Bread Number 99: Grumpiness Lends Itself to Honesty

Maybe I am asking too much, but to me a recipe should have actual amounts. Without amounts or ranges - with advice about how to select within the range - how am I supposed to know if I am on the correct route or not? Advice like "adding additional flour or water as necessary to make dough" tells me nothing. And rough drawings are fine as artwork, but they fail as directions.

I'll just be frank; bread recipes as a rule should not assume that we all live in centrally heated or air-conditioned homes or have professional kitchens and equipment. There should be instructions that, like dough, vary with the temperature, and accomodate the spectrum of the seasons. Many recipes offer instructions for both hand mixing and kneading and electric mixers, so why not also account for the relative warmth or coldness of one's kitchen?

I Am Lazy, So Cater to ME 

Desem Bread, basically a sourdough, from Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book is not a recipe for me. I'm getting impatient with volume measures; I much prefer weight. I also don't prefer, since I am in an all-out grouchy mood, instructions that require that I go back to some unspecified page - that I must go and find - to determine the relative moisture/viscosity of the starter in the recipe; so that I can then adjust based on the consistency of my starter. If you are using a starter recipe as a base, then please just insert the page number. The author also did not state what kind of flour.

Now that I've been harsh, I have to say that the kneading directions are good. I generally do stretch and folds instead because I get much better results with a whole lot less effort. I made this bread twice to get out some kinks and provide a better set of instructions.

Let's Get to the Dough

I refined the recipe to do an autolyse and better elicit and deepen the taste of the whole wheat flour. I also added 67 percent more flour than in the original recipe because the consistency was unworkable, more of a batter than a dough, though, the recipe did say to add more as needed.

Autolyse
227g. starter
502g whole wheat flour
358g water

Mix well and cover. Let rest for 20 minutes.

Dough
12g salt
Autolyse mix after 20-30 minute rest

Mix, cover, and let rest for 30 minutes. I kneaded, but it was very wet and unmanageable; definitely not amenable to doing a stretch and fold. I kneaded for 10 minutes, let sit for 15 minutes, and kneaded again for 5 minutes. I felt like the bread from this dough would be terrible, so I went on with the day's plans instead of catering solely to the needs of the dough.

Rising Time Varies Greatly by Season

The first time I made this dough, it was in a cold mid-winter kitchen, so I was patient and allowed the dough to rise for 20 hours. That's hours of monitoring occasionally and second-guessing one's self. The second time I made this dough, it was also quite cold and I let it rise for 23 hours. It likely would have been seven hours on a May day when it stays at 65-70 degrees at night and warms up even to 80 degrees during the day. The recipe said three to four hours; maybe on a hot midsummer's day. But when you add 67 percent more flour, you are in the territory of moving from adjusting a recipe to creating a new recipe.

Both times, the dough remained wet, viscous, jiggly, and unamenable to manipulation. This was a dough that required prayer to whoever, maybe the bread gods, or G-d's bread angels, or just the universe.

Loaf Pan Because This Baby Has No Shape on its Own

How does one shape a wet blob that spreads instantly? That is what loaf pans were invented for. I spray mine, but definitely at least grease them.

Grease the loaf pan; as much as possible shape the dough and put it in the loaf pan. I cover with another loaf pan and I bake this way as well. It's also an easy, cheap way to generate the steam to bake bread without investing in a baking stone or a la cloche. Much less anxiety producing or dangerous than adding water or ice to a casserole pan when your oven is 500 degrees. Loaf pans work very nicely.

Oven Temperature Timing

Turn on oven to 500 degrees when dough is placed in loaf pan for its final rise. Let the dough sit covered - and allow the oven to heat - for an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes. [An alternative to covering the loaf pan with another loaf pan is the top of an oblong la cloche. One must preheat the top of the oblong la cloche when preheating the oven. I have done this many times and it works well.]

Prep for Oven and Baking

Sprinkle water over dough. Do slashes on the dough. Place loaf pan in oven and cover with another loaf pan.

This would be a fine dough for sprinkling sesame or flax seeds on top, but those are purely optional.

Baking

• Bake at 500 degrees for 10 minutes.
• At 10 minutes, decrease oven temperature to 450 degrees.
• After 15 minutes, decrease oven temperature to 350 degrees. My bread took another 32 minutes.
• Total baking time of 47 minutes.

Voila

Nice oven spring and solidly good taste. Was pretty sour due to long rising time.