Following A Recipe - Feeding June Steinburg

June 19, 2016March 23, 2020

Round 10: Mostly-Tartine Olive

Wow!

Today, Basic Country Olive. I embellished again. But only a little. Well ok, I used June straight – no leaven… no float test.

1. Mixed Flour » Rest	Used 200g JS vs 200g of leaven, rested 45 min.
2. Mixed Ingredients	Toasted nuts, chopped olives, and got the ingredients cooled and ready
3. +Salt & H20 » Bulk Rise	4 hrs
4.Turns	7 turns, 8x each. Added ingredients after the first turn.
5. Loaf I: Pre-shape » Bench Rest Final shape » Rest Bake	Pre-shaped with AP flour, bench rest 90 min. Final shape with AP flour, rest 20 min. 25/20 + an additional 35 min. at 350°F
6. Loaf II: Cold Rise Final Shaping Bake	48 hr cold rise shaped with rice flour, rested 20 min. 25/20, held the lame looked glossy, so kept in for another 10 min.

LOAF I: This was a flat brick – delicious flavor, but a doorstop. It had zero lift, zero air bubbles. The dough was so wet, I had to bake it an extra 35 minutes! Our poor friends. This one needed a long, cold rise in order for the extra moisture from the olives to be absorbed by the flour.

LOAF II: Success! The olives add so much moisture, this might be better as a whole-wheat loaf (more soaking-up power). It probably doesn’t need the added steam time either – 20/25 would probably do it and make for a less tough crust. The second loaves have almost always been the better ones. Patience and a cold rise…

TIMING FYI: To have a loaf to send off on Monday, it works out best to mix leaven on Thursday, mix flour on Friday, and bake on Sunday.

See: Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson

June 6, 2016March 23, 2020

Round 8: Tartine Polenta

I’ve been waiting for this one.

Today, polenta. Plus, you’ll be proud, no embellishment.

The polenta and oil enhance the texture into the perfect cake-like, moist, and airy consistency.

1. Mix Leaven	Mixed the full amount
2. Float Test » Mix Dough » Rest	Flotation, fed remaining leaven to June. Mixed by hand, and rested 45 min.
3. Mix Polenta	There was some pumpkin seed toasting, rosemary chopping, polenta cooking and cooling, etc.
4. +Salt & H2O » Bulk Rise » Turns	4 hrs » 7 turns, 8x each. Added polenta mixture after the second turn.
5. Pre-shape » Cold Rise	Both into the fridge.
6. Loaf I: Final shaping » Rest Bake	24 hr cold rise Shaped with rice flour » 20 min. rest » 25 min. lid-on / 20 min. lid-off
7. Loaf II: Final shaping » Rest Bake	72 hr cold rise Shaped with rice flour » 20 min. rest » 25 min. lid-on / 20 min. lid-off

Holy crow. Sorry country rye, I have a new love.

NOTES: That’s a dangerous loaf of bread. The long, cold rise is key for flavor and texture development. I’ve started doing 25 minutes with the lid on and 20 minutes with the lid off for baking. I think this helps get more rise in the steam portion of baking.

See: Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson

June 4, 2016March 23, 2020

Round 7: Mostly-Tartine Rye

Something new! It’s time! It’s time!

Today, country rye. And, yeah, I embellished.

The recipe calls for bread flour, and I used all-purpose instead. I also added caraway seeds.

1. Mix Leaven	Mixed the full amount
2. Float Test » Mix » Rest	Flotation, fed remaining leaven to June. Mixed by hand, and rested 45 min.
3. +Salt » Bulk Rise » Turns	4 hrs » 7 turns, 8x each. Added 40g caraway seeds after the first turn.
4. Loaf I: Pre-shape » Bench Rest Final shape » Rest Bake	30 min. 20 min. Shaped one more time then into the oven » 25 min. lid-on / 20 min. lid-off
5. Loaf II: Pre-shape » Cold Rise Final Shaping » Bake	25 min. lid-on / 20 min. lid-off

The hills are alive with the sound of bread music!
When the bread was cooling, it made a lovely snap, crackle, pop sound.

