Britesea
Sustainability Master
Ok here we go. DH has been developing this recipe for 5 or 6 years now. The technique was originally developed for a dutch oven, but he has tweaked it over the years. We are still using the same yeast starter but because we use it so often (every weekend) it hasn't really turned very sour. It does have a slight tang though. Using weight rather than volume measurements neutralizes the changes caused by environment (wet day vs dry day, that sort of thing)
SEED BREAD RECIPE
200 grams whole wheat flour
200 grams white flour
100 grams seed mix consisting of 2 cups of 5 grain rolled cereal from Bob’s Red Mill, and 1 cup or more to taste of: poppy seeds, flaxseed, sesame seed, pumpkin seed, sunflower seeds. (you can add or leave out whatever to your taste- this happens to be what we like)
8 grams salt
300 grams warm water
1/3 cup yeast starter (originally created by mixing 1 cup of flour to 2/3 cup water and allowing it to sit uncovered for a minimum of 24 hours. At that point you should start to see little bubbles, at which point you can loosely cover it and start feeding it up.
PROCESS
Dissolve starter into water in a mixing bowl. Add dry ingredients, stir until thoroughly hydrated (resembles drop biscuit dough). Cover (we use clean recycled plastic shopping bags). Let rest for an hour.
Scrape onto a floured surface (I highly recommend a silicone scraper- the dough doesn't stick as much), grasp ball of dough and pull apart until it threatens to break, then fold over on itself into thirds. Rotate 90degrees and repeat. Return to bowl, cover. Let rest for 15 minutes. Repeat the stretch and fold. Return to bowl and cover and let rest for between 12 to 15 hours until roughly double in size. The longer and slower the dough rises (ferments), the more completely the starch is converted- resulting in the flavors of the wheat developing, rather than the more yeasty taste you get with more modern, quick-rising breads.
Scrape onto floured surface. Gently pat down with floured fingers (don’t completely deflate it!) fold into thirds, rotate and fold in half. This is a fairly wet, soft dough unlike modern kneaded loaves- it needs to be handled very gently. Cover and let it sit 15 minutes.
Form into a boule or batard (round or traditional French bread shape), Pinch closed the seam, place into a floured proofing basket, cover, and let it proof for an hour.
After 1 hour, start heating oven to 480. Use a pizza stone or earthenware pan if you have one for a extra nice crust. (put into cold oven to avoid shock). Let oven preheat for another hour (to make sure the stone is really hot). Gently transfer the dough onto the stone or pan (we have a pizza peel for this, but you can also just tip the basket over the pan or stone).
Using a razor blade, slash the dough shallowly. Helps to control the expansion of the dough.
Baking time: 30 minutes minimum and up to 45 minutes depending on things like altitude, oven, climate etc… there is nothing definite here- the color should shade towards mahogany rather than golden brown. You can stick a thermometer into the loaf to check also- should be between 195 and 205.
Pull the bread out, and if your hearing is good you can actually hear it “sing” (sort of like Rice Crispies- it should snap crackle and pop very faintly.
Let it cool for at least an hour before slicing- otherwise the moisture in the bread escapes and you end up with an inferior loaf.
DH insists that I point out that he learned the original technique for this type of bread from Jim Lahey's book "My Bread". Lahey set out to recreate the original, primitive breads and this is what he came up with.
Interestingly, my mother, who grew up in pre-war rural France, once told me that they used a yeast starter similar to this, but if it turned sour they threw it away because it was considered to have gone bad. She didn't like sourdough bread at all.
SEED BREAD RECIPE
200 grams whole wheat flour
200 grams white flour
100 grams seed mix consisting of 2 cups of 5 grain rolled cereal from Bob’s Red Mill, and 1 cup or more to taste of: poppy seeds, flaxseed, sesame seed, pumpkin seed, sunflower seeds. (you can add or leave out whatever to your taste- this happens to be what we like)
8 grams salt
300 grams warm water
1/3 cup yeast starter (originally created by mixing 1 cup of flour to 2/3 cup water and allowing it to sit uncovered for a minimum of 24 hours. At that point you should start to see little bubbles, at which point you can loosely cover it and start feeding it up.
PROCESS
Dissolve starter into water in a mixing bowl. Add dry ingredients, stir until thoroughly hydrated (resembles drop biscuit dough). Cover (we use clean recycled plastic shopping bags). Let rest for an hour.
Scrape onto a floured surface (I highly recommend a silicone scraper- the dough doesn't stick as much), grasp ball of dough and pull apart until it threatens to break, then fold over on itself into thirds. Rotate 90degrees and repeat. Return to bowl, cover. Let rest for 15 minutes. Repeat the stretch and fold. Return to bowl and cover and let rest for between 12 to 15 hours until roughly double in size. The longer and slower the dough rises (ferments), the more completely the starch is converted- resulting in the flavors of the wheat developing, rather than the more yeasty taste you get with more modern, quick-rising breads.
Scrape onto floured surface. Gently pat down with floured fingers (don’t completely deflate it!) fold into thirds, rotate and fold in half. This is a fairly wet, soft dough unlike modern kneaded loaves- it needs to be handled very gently. Cover and let it sit 15 minutes.
Form into a boule or batard (round or traditional French bread shape), Pinch closed the seam, place into a floured proofing basket, cover, and let it proof for an hour.
After 1 hour, start heating oven to 480. Use a pizza stone or earthenware pan if you have one for a extra nice crust. (put into cold oven to avoid shock). Let oven preheat for another hour (to make sure the stone is really hot). Gently transfer the dough onto the stone or pan (we have a pizza peel for this, but you can also just tip the basket over the pan or stone).
Using a razor blade, slash the dough shallowly. Helps to control the expansion of the dough.
Baking