Made with fresh-milled Durum wheat and fresh-milled Spelt.
This bake used fresh milled flour, milled with my Mockmill 200. I sifted once with a #30 drum sieve and re-milled at the finest setting for the spelt and sifted twice for the durum using a #30 and #40 sieve. I find that for the durum, it’s important to sift twice and re-mill to make sure it’s very fine, or you end up with a dense crumb.
I used my Ankarsrum to mix up the dough and open-baked it on a baking stone with steam.
I was happy with how this one turned out. The crumb is fairly open for such a high percentage of durum. This went very well with some fresh ravioli we had for dinner the other night.
Formula
Levain Directions
Mix all the levain ingredients together for about 1 minute and cover with plastic wrap.
Let it sit at room temperature for around 6-7 hours or until the starter has almost doubled. Either use in the main dough immediately or refrigerate for up to 1 day before using.
Main Dough Procedure
Note: I use an Ankarsrum Mixer, so my mixing order is slightly different from that of a KitchenAid or other mixer. Add all the water to your mixing bowl except for about 1/4 of the water. Add all the flour to the bowl and mix on low for 1 minute, until it forms a shaggy mass. Cover the mixing bowl and let it rest for 20 minutes. Next, add the levain, olive oil, and half of the remaining water, and mix on medium-low speed (about speed 4) for around 10 minutes. Now add the remaining water if needed (note you can let the dough rest for about 10-15 minutes if desired, which will make adding the water easier), until you have a nicely developed, smooth dough. You should end up with a pretty smooth and silky dough. Mix longer if necessary until you develop good gluten strength.
Remove the dough from the bowl and place it in a lightly oiled bowl, and do several stretch and folds (note: I have started to incorporate coil folds as well to further build up the gluten strength). Make sure the dough is as flat as possible in your bowl/container, and measure the dough in millimeters and take the temperature of the dough. Based on the chart from http://www.thesourdoughjourney.com, determine what % rise you need and make a note. If you have a proofer, decide what temperature you want to set it at and what rise you are aiming for. These % rises are a guide only. Different flours and add-ins can impact the rise. Watch the dough and make sure it is nice and fermented. If you go over, make a note and you can adjust next time. It is better to be slightly over-fermented than under-fermented.
Once the dough reaches the desired bulk rise, pre-shape and let rest for 20-25 minutes. Finish shaping and place in your banneton, bowl, or on your sheet pan, and cover it so it is pretty airtight (note: I just read a post that suggests it is not necessary to cover the dough when refrigerating it. This is the way most professional bakeries do it, and they do have dedicated retarders for dough).
When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 500°F an hour beforehand and prepare for steam. Let your dough sit at room temperature while the oven is warming up. When ready to bake, score as desired. Prepare your oven for steam. I have a heavy-duty baking pan on the bottom rack of my oven with 1 baking stone above the pan and one on the top shelf. I pour 1 cup of boiling water into the pan right after I place the dough in the oven. I then lower the oven temperature to 450°F for a miche or 455°F for smaller individual loaves. Bake until they are nice and brown, and the internal temperature is at least 205 – 210°F.
Take the bread(s) out of the oven when done and let them cool on a baker’s rack for as long as you can resist.
- Isand66's Blog
- Log in or register to post comments
Love that yellow color. I bet that did sop up the yummy sauce from the ravioli.
. I’m still working on using up the Golden flour I got at the Indian store. We love it to make pasta and I use it as 1/2 the flour in my pizza crust. It’s very fine. I pretend it’s durum/ Rimacinata because it makes a beautiful bread and pasta dough. I will have to get the real thing when I run out. And I didn’t order Durum grains this go round.
Your bakes are your signature. 😊👍
Durum is my favorite grain or at least in the top 3 😉. I was very happy with how this one turned out. I found a new source that was reasonably priced. When you’re ready to order let me know and I’ll find it. For the life of me I can’t remember it now.
Fortunately the snow storm shifted this weekend 🙏🏻. I’m ready for Spring 😆
Thanks for your feedback.
Best,
Ian
I have to go look in the basement fridge where I store all my grains. It’s really cold down there!
Farmers Storehouse . When I ordered last year it was around $3 a lb.
I’ll make a note of it. Appreciate the referral. c
Beautiful loaves Ian, especially the one with the black sesame crust. I’m sure that combination of spelt and semola were great together. Really nice crumb too, more open than usual for semola, I’m guessing the spelt’s extensibility helped a touch there.
Benny
Like you I’m a big fan of sesame seeds and this one didn’t disappoint.
I’ve been tinkering with pushing the bulk fermentation to get a more open crumb. I’ve also tried to get the maximum gluten strength with mixing and coil folds. I’m starting to see some better results. It’s certainly more of a challenge using such a high % of fresh milled but it’s fun to try.
I’m mixing up a whole wheat with a fresh milled barley flour scald. I’ll be curious to see how this one turns out.
Best regards,
Ian
I have never milled my own flour from grains, but I imagine it doesn't make baking a loaf with two challenging flours any easier.
Having said that, their individual idiosyncrasies might make them work well together. Spelt adding elasticity to the tenacity of the durum. But I would guess a fast fermentation would be needed.
So this loaf is a great achievement and I can imagine the taste being really nice too as both these flours are great tasting in different but complimentary ways.
Wondering if you would think a slightly darker crust might improve it?
Fresh milled does come with its challenges but the flavor and health benefits are worth it. I do it for the flavor and because I enjoy the creativity of trying different grains.
This bake had a pretty high % of durum which gives a yellow tint to the crust and crumb. It does not tend to darken as much as most other grains. Also my lighting was a bit too intense which makes it look lighter than reality.
Thank you for your comments.
Ian
This looks good, Ian - especially for no main dough BF.
Did you use all the bran, or sift some out?
Lance
Durum is the only grain I sift twice. I use a #30, then re-mill the remaining flour at the finest setting and sift with a #40. I find this necessary to create a lighter flour with durum. If using a smaller % of the overall flour I have milled once but I usually don’t want to risk a dense bread so take the extra step.
Have you tried fresh durum in your bakes?
I would love to try durum grain, but I've never been able to find a source of it in the UK at anything like a sensible price. Kamut is the closest I've got and that is 5 usd for half a kilo!
Lance
It's not cheap in the US, but I have been able to find one source for around $3 USD a pound. I'm surprised since it's used so much in Italy that you can't find a reasonably priced source near you.