NOTES: Best air bubbles and baked texture so far! And delicious. The crust was crispy but not too thick or chewy, the interior was moist with plenty of air bubbles of varied size. Also, 40g is just about the right amount of caraway. The flavor, crust, and interior were excellent.

THE PERFECT REUBEN: If you like a classic reuben sandwich, try substituting kimchi for sauerkrout (this recipe from Momofuku is my favorite). It’ll knock your socks off.

See: Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson

May 24, 2016March 23, 2020

Round 5: Tartine

Sick of this yet?

Sorry ~ I’m shooting for that whole 10,000 hours thing.

Today, whole-wheat.

1. Mix Leaven	Mixed the full amount
2. Float Test » Mix » Rest	Flotation! Woo hoo! Fed remaining leaven to June. Mixed by hand and added 1/2 cup extra water. Rested 45 min.
3. +Salt & Water » Bulk Rise » Turns	4 hrs » 6 turns (missed one) every 30 min, 8x each
4. Pre-shape » Cold Rise	Both loaves into the fridge
5. Loaf I » Bake	24 hr cold rise, no shaping ~ right into the oven… but not enough rise AND I over-baked it
6. Loaf II » Final Shaping » Bake	48 hr cold rise, shaped » held a nice shape

NOTES: Almost perfect (I mean Loaf II). Still… I’m looking for an even fluffier interior. And, of course, not over-baked (Loaf I on the left). The cold rise seems to be the ticket. And a final shaping before baking.

See: Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson

May 15, 2016March 23, 2020

Round 3: Tartine

Whole-wheat. Here we go…

It will have a little more time than the called-for “overnight”, but I’ve mixed a leaven for this next round. It seems dry, but I’m going for it. I keep peeking under the towel to smell it and see if it’s doing anything…

1. Mix Leaven	Followed weights, measures, and temps exactly
2. Rest » Float Test	We have flotation!
3. Mix Flour (*30/70) » Rest	Metal bowl, 45 min (mixed extra long… with vigor)
4. +Salt & Water » Bulk Rise	Moved to a glass bowl, 4 hrs
5. Turns	8x every 30 min (7 vigorous bouts of turning)
6. Pre-shape » Bench Rest	30 min & both loaves into the fridge
7. Cold Rise	24 hours
8. Final Shaping » Bake	Shaped and rested 30 minutes before baking

NOTES: Perfect shapes! The whole-wheat has more structure anyway, but working the dough more at each stage seemed to help. Still, the texture is dense and tough with small holes.

*30% All purpose flour and 70% whole-wheat.

See: Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson

May 14, 2016March 23, 2020

Round 2: Tartine

Today, I’m doing Tartine’s Basic Country Bread recipe with 90% AP flour. I figure if I can get this right, I can start branching out with my own crazy.

This time, I used exact temperatures and measurements… of course, there was some embellishment.

Using the Kitchen Aid metal bowl, I added all the ingredients for the resting stage and used our hand-held dough whisk to get it started. Things seemed too dry and thick, so I quickly switched to mixing with my hands. Sure enough, the recipe works! The dough became moist and sticky like the photos.

1. Mix Starter (which I’ve confused with leaven…)	Fed daily, some discarded
2. Mix Dough (*90/10) » Rest	45 min
3. +Salt & Water » Bulk Rise	Moved to a glass bowl, 4 hrs
4. Turns	5x every 30 min (missed one turn, so added one with another 30 min)
5. Pre-shape » Bench Rest	30 min
6. Loaf 1 » Final Shaping » Rise » Bake	3 hr rise » Didn’t hold its shape. Knead and rest a second time?
7. Loaf 2 » Into the fridge for 45 hrs	Also didn’t hold its shape.

H2O FYI: 80°F mixing water is easiest to achieve with cold tap water, adding boiled water from the kettle little bits at a time.

NOTES: Best loaves yet. Good crust, good interior… kinda dense with small/medium bubble spaces. Neither loaf held their shape, although the refrigerated loaf was better. Running a blade through the dough for scoring before baking… the blade just smushed into the dough, sinking into stickiness. More kneading during bulk rise, pre-shape, and/or final rise?

*90% All purpose flour and 10% whole-wheat.

See: Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson