Three Whole-Wheat Breads with Yeasted Pre-Ferments

As part of the Feburary Challenge, three whole-wheat breads made with yeasted pre-ferments were included: Whole-Wheat Bread, Whole-Wheat Bread with Hazelnuts and Currants, and Whole-Wheat Bread with a Multigrain Soaker. I made each of these recipes once making both loaves and rolls. For the straight whole-wheat and for the hazelnut and raisin bread, I made fendus; for the multigrain, a made a oval loaf.

The first picture is the straight whole-wheat, a fendu. The second shows the hazelnut and raisin loaf sliced. The third are some of the rolls I made with the multigrain loaf.

I made two substitutions in the loaves. For the hazelnut and raisin loaf, I substituted dried cranberries for the raisins. This is a substitution I often make and have never run into any problems doing this. And this was again true with this whole-wheat loaf. In the multigrain loaf, the recipe calls for a soaker using cornmeal, millet, oats, and cracked wheat. I was out of cracked wheat so I substituted bulger wheat. I realize this is a bit of a stretch, but seem to be in the spirit of things. And it worked out very nicely. The recipe calls for at least a four-hour soak. I soaked the grains overnight, about 12 hours. A little extra water was need (20 grams), perhaps because of the longer soak.

Each of the loaves was straighforward to make. All baked a little quicker than the recipe indicated. All were solid if unexciting recipes. Of the three, I liked the multigrain best, but I tend to prefer mutigrain breads so this wasn't a surprise. The hazelnuts were an interesting addition. I think I toasted them a bit too long (although I used the shorted time for the range specified by Hamelman). This wasn't a major problem, but something to remember for the future.

All were good loaves, but none are loaves that I'm likely to repeat soon.

Oven Tests

Even with just a casual reading of this blog, it could hardly go unnoticed that I am consistently cooking the loaves for less time than Hamelman calls for. Why is this?

One obvious answer is that my oven is simply too hot. There are several simple ways for the home cook to determine if an oven is running hot or cold without calling in a professional to have the oven recalibrated. The simplest approach is to use an oven thermometer. Based on recommendations from Cook's Illustrated, I've used a top rated thermometer to check the temperature of my oven. In fact, the thermometer showed my oven to be running about 30 degrees too low, just the opposite of what I would expect. Of course, the thermometer could be wrong.

Thermometers can be check by placing them in an ice slurry for 32 degrees (be sure the slurry is at equilibrium) or boiling water 212 degrees (minus 0.9 degree for every 500 feet above sea level). While a great test for your Thermapen, neither of these are very useful for an oven thermometer.

Fortunately, there's another simple test that is reliable if done carefully. Sugar is known to melt at 367 degrees. This simple observation can be used to confirm that behavior of an oven. Simply preheat the oven to say 365 degrees and then place a small bowl of sugar in the oven and leave it for a while (at least 30 minutes). It shouldn't melt although it may discolor. Note, it is extremely important to let the oven stabilize before you put the sugar into the oven since most ovens will initially oscillate around the target temperature. The oven coils should not be glowing, and you should put the sugar into the oven quickly keeping the door open for as short a time as possible.

Next remove the sugar, reset the oven to 370 degrees. After the oven has stabilized, you can return the sugar to the oven. After a bit it should melt. Be patient, this can take a half-hour or more.

If your oven is running hot, then it will melt at a lower temperature. If your oven is running cold, you will need a higher setting before the sugar
melts.

Using this approach I found the sugar would not melt in my oven when set at 380 degrees but would melt at 385 degrees. Thus, my oven is running about 15 degrees lower that where it is set. This isn't quite as bad as the thermometer indicated, but I trust the sugar more. (This method is describe in Cooking for Geeks, a interesting but very, very uneven book.)

Temperature only give a part of the picture. Items in an oven heat by several mechanism (induction, convection, and induction). If there is better air circulation, then an item will heat more quickly than the temperature would indicate (as in a convection oven).

Cook's Illustrated (January 2008) has another test that can give an idea about this. The idea is to allow the oven to stabilize at 350 degrees (I used 365). Take a two cup Pyrex measuring cup with one cup of water at exactly 70 degrees. Quickly put the measuring cup into the oven and leave it there for 15 minutes. For a normal, correctly calibrated oven, the temperature should rise to 150 degree over that time. In my oven, it went to 148 degrees, pretty close.

(There is one other test from Cook's Illustrated that is used to test broiler evenness. The idea is to put in a sheet pan and toast it. This will show hot spots. While I was at it, I ran this test as well.)

So, oven temperature doesn't seem to be the problem. There are several possibilities, but I have no definite answer at this time. Perhaps the dough has risen quite enough. Perhaps, it is too warm to begin with. Or perhaps there are some issues with Hamelman's recipe. I'll continue looking for a solution, but this really isn't a big issue with me. Basically, I'll just keep using my Thermapen to check the bread removing it when it is done. In the meantime, I'll keep setting the oven to the temperature specified by Hamelman without making any corrections in my oven. This is what I've been doing in the past, and it would only create confusion to change now.

Normandy Apple Bread

This bread was a very pleasant surprise. Frankly, I didn't have very high expectations for this. But I was definitely surprised.

The loaf is straightforward to make. You start with a simple levain the night before. If you are following the recipe closely, you need to plan time to dry the apples. I made one loaf with dried apples per Hamelman's instructions and a second loaf where I used "Sun Maid", a commercially dried apples. For the home dried apples, I peeled and thinly sliced Jonagold apples, put them on a wire rack above a sheet pan, and baked them at 250 degrees for about an hour. If drying your own apples, be sure to plan ahead. The recipe calls for cider but doesn't explicitly specify fresh or hard cider. (The reference to cider that has gone slightly off seems to imply fresh.) I used fresh in both loaves, but it would be interesting to repeat the process with hard cider.

The baking loaves had a lovely apple aroma while baking. Again, it was necessary to shorten the cooking time. Hamelman calls for 40 minutes at 450 degrees followed by another 15 minutes at 420 degrees. My loaves were at 205 degrees after 35 minutes. In both loaves there were voids around the apples. This is clearly shown in the second picture.

This is a great bread with the apple adding a nice tartness. While I slightly prefer the home dried apples, if all I had were commercially dried apples, I wouldn't let this keep me from making the bread. This really isn't a sandwich bread or a sweet bread. But I find it very pleasant to slice and eat out of hand. I think it would make a nice toast served with apple butter. Another great bread.

Toast Bread

Note: It had been my intention to try to make each loaf at least twice. At this point, I'm inclined to cut back. I still plan to make each recipe at least once, but I'm inclined to limit myself to a single run for many of the recipes repeating recipes only when there is something significantly different to try. Recipes like Toast Bread are too similar to other recipes to make it worthwhile to play around with the recipe.

Toast Bread seems to be a minor variation of the Pullman Loaf that was made last month. It is slightly less rich and has a small amount of malt powder. Without comparing the two loaves side-by-side, it is difficult to see much difference. If memory serves me correctly, (a big "if"), I prefer the Pullman Loaf. But frankly, there really isn't that big a difference.

the recipe was very straightforward with no surprises. Using 2 lbs., 3 ozs., the loaf didn't quite fill the pan, but a slightly longer final fermentation would certainly correct this. As always, I needed to shorten the cooking time a bit. The home recipe gives enough dough for a pullman loaf and a second smaller loaf. In the future, I would probably scale back the recipe to make just the pullman loaf.

This is not a bad loaf, but I'm not sure that this really add that much. Perhaps I should bake the loaves back to back so I can compare more closely.

Golden Raisin Bread

To be frank, this recipe wasn't one of my favorites. It isn't a bad recipe, but I generally prefer a richer "bread" in a raisin bread. The inclusion of fruit adds something that makes a bread special. The problem with this loaf, for me at least, was it really wasn't a special bread. Ignoring the raisins, it was a good solid levain loaf. Indeed, it was a pleasant enough loaf on its own. It is just that it is not the right bread for a raisin bread. I also thought that the amount of fruit seems a bit low.

Perhaps the real problem with this loaf is my expectations. Perhaps the recipe isn't flawed in any way, I'm just expecting something quite different. But enough said, the best thing might be to move onto other loaves have discovered something more about my preferences.

This was a loaf well worth trying, but for me, one not to repeat. However, since I inadvertently deleted the picture, I went back and made it again. This time, I used craisin rather than raisin. And I also added some dried cherries, half as much again. (Walnuts would have been another good addition.) I also used white whole-wheat flour this time. This loaf is shown above.

Actually, I liked the second loaf. The tartness improved the loaf.

Two hints when baking this: Watch the loaf closely. Hamelman't times were too long for my tastes. Second, pull off any exposed fruit. Otherwise, it will burn as the loaf bakes.

Pullman's Bread

As Hamelman notes, pullman bread is also known as pain de mie or bread of crumb because of its thin crust. It is the ideal loaf for making small elegant sandwiches or canapés. Baked in covered pullman pans, the bread is a long brick of a loaf with very square slices. It is a beautiful white bread with a fine even crumb. The crusts can be trimmed away, if you desire, giving a small, perfect sandwich about 3 inches or so on a side. Personally, I like the crust. The inclusion of powdered milk and small amounts of sugar and butter give a loaf with a pleasant flavor—not as rich as a brioche, but not a bland white bread either.

Hamelman recipe appears flawless. This is a straight bread that is easily made in a single day. With most of the recipes in the book, I've gone back and made the recipe a second time making small tweaks. This has less to do with a desire to improve the recipes—rather I'm making changes to account for differences in taste, to personalize, or even to claim ownership. However, with this recipe, I see no reason to make changes. It is exactly the recipe I want.

The recipe makes enough for a pullman's loaf with enough left over for another small loaf. When baking the loaf, I cut the recipe by 1/3 which gave me just enough dough for the pullman's loaf, (my only change to the recipe). Even so, this is a lot of bread—a loaf that weighs over two pounds and is over a foot long. Keeping properties aren't great, but the loaf is certainly useful as is for two or three days and can be used for toast and the like for a few more days. This is consistent with other pullman loaves I've made in the past.

A winner.

Three-Stage Sourdough Ryes

Hamelman says the Detmolder Method for making rye bread "represents the highest expression of the baker's skill." The technique takes the development of the rye culture through three phases each designed to develop different flavor characteristics. The freshing phase, with very high hydration (150%), develops the yeast. This phase lasts five to six hours. With the second or basic sour phrase, flour and water are added to lower overall hydration (60-65%). Lasting 15 to 24 hours, this phase is designed to bring out the acetic acid characteristics of the bread. The third or full sour phase, designed for lactic acid development, takes an additionan three to four hours. Hydration is adjusted to 100% for this phase. Finally, the dough goes through a 20 minute bulk fermentation, is shaped, has a final one-hour fermentation, and is baked. Cooling proceeds over night.

Hamelman include three recipes using this technique—a 70% rye, an 80% rye, and a 90% rye. For the Challenge, these three breads were grouped together. I made one pass at making all three adjusting the recipes to make one loaf of each. (Hamelman's recipes make two loaves each.) I made one adaptation to his recipes—I used whole-rye flour for the freshing stage for all three breads. Hamelman calls for medium rye for the 70% and 80% recipes only using whole-rye for the 90% recipe. I made the three loaves in parallel and this adaptation allowed me to combine the first stage for all three breads. Since only 1% of the total flour is involved at this point, this seemed a reasonable shortcut.

For the individual phases, I typically used times that were closer to the shorter time given rather than the longer times. This wasn't optimal as my kitchen was a bit cooler than that recommended by Hamelman. So it is not surprising that I didn't get quite as much rise as I would have prefered. The recipe also calls for docking rather than scoring the loaves. As I don't have a docker, I used a knive to cut small holes in the loaf similar to wha I guessed docking would produce. I pulled the loaves from the oven when they reached 205–207º F. Again, this took only about 35 minutes or so of total baking time. The three loaves are shown above with the 70% bread on the left and the 90% bread on the right. (I used slightly different docking patterns to be able to distinguish the breads once baked.)

As readers of this blog already know, I'm not a big fan of a strong rye taste. This is, of course, exactly what this procedure is designed to develop. So it should come as no surprise that I wasn't overwhelmed by these loaves. But clearly Hamelman know what he is about. These had a strong, well-developed, well-balance flavor. I suspect that if I liked this sort of bread, I would have liked these loaves quite alot. I didn't expect a great deal of difference between the three loaves, but it was quite noticable. The loaves were a bit denser that I would have prefered, but this was entirely my own fault for not giving the bread quite enough time to rise properly. Perhaps before this challenge over, I'll develop a taste for rye bread. These were certainly well crafted, viable recipes worth the effort if you like this sort of bread.