trailrunner's blog

I had mentioned previously about converting my Challah recipe that I have been making since the mid ‘70’s to YW. I posted pics of the Apple/Raisin YW that I used on the YW topic . . Freshly fed and fermented it did an outstanding job. The fragrance is intoxicating. Crumb shot in a bit. 

I simply use 2c YW that’s very active and then follow my usual recipe. It’s in cups and measures and I haven’t ever bothered to change it. It’s been perfect all these decades so I haven’t felt the need. 

The beauty of YW is the enriched dough rises so nicely and the bread crumb stays soft and shreadable for days unlike yeasted crumb. 

Same formula. used Danko rye from Barton Springs. Very very happy with all their grains that I have ground so far. . Timing for rise was unfortunately messed up because I fell asleep! Anyway successful as this is a forgiving dough. Fragrance and . Flavor amazing. This rye is very rich. Crumb has a bit of compression. Due to over rising and top catching on it. 

Delicious! I wrapped the finished 13” Pullman loaf in linen towels and left it 24 hrs. Like a tender rich cake. Very cool mouth feel and a lovely crisp  deep toasted crust due to plenty of butter to prevent sticking. This dough was WET! It contained 2 YW levains one white and one Rye . It also contains my trinity of EVOO -honey - yogurt. 

I saw it rising in a VERY uniform fashion as I did the bulk ferment in the pan. I counted the ridges on the pan sides to watch the progress. At one hour I saw one bubble break the surface! Triumph Paul said stop the room temp ferment immediately and I did. It continued to rise in the fridge with the cover on while it retarded till the next morning. Baked at 450 top on 20 min lowered to 400 for 20 min top on then 25 min top off. Couldn’t be happier. Such an easy rye . One bowl one pan stir proof retard bake. Can’t ask for more balanced flavor or a more beautiful crumb. 

Make levains 35g white starter feed with 125g YW 125g T65 ( or other white flour)

                      35g rye starter     feed with 125g YW 125g rye flour ( all rye was ground slightly coarse in Mock Mill) 

ferment till fully developed. Overnight in the microwave with light on produced great growth. 

Dough. I autolysed the the dough ingredients separately from the levain at room temp overnight due to the coarse grind. 

627g coarse rye Mock Mill

557 filtered room temp H2O

90 g total Trinity - 30g each EVOO/honey/yogurt

18g salt

Mix everything together the next AM making sure it is all blended. Easy to do by hand. Butter your large Pullman and lid very very well. Place dough in and smooth top with a wet spatula. Leave in a warm place, I used the radiator in a sunny window. Mine took only one hour to see the " first fermentation bubble". Put lid on and place in fridge overnight. Bake in 450 preheated oven for 20 min covered. Lower to 400 and continue covered bake another 20 min. The slide cover off and say " whoa" as it will be so brown and full to the top and continue to bake 25 min. Remove from pan after about 10 min to let it loosen. Wrap in linen for 24 hrs. Slice and enjoy. c

I adopted multiple tips from this site in order to try and achieve a successful loaf. Paul said “ one bubble” see pic above top right is THE bubble . Dan said bulk in pan . I can’t remember who said make sure and bake thoroughly… will do tomorrow. I made two levain with YW one white one rye. All flour in the dough is Mock Mill ground to a more coarse setting than I usually do, another tip from someone here on TFL. A Community Bake for sure! 

Before bulk in pan : 

Posted a version of this in the past. New improved and updated. Stunning flavor profile and tender crumb. I feed my white YW starter and have it bubbling and super active before using. I don’t keep a discard so always make the “ quick” bread in a regular sourdough fashion . 

Added chopped candied ginger and a heaping TB fresh ground cardamom . Chopped home canned green rhubarb and boiled the syrup down to use for the glaze while the bread was hot. 

This batch came out the best yet.

Reproducibility, my Chemist husbands says,  is the key to a fine bake. This is definitely a winner. Did exactly what worked for the loaf I posted yesterday and darn if it didn’t work perfectly again! Who da thought ?? 

