saw this Walnut and Seed Bread in one of my soup cookbooks recently and had been waiting for the right opportunity to make it. This was it!  It is a very earthy bread so I served it with homemade Orange Marmalade and Spiced Wine and Peach Jam to balance the flavor. It was a big hit!

 

This Walnut and Seed Bread is also a very healthy bread. It’s made with whole wheat flour in addition to seven grain flour, a little bit of white bread flour, walnuts, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and poppy seeds. 

The bread featured in the book was baked in a loaf pan, but I opted to bake it freeform on a baking stone.  I thought a freeform loaf would make a better presentation and compliment the other items at the luncheon. 

 

Walnut and Seed Bread

Makes: 2 Large Loaves

Adapted from: Soup, An inspiring collection of soups, broths, and chowders by Love Food

Ingredients:

• 4 cups whole wheat flour
• 4 cups 7-grain flour (or other multigrain flour)
• 1 cup white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
• 2 T sesame seeds
• 2 T sunflower seeds
• 2 T poppy seeds
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 oz/15 g active dry yeast
• 2 T walnut oil (or olive oil)
• 3 cups lukewarm water (more as needed)
• 1 T melted butter or oil, for greasing

 

Directions:

1) Mixing and Kneading the Dough:

Combine the flours, seeds, walnuts, salt, and yeast in a mixing bowl. 

 

Add the oil and lukewarm water and stir well to form a soft dough.

 

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead well for 5-7 minutes. The dough should be smooth and supple.

 

2) Bulk Fermentation:

Return the dough to the bowl, cover with a clean dish towel or plastic wrap, and leave in a warm place for 1 – 1 1/2 hours to rise.

 

When the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead again for 1 minute.

 

3) Shape the Dough and Final Proof:

Instead of baking the loaves in loaf pans, I shaped them freeform using the following method:

I forgot to take photos of this dough rising in the banneton baskets so refer to the Semolina Bread with Whole Grain Soaker post if you want to see a visual of this part of the process.

Divide the dough into two equal pieces and shape them into loose rounds seam side up.  Cover the rounds with plastic and let them rest for 10 minutes or so.

Shape the dough into tighter rounds and place them in banneton baskets to proof.  Cover with plastic wrap and let them rise in a warm place for 30 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size again.

 

4) Prepare the Oven for Hearth Baking:

Prepare the oven for hearth baking by placing a baking stone on the middle rack of the oven and a steam pan underneath. Then preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

 

5) Score the Loaves:

Invert the loaves onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. 

 

Score the loaves in the desired pattern.  I made an X in one loaf.

 

I scored the other loaf using a different pattern.

 

6) Baking the Loaves:

Once the oven is preheated, slide the breads (on the parchment paper) directly onto the baking stone and pour 1 cup of water in the steam pan. After 30 seconds, open the door, spray the walls with water, and close the door. Repeat twice more at 30-second intervals.

Bake the bread for 25 to 35 minutes.  Check the breads during the bake and rotate them 180 degrees for even baking if necessary. Continue baking until the breads are brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

 

7) Cooling and Slicing the Loaves:

Remove the loaves to a wire rack to cool completely (30 minutes to 1 hour) before slicing and serving.

 

I took one of the loaves with me to the luncheon.  It disappeared! 

 

My son is home from college this week so I saved the other loaf for us to enjoy. It tastes really good with pot roast. This bread also makes a mean peanut butter and jelly sandwich. 

This bread has been YeastSpotted. Please visit Wild Yeast to view all of the lovely breads in the weekly roundup.

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy

 

Spelt Bread with Multigrain Soaker

Whole-Wheat Bread with a Multigrain Soaker is one of the breads the Mellow Bakers made in February. The month ran out on me before I could get to it so I added it to my list of breads for March. I made it this past weekend, but decided to change things up a bit and use spelt flour rather than wheat flour.

This Spelt Bread is made with 50/50 mixture of white spelt flour and whole wheat spelt rather than 50/50 white bread flour and whole wheat flour.  It also utilizes an overnight Pâte Fermentée of white spelt flour, water, salt and yeast and includes a multigrain soaker of cracked wheat (bulgur), coarse cornmeal, flax seeds, and steel-cut oats.  To enhance the multigrain experience, I sprinkled some spelt flakes on top of the loaf just before baking.

 

Spelt Bread with Multigrain Soaker

Recipe adapted from Jeffrey Hamelman’s Whole-Wheat Bread with a Multigrain Soaker in Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes

Ingredients:

Soaker:
3/8 cup cracked wheat (bulgur)
3/8 cup coarse cornmeal
1/4 cup flax seeds
1/2 cup steel-cut oats
1 cup water, boiling

Pâte Fermentée:
2 1/2 cups spelt flour
7/8 cup water
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp yeast, instant dry

Final Dough:
3 5/8 cups whole-grain spelt flour
1 cup white spelt flour
1 1/4 cups water
1 T salt
1 1/4 tsp yeast, instant dry
2 T honey
Soaker (all of the above)
Pâte Fermentée (all of the above)

 

Preparing the Soaker:

The soaker should be prepared at least 4 hours before mixing the final dough.  This will give the grains time to absorb the water and soften.

To prepare the soaker, measure and add all of the grains into a small bowl and pour the boiling water over them.  Stir to incorporate, then cover the bowl with a sheet of plastic.

 

Prepare the Pâte Fermentée:

Start the Pâte Fermentée 12 to 16 hours before you plan to make the final dough.

Add the yeast to the water, then add the flour and salt, and mix until just smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand for the desired amount of time at about 70 degrees F.

I let my Pâte Fermentée sit on the counter for about 14.5 hours.  

 

Mixing the Dough:

Add all of the ingredients, including the soaker (but not the Pâte Fermentée) to the mixing bowl of your spiral mixer.  Mix on first speed for 3 minutes to incorporate the ingredients.

Add the Pâte Fermentée in chunks.  Correct the hydration if necessary by adding water or flour in small amounts. I added a little extra flour. Mix on second speed for 3 to 3 1/2 minutes until the dough is supple and the gluten is moderately developed.

Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover it with plastic. Let it bulk ferment for 2 hours.

 

Fold the dough after 1 hour of bulk fermentation.

Divide the dough into two 1.5-pound pieces. Preshape lightly into rounds and place on a lightly floured work surface, seams up.

 

Cover the rounds with plastic.  When the dough has relaxed sufficiently (10 to 20 minutes), shape into loaves and place in loaf pans.  Alternatively, you can shape them into round or oval loaves and place them in banneton baskets to rise.

I sprinkled the tops of the loaves with spelt flakes, then covered the loaves with plastic wrap and let them ferment for 1 1/2 hours.

Bake the loaves for about 40 minutes in a 400 degrees F. preheated oven.  If the loaves start getting too dark too soon, lover the oven temperature by 10 or 20 degrees.  I lowered it to about 375 halfway through the bake cycle.   Remove the loaves and let them cool on a wire rack.

Let the loaves cool completely before slicing if you can. Then slice and enjoy.

I’ve really come to like spelt breads and this one is no exception. I had a slice warm with butter and another slice toasted and spread with Pomegranate and Pear Jam. It has a delicious, nutty flavor and just a little bit chewy. It’s a wonderful multigrain bread!

 

Thanks for joining me in the Bread Experience bread-baking blog.  I hope you’ll join me again soon.

Happy baking!
Cathy

 

The Mellow Bakers group was started by Paul at Yumarama. We’re baking breads from Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman.