Bread - Number 15

Bread - Number 15: The bread that will not be named, discussed or otherwise mentioned ever again.

Total disaster and even had a do over. Not going to recount every step. Tried to do an autolyse. The first try, I left it for 90 minutes, far beyond the 60-minute maximum. The autolyse, consisting of one third bread flour and two thirds whole wheat flour, mixed with all of the water, resembled more than anything else silly putty. It would not allow any mixing or integration of the other ingredients. 

Threw out what could not even be called a dough. It had failed to rise or appear anywhere near an edible substance. 

Second try
On the second try, left the autolyse - same ingredients - for a half hour, but even that seemed too long. (And bread number 14 did fine with a 60-minute waiting period; so who knows.) Only let the dough rise for four hours. Looked fully risen.  Maybe should have stopped at three hours because it looked pretty good then.

In bread making, there is definitely no rule that more of a good thing - or waiting period - is better. Indeed, slight increases can mean disaster.

Despite decent baking time, yada, yada, nothing could save this bread.

It did not rise. The interior appeared pasty, with a couple of cave-like wholes. In terms of effort to cut, let's just say we could have used all those wrestlers who will not be going to the Olympics. Super human strength required to slice a truly terrible bread put this into the garbage after a few bites. At least it did not prove dangerous to eat.

Need a sign or a good bread 
Trying not to sink into a deep depression despite not making a great bread since bread number ten and feeling like a class or perhaps a mentor is needed.

Bread - Number 14

Bread - Number 14: And now it's autolyse
We're getting into sophisticated territory now. Not really, just sounds impressive. 

What is autolyse? 

This is the fancy term for “mix only your flour and water together, and let it sit for twenty minutes before adding salt and yeast, and kneading”.  

This explanation from the A Bread A Day blog is correct, except that the duration for letting the flour/water mix sit can be 20 to 60 minutes, according to various recommendations, and I did not knead. Indeed, if there is one rule of baking bread, it is that the materials, the humidity and the temperature affect the dough and the timing. Never read exact times as exact instructions. If I were to write a rule for bread recipes, it would be to give a possible range of completion times instead of an exact length of time. The same pretty much goes for exact ingredient quantities - and kneading timing, methods and whether it is necessary at all.

What does an autolyse do?

The flour and water sitting together (okay, I added vital wheat gluten to this mix) do something that builds the gluten and the result is that less time is necessary for kneading. Basically, the texture of dough stretchiness starts to happen and happens better without the presence of yeast, natural or commercial, and salt. Okay, I'm not even kneading, but decide to try it anyway. 

Not sure whether using an autolyse also affects rising time, specifically whether rising time is decreased. Have researched this topic and have not discovered anything about this particular issue. However, suspect that leaving my dough out for nine hours when I went to work was too much. [Note: See later breads because first rise after autolyse is inevitably not anywhere near overnight or all day.]

Also have to look into whether one can use a sponge and an autolyse. Remember that a sponge employs all of the water, half of the flour, and all of the starter or yeast, whereas the autolyse includes all of the flour and water, but nothing else. However, as with everything else, the ingredients vary. I read somewhere about putting the salt in; not sure whether that was autolyse or sponge. Somewhere else there was a description of an hours-long autolyse resting time. Okay, heads up, but in bread #15, the first try was literally thrown in the garbage after an hour and a half autolyse rest. It looked like silly putty and would allow no mixing in of the other ingredients.

And  have not even tried preferments, which is something different entirely. By the way, this is a bread with rye, whole wheat and bread flours.

Ingredients
For the autolyse
1 1/4 cups bread flour
7/8 cup rye flour (that was all I had left)
1 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour
2 tsp vital wheat gluten
2 cups water

Other ingredients
1/2 cup starter
1 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions
1. Mix all of flour and vital wheat gluten. Mix well with all of the water. Let sit, lightly covered with plastic, for 30 to 60 minutes. Left mine for about 35. This will allow dough to start making strands, which requires less kneading, or in the case of this bread, no kneading.

2. Mix the remainder of the ingredients, the starter and the salt. Mix well. Don't be embarrassed. Put those clean hands right in. The bad part of this exercise is that there is no visual cue to show that the salt has been mixed in thoroughly. Operate on instinct and make sure the starter is totally integrated into the dough. [Note: Could not find the caraway seeds, so did not add any.] Cover loosely with plastic, or, green person that I am, with a plastic bag that can be reused.

3. Left out dough for nine hours. Continues to be a matter of uncertainty when the dough is actually ready.

4. Not putting dough in fridge and instead preparing dough to be made the same day. 

5. Sprinkle dough with flour and prepare a well-floured board. Put plenty of flour on your hands. Stretch the dough, fold in as if making an envelope and then when have somewhat rectangular tripartite fold, fold the say way but with the new lengthwise. That seems incomprehensible. Cover loosely with plastic.

6. Let sit 15 to 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. 

7. Put shaped dough in a well-floured bowl and cover with a kitchen towel or plastic for 60 to 90 minutes.

8. Use either parchment paper or a well-floured peel to place dough on baking stone in oven. Or, you can do what I did, which is use a not-quite-sufficiently-floured peel, which stretched the dough and looked like utter disaster. Fearful that completely ruined this bread. Put top of la cloche over dough or steam oven. 

9. At 30 minutes, reduce heat to 450 degrees. Remove both la cloche top and parchment paper.

10. Leave in bread for 10 more minutes.

Wow, had terrific oven spring. Bread really rose and looked gorgeous despite awful stretching while getting the dough off the peel and onto the baking stone. Tasted decent, well good, but still had not risen as much as it could have.

Still want to make 100 percent whole grain and getting depressed that almost every bread book has few or any such recipes, Seems all of the fancy bread bakers prefer white flour.

Bread - Number 13

Bread - Number 13: Sponge and 100 percent whole grain

This bread came out not so much dense as a bit wet, at least not quite as wet as the previous bread. Despite the early successes, it is becoming obvious that it takes time, perseverance and a willingness to learn to make good breads on a consistent basis.

Also, there was the nagging suspicion with this particular effort that I allowed the first rise to continue for too long. Looked like it had reached its peak. Should not have been left to rise for an entire day. 

All Ingredients
2 cups water
1 tbsp vital wheat gluten
2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups rye flour
1/2 tsp salt
approximately 1/2 cup starter
1 tbsp caraway seeds

For the sponge

• 1/2 of all the flour
• 1/2 of the vital wheat gluten
• all of the starter
• all of the water

Do not add salt to the sponge. It inhibits all that good yeast growth and gluten development. Do not ask for more of an explanation. Go to the bread books for that. As with anything, there are differences of opinion and one baker's definitive statement is not always another's.

Instructions
1. Mix all of the flour and the vital wheat gluten. This is the flour mix.

2. To make the sponge: Pour the water into a separate bowl. Mix in half of the flour mix. Do not measure. Approximately half will do fine. Add the starter. Mix well. Cover loosely with plastic. Leave overnight.

3. Add the salt to the remainder of the flour mix sitting in the first bowl. Cover and let sit overnight. Nothing will happen to this mixture.

4. When you awake and look at the sponge, you should see the lovely sight of a bubbly concoction. Basically, it looks like a lot of starter. Mine was left for 11 1/2 hours and was just a wonderful bubbly, active hive of fermentation. Lots and lots of bubbles and almost an airy lift at the top. When mix, it feels like a giant starter.

5.  Mix in thoroughly the remaining flour mix (do not forget the salt). Mix well. This could take five to 10 minutes by hand. The dough appeared too wet and I ended up adding - yes, more mixing - 1/2 cup more, 1/4 cup at a time. Basically  folded the extra flour in to incorporate air and because dough getting stiff enough that regular mixing not actually working. Dough still sticky, but  able to separate from bowl. When leaving for work an hour later, dough was already rising.

6. Unfortunately, six hours was too long a rise (and I happened to leave work early that day). Oh well, was busy with a different project and there was no use getting too upset as it was already less than perfect, though not completely ruined. Perhaps, should have put in fridge, but totally lost here.

7. With somewhat fallen dough, sprinkled four on top; sprinkled flour on board and on hands. Did a stretch and fold. Left covered loosely with plastic for 15 minutes.

8. Heat oven to 500 degrees with baking stone and top of la cloche inside.

8. Put dough in well-floured bowl and covered with kitchen towel. Left for 35 minutes. Was not being too exacting as could tell this was not going to be an amazing bread. 

9. Put dough with parchment paper onto baking stone and covered with top of la cloche. Let for 30 minutes.

10. Removed top of la cloche and parchment paper. Reduced heat to 425 degrees. Removed dough after 10 minutes.

No great oven spring. Tasted better than breads #11 and 12, but a bit dense, perhaps due to the rise mistake or because it was whole grain. 

All in all, not bad exactly. At least the sponge went well and the starter worked - all valuable information. Managed to eat the bread anyway. Thirteen seems a long way from 108.

Bread - Number 12

Bread - Number 12: Did not get to taste it, but manage to see the room for improvement anyway

Dedicated to my co-workers, who are always willing to taste and compliment homemade goodies whenever they are offered.

Brought this bread into my office and left it in the kitchen with my bread knife and the strawberry jam from the egg man at the farmers market. I meant to have some, but by late morning it had all been eaten. Now this is not cause for pride. Bad chocolate, average cookies, really anything except the chili-spiced peanut brittle that comes Christmas time goes pretty quickly. Still, it was evidence the bread was edible.

Made this bread using the sponge method, basically a two-step dough process, which essentially grows a larger starter before mixing all of the dough's ingredients. All looked good, everything rose well, until realized when shaping for the final rise that the dough was too wet, a mistake that has been happening too often lately, something attributable to distraction and recent obsession with survival of the starters.

No pictures. Too rushed. Indeed, rushing does not equal good dough preparation practice. Something will not go right.

Ingredients
1/4 cup rye starter
1 1/4 cup bread flour
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 3/8 cup rye flour
2 tsp vital wheat gluten
2 cups water
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp caraway seeds (and some more for the crust)

Instructions
1. Mix water and starter. Immersion blender helps, but not necessary.

2. Mix all dry ingredients, EXCEPT the salt and the caraway seeds. I will call this the flour mix. (Then feed the starter.)

3. Add half the flour mix to the water/starter mix.

4. Mix well. This is the sponge, it is a soupy mix. Cover loosely with plastic. Leave overnight or all day.

5. In the bowl with the other half of the flour mix, add the salt and caraway seeds. Cover and leave on the counter.

6. In the morning, or at the end of the day, the sponge should be bubbly. Add the remainder of the flour mix. (Remember to make sure the salt and seeds have been added.)

7. Mix well. This will take about 10 minutes by hand. Add more flour if the dough is beyond sticky. This takes experience to determine the right consistency.

8. Left out dough for 11 1/2 hours. It rose well. Put in fridge.

9. Did usual stretch and fold, followed by about an hour and a half for a final rise. It was too wet and did not rise so well. 

10. Place la cloche in oven. Preheat to 500 degrees.

11. Dough so wet, used parchment paper. Put on peel and in oven for 30 minutes.

12. Removed parchment paper and la cloche. Bread not looking like a disaster.

13. Reduce heat to 450 degrees. Leave bread in oven for another 12 minutes.

14. Remove and place on rack or on stove top for two hours.

Cannot say how it tasted, but worth making again if actually pay more attention to dough consistency. Mixing the dough in the morning before work not generally a good idea because more intent on rushing out the door than getting the dough consistency right.

Bread - Number 11

Bread  - Number 11: Something to build on
First try using the sponge method
Too wet, but promising. Will need second try.

Dedicated to all those who say that if you are not failing, you are not trying hard enough. Also keeping in mind those who counsel to trust your instincts. Instincts trump recipe measurements every time. 

The lesson of this bread is that when you suspect a dough is too wet or dry or too something, it is. Every batch of flour is different, the temperature and humidity vary throughout the year, your starter, no matter how healthy, is never quite the same as the last time it was used. Freeing oneself from the confines of ingredient measurements, times, and all manner of instructions is wise; indeed it is a necessity. 

The tragedy, okay way too hyperbolic here, the downfall of this dough was not its failure to rise. It rose beautifully. First try at the sponge method went well. However, the dough was too wet. Should have added more flour, either initially upon mixing the dough, or later, when preparing for the second rise.

Also doubled the vital wheat gluten amount from the last bread because the taste was good.

[Jars of starters after graduating from the counter to the fridge.]

What kind of sponge does not clean?
The sponge method basically splits the dough preparation into two phases. The sponge is prepared and set aside either for a few hours or overnight. Most of the ingredients are mixed together - except for the salt and half of the flour. After the sponge is allowed to rise, the salt and remainder of the flour is mixed in.

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 3/8 cups rye flour
1/4 tsp yeast (and/or 1/4 cup starter)
2 tsp vital wheat gluten
2 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp caraway seeds

Instructions and the unfortunate results on the first try
1. Mix all of the flour and the vital wheat gluten. Set aside in a bowl. Have on hand a kitchen or paper towel. 

2. In a separate bowl, take approximately half of the flour mix and add all of the yeast. No need for a precise measure. These will be the dry ingredients for the sponge. 

3. In the bowl with the remainder of the flour mix, add and mix the salt. This way, there will be less work when making the dough.

3. Leave the remainder flour/salt mix aside in a bowl and cover with a towel. 

Note: If using starter, yeast is optional. Some bakers will make breads with both starter and a little yeast. If using starter, in yet another bowl, mix the starter well with all of the  water. An immersion blender would be helpful here. 

4. Mix well together the dry and wet ingredients.

5. Cover loosely with plastic or a plastic bag the bowl with the mixture. Let stand for 2 hours to overnight, depending on the temperature of the kitchen. A warmer kitchen will require less time. At this point, for the sponge method, do not at all have the experience to say quite how much time for a cool versus a warm kitchen.

[Dough rising.]

6.   At seven hours, I am lazy and want to read in bed without needing to recall that the sponge must at some point be mixed with the rest of the ingredients to make the dough. Decide to mix - adding to the sponge the flour/salt mix and the caraway seeds. Left out overnight, covered loosely with plastic.

7. At 11 hours, this dough has risen very well, but seems like it might rise more. Put in fridge at 11 1/2 hours. Left the dough in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

8. The trouble begins. Sprinkle the dough with flour. Flour my hands and a cutting board. Notice that while taking the dough out, it is very, very wet. Yet hesitated to add too much flour. Did the stretch and fold and left covered loosely with plastic for 15 minutes. [Stretch and fold: Stretch dough on board in as much of a rectangle as possible (think 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper) and then do a tri-partite envelope fold. After, fold in the other direction in half. Cover loosely with plastic. Let sit for 15 minutes.]

9. Place dough in well-floured bowl for 60 to 90 minutes. Place top of la cloche on baking stone in the oven. Heat oven to 500 degrees. 

10. On the first try of this recipe, during this pre-baking ruse, mine does not rise; rather it spreads. It spreads so much that I am distracted and forget to add caraway seeds for the crust. Panic sets in.

11. As the dough was wet, placed parchment paper on the baking peel. Dumped the wet dough onto the parchment paper. Not looking good.

12. Forget to put on the kitchen timer. At what seemed like 30 minutes, bread is almost done. Afraid to keep the oven too hot. Reduced to 420 degrees. Removed parchment paper from bottom of bread, and left it in the oven for only another four minutes as the crust appeared done.

Also forgot to add the caraway seeds to the top of the dough or to slash it. Those starters I was concentrating on were quite distracting.

Do not even need to taste to know that this wet, fallen dough did not turn into a beautiful, delicious bread. Will taste anyway.

P.S. Actually, though the bread did fall and was nowhere near light and airy, the interior crumb was promising and it was quite tasty. Not bad for a disaster.

[Photo of previous bread. I remembered to add the caraway seeds.]

P.P.S. Now that the starters are healthy and growing, it is possible that will not repeat this recipe with commercial yeast, but will proceed with a starter. Very exciting, at least to anyone with a keen interest in bread making.