The loaf actually sang as it slid out of the pan. Fragrance is intoxicating. Serving it for my Chef son’s 47th birthday today!! Pictures later. Next up a German apple cake . c

Talk about beautiful and easy ! I have another started as soon as I saw  and smelled this one! It’s got RYW and white levain and rye levain . It’s got honey/EVVO/buttermilk in equal parts. It’s in my big Pullman . It’s almost hands free except dropping it into the rising bucket and then the buttered Pullman. 

335g T65 

335g Rouge de Bordeaux fresh milled

70g Semola Rimacinata 

28g rye

150 YW

310 H2O

42g each honey/ EVOO/buttermilk 

126g levain ( combo rye and white) 

13 g salt

 autolyse a couple hrs  all the WW Semolina rye with all the YW and levains and trinity and water . Put it in the KA and mix on one while adding T65 then on 2 for 5 min while sprinkling in salt. Should clean bowl add drops of water or flour as needed . Place in oiled container warm spot till 30-50% growth took only a couple hrs in a sunny window . Grease large Pullman with real butter and “ plop” the dough in. No shaping needed. Let rise 30 min room temp then into fridge overnight… doesn’t matter exact timing. Preheat oven 375 bake covered 30 min uncovered 20 min or till golden and 209 degrees or so. Remove from pan and cool . Try to contain your excitement and let it cool before slicing 😊See below picture. This is why there no s&f’s. Perfect gluten development with 5 min in the KA.

 

Used one whole bag /1# of the new Kernza grain I received this week. I made a YW levain and used YW as part of the hydration. I prepped and flaked 1/2 the Kernza and ground the rest into flour . I have my second order from L’Epicerie for the t65 arriving Monday so used that as well as some Turkey Red that I ground . 

Gorgeous dough. Easy to work with in the KA had 5 min with the hook. Rose beautifully and baked off as I usually do in my antique roaster. Will post crumb later after it has cooled sufficiently. Fragrance is quite lovely and the natural openings show a lovely crumb so far. 
Flavor is outstanding! The grain is well integrated into the crumb. Very little added honey but the natural sweetness comes through. I love the chewy texture with a lovely thin crisp crust. Definitely going to make this again. Each loaf was 1200g prebake. The size of the loaf vs size of baking pan generates lots of natural steam so the bread has a lovely crust due to that also. A winner for sure

I just LOVE this technique of gluten development in two parts!! It is amazingly successful and completely eliminates all hands on except shaping . 

As an aside I do not shape my loaves . I dump out the dough cut it in half and pick up the long piece and drop it into my Batard  shaped cloth lined banneton. That’s it. The boule gets all four sides folded in and plopped down folded side down in the cloth lined banneton. No tightening no fuss no muss. 

I changed up the original formula and did my “trio” of EVVO , honey and buttermilk in equal portions. I used 75 g each and adjusted the water down that amount. Works perfectly . I run the KA on 2 for 5 min and add the levain and again 5 min. Turn out on lightly floured counter and give a 4 point fold and put it to rise. My raisin YW is crazy fast so 1 hr at warm temps was plenty. It ROSE in the fridge overnight as I love a retard. Anyway this is definitely a fantastic formula. Oh I also used 1/2 and 1/2 t65 and Arrowhead Mills AP for the white . The loaves were 1111g before baking and 964g after. Very light with exceptional browning on the crust. The crumb is very tender and moist and the keeping quality is excellent. YW plus the added fat makes it very fresh. 

The rye had amazing spring. I subbed my very active raisin yeast water but otherwise followed the gluten development and bake times exactly. Dough was fantastic to work with. Will post crumb when cool. Just took it from the oven . 

Nothing new to add about my t65 bake except it gets better and better. I made 2 baguettes without a retard  and 2 boules with retard.  The baguettes were shorter and stubby but oh my the crumb. Perfect holes . They got eaten right away but pictures next time . Boules just came out of oven . Unlike my usual self I have actually been doing the same formula every bake. Haha. Crumb pics  when they are cut.

t65 boules

rye bread