tree branches

i am most drawn to the rusticity of bread. i adore the way that the loaves can blend in to nature with their craggy crusts and misshapen ways. is it a stone? a tree branch? or a boule? maybe a baguette? i like to ask. if i cannot tell the difference, i know i've done something right.

today i made tree branches, their gnarled ends and weathered barks. and i made some changes, as promised, a little more whole wheat flour (added in the levain), a different kind of yeast. i also let the poolish bloom at room temp in 3 hours rather than refrigerating it overnight to coincide with the completion of the levain. this poolish was far more bubbly than the last, but i still like the crust of the last batch better, and i think it might be because of the active dry, and possibly the refrigerated poolish (more experiments to come).

speaking of refrigeration, i did a long cold proof, a whopping 9.5 hours, to see just how much flavor i could spank out of that dough.

i also did a little reading about yeast, and reinhardt uses rapid rise or fast acting v. active dry, as suggested in the Tartine book. i'm an experimental type of gal, and, well, i already tried active dry, so i thought i might give these baguettes a kick in the pants, and boy, is there a humongloid difference between fast acting and active dry. in no time flat it became all bubbly and knotty-like.

i must confess, i did not reduce the amount of fast acting that reinhardt dictates when subbing it for active dry. i'm a rebel. i like to live on the edge. plus, i'm all about hi-def, and if i can amplify my bread in any way, well dammit, i'm down for that pursuit.

i wish i could have photographed the dough during the bulk fermentation, but i flipped the fermentation sched to evening so i could bake in the morning and give the misshapen loaves to my neighbors, fresh out of the oven. it was just too dark, so you will have to use your imagination. here, let me help: it looked like the elephant man's head.

i have a couple more ideas to experiment with before i move on to the renditions of baguette in the next few pages of Tartine. i want to see which method will twist best into tordu, fendu, fougasse. but for now, here's the method for our hi-def tree branches. i will see you back at the page in a week!

baguettes in hi-def

timing the poolish to arrive as the same time as the levain is a little tricky. here's how i scheduled things:

levain at 11:30 am - 8:30 pm

poolish at 5 pm - 8:30 pm

mix together levain, poolish, 600g of water & the flours; autolyse 8:40 pm - 9:10 pm

salt + 50g water, and 4 series of turns (every 40 minutes) 9:10 pm - 12:10 am

divide, shape, bench 12:10 am - 12:45 am

first batch of 3 in fridge at 12:35 am/second batch of 3 in fridge at 12:45 am

proof first batch till 10:00 am

preheat to 500 degrees with a pan of water in the bottom of the oven

bake till brown (first 16 minutes with steam) at 475 degrees

preheat to 500 degrees with a pan of water in the bottom of the oven

proof second batch till 10:55 am

bake till brown (first 16 minutes with steam) at 475 degrees

THE FORMULAE

levain:

200g h2o

100g KA whole wheat flour

100g KA AP flour

15g active rye starter

poolish:

200g h2o

200g KA AP flour

3g rapid rise yeast

dough:

all of the levain

all of the poolish

600g + 50g h2o

650g KA AP

350g KA bread flour

25g salt

verdict:

crust: really shattery and crisp. but i think that the crust of the last round was more glassy. crumb: open, soft, great gelatinization. nice and chewy. the last crumb was more open, i believe. but no complaints with this one either. flavor: mmmmm! (the neighbs all loved their bread). just a hint of sour. i loved the overnight proof. ease of handling dough: si simple (that's french for 'so simple') notes & changes: i think i like the active dry yeast better than the fast acting yeast. fast acting made the dough more...bloated? i also like the crust better with the last batch. and im not sure if refrigerating the poolish helped contribute to the lovely crust of the last batch, so i will have to do another round with a non-refrigerated poolish using active dry yeast and an endured bulk fermentation. oi. that's the thing with bread. so many small variables, right? so far i prefer the last round best, though this batch was pretty outstanding as well in terms of flavor. i think that aesthetically, the last ones were more appealing. a lot more rustic. i don't really have any desire to make the 'perfect' shaped baguette. i like the look of one that's a cross between a baguette and a ciabatta. i was a little annoyed that these came out so much more uniform. ah, well. a couple more tweaks before i move on!

to the staff of life!

this post was shared on wild yeast blog's yeast spotting.

all formulae in this post are derivative of those found in the Tartine Bread book. I urge you to get your own copy.