Day 7 5/28

 

Focaccia #3:

20% levain, 7% EVO, 400g portions.  Baked at 400f 28 min.

The taste is nice, the best by far being carrot and dill, which I want to keep as a signature.   I've found that many of the herbs and greens I put on the focaccia blacken and lose all flavor in the oven, so I want to avoid garnishes that are susceptible to that.  Delicate herbs can be worked into the dough itself.  Also, it hit me the other day that you can also garnish the loaves after they are baked, especially if you want to use garnishes that cannot stand up to any heat like flours.

Whole Wheat #2:

Fruit and nuts added- raisins, apricots, pears, hazelnuts and pecans.  4% sugar, 3% fat to slightly tenderize.  20% levain, 15% whole wheat flour and 15% rye flour.

The loaf was decent - I put it in a loaf pan which I like for this variety, even if it's a totally lean dough.  However the garnishes should be at least doubled, as they were pretty sparse throughout the dough.  The taste of the bread itself was nice.

 

Baguette #6:

Poolish again, this time roughly 3 to 2 poolish to levain, with just 2g of yeast to boost the dough.

Came out nicely, with wonderful scores and color and a great crumb.  If I can, I would like to explore the pate fermente loaves better because since I am using some levain in the dough, the pate fermente would have levain and commercial yeast in it.  It is also slightly more convenient.  

Day 6 5/27

Light Rye (NY Deli) #1:

20% dark rye flour.  20% levain with a little supplemental yeast.  Shaped and baked as a country loaf.  Caraway seeds added.

Very nice flavor.  As is typical in this style, the caraway distracts from the flavor of the rye flour, but it's hard to complain because this is my favorite type of bread for sandwiches.  As it was made with levain it tasted better than your average deli loaf.  This bread would work very well with grains, dried fruit, perhaps even gruyere.

Black Bread #1:

20% dark rye flour.  20% levain.  3% cocoa powder, 18% black coffee and 3% gin give this bread it's character, along with caraway.

I learned this recipe under the name "russian black bread" from my previous mentor and it was a favorite of ours.  It is reminiscent of pumpernickel but is not technically pumpernickel.  The unique additions give a haunting flavor and color.  I would add molasses next time and use a different spice - perhaps juniper.  Also I would bake it in the pullman pan.  Would work very well if any of the restaurants wanted a bread to go with a smoked fish course.

 

Marbled Rye #1:

Folded various sized pieces of both of the above mentioned breads into each other.  Pretty simple actually.

Looks very neat and I think would sell well eventually, but not as of the beginnings of the bakery.  This technique can be extrapolated though in various ways...

 

Baguette #5

Moved away from poolish for this iteration.  Went for 20% levain and 20% pate fermente.  .3% yeast, cut in half from the previous recipe.

Best baguettes yet.  The flavor is certainly where I want it, and fresh out of the oven it is very nice, with the toasted starch aroma good baguettes have (think popcorn, sort of.)  Color was the best, and I don't know if it's because of the change of pre-ferments in the recipe or my loading-steaming-baking-venting routine is getting smoother.  500 more bakes will iron that out :)  Crumb was more lace-like, but not absurdly open.  Now I need to repeat this.  I used a shape I saw in a spanish bread book where the ends are left alone so they have little knobs.  Unique and attractive.  Could be used for a different bread that we want in the baguette general shape but need it to be differentiated in some way.

Day 5 2/26

Focaccia #2:

Pate fermente used (ciabatta from yesterday) at 20%.  Portioned in ring molds and square pastry frames.  Both look nice.  The round loaves got various herbs from the garden.  The two square ones got carrot and dill and strawberries, nasturtium and hazelnut.  Baked @ 400f for 28 min.

Carrot and dill was a great loaf.  Strawberry hazelnut nasturtium was nice but needed far more nasturtiums, and perhaps a splash of vinegar.  I should not use bronze fennel because it looks sort of like hair when it dries out in the oven.

Seeded Whole Wheat Pain de Mie #2:

20% whole wheat flour.  Sesame, flax, poppy and pumpkin seeds soaked and added to dough with butter.  Baked @ 400f for 50 min.

Nice nutty flavor and fluffy texture.  Would be great with turkey and avocado.  I baked one with a lid and one open.  The lidded one sunk way too much in the sides.  I will try a slightly larger portion as well as de-panning immediately.  Flax was a little overwhelming.

 

Almond Pain au Lait #2:

1000g bread flour

700g almond milk

12g yeast

40g barley malt syrup

20g salt

100g coconut oil

100g almond butter

This was my attempt at a vegan rich dough.  The results were far better than I had expected - buttery and slightly sweet, with a mild nuttiness.  The texture might have even been softer than a standard pain au lait.  A good option for vegan and vegetarian patrons.  As I said before, this dough can be endlessly varied.   Brushed with almond milk.

Pain au Levain #2:

Minimal mixing method (by hand.)  Mixed previous night at 6, received 2 folds and then put into retard. Taken out 9 am, baked 6.5 hours later (very cold fridge.)  68% hydration. 10% whole wheat flour.

Scores are improving.  Color ok.  Crust was a little soft.  Crumb was tighter, I believe because I took the hydration down.  Flavor exceptional.

 

Baguette #4:

Same as yesterday - half levain and half poolish.  Level of commercial yeast was reduced by half- I'm using a wild yeast culture so I don't need to dope it with all that extra.  I'm going to cut it in half again tomorrow and let it ferment longer.

Color improved from yesterday - still want a little more brownish-brick red in the crust.  Flavor and crust texture have been consistently good.  Crumb could be a touch looser.  Scores opened up very nicely.

Day 4 5/25

Baguette #3:

Same recipe as yesterday, only the preferment was half poolish and half levain.  

86% pre-ferment, 67.5% hydration, 370g portions, baked @ 430f for 33 min

Flavor was good, scores were much better, crust was good but the color was a little too drab.  I had already baked it pretty long and any more would have made the crust too thick.  I believe the issue is either incorrect fermentation time or inadequate venting of steam.  As the crumb was nice, I would guess that it is the ventillation, which creates the conditions for browning after oven-spring has occured.  I will create a ventilation procedure that is consistent and effective.

Ciabatta #1:
Used the same pre-ferment - half poolish and half levain.  80% hydration.  Baked at 430 for 35 min.

Flavor was quite nice, with a good chew.  Had the characteristic flour pattern on top.  I also shaped one as a fougasse, which came out pretty nice.  Such a wet dough does not like to hold its shape, and as such the rectangles were more like blobs.  Simply a matter of practice, however.  These would be great as individual 40g portions, cut into perfect squares.

 

Day 3 5/23

Pain de Mie #1:

Mini loafs - 30g and 40g portions, baked @ 375f for 20 min.  Pullman loaf - 1200g portion without lid baked at 375f 55 min.

Nice quintessential white bread.  The mini loaves were nice - 35g portions work best.  Might be interesting for a bread service, instead of just rolls.  Can try with different doughs.  Will try a different technique for shaping so the sides and edges are cleaned up.  As far as the pullman, 1200g is a good portion if I am using the lid.  Without the lid I will try 1400g so there is more of a mushroom top.  

This recipe is lightly sweet and tender, but not too rich.  It stands up to various supplemental flours like rye, whole wheat, spelt etc. as well as seeds, whole or cracked grains etc.  I'm going to add oats and whole wheat next.  Might sell well as a sandwich bread, pre sliced, with the older crowd as well as with people with children.  Makes a hell of a pb&j and some killer toast.

                                           

Pain au Lait #1:

"Laminated" without adding extra butter.  Rolled to half an inch and portioned in squares and circles.  Egg washed, sprinkled with sel gris and scored.  Baked @ 375f for 18 min.

Here is a dough I have made hundreds of times, but haven't ever done the laminating step.  Not sure where that technique first started, since there is no butter block or any additions, you're simply folding the dough over itself.  Having made this dough so many times, I must say that these extra steps really do add something special.  It was fluffy and light - very nice.  I will find a more elegant and precise shape for the rolls.

This dough is so highly versatile and down the road one can really do a lot with it.  Plug in almond, hazelnut, sesame or coconut milk.  Or goat milk, sheep milk, creme fraiche, caramelized milk etc.  It can be tailored easily to fit vegan requirements, a themed dinner or even a specific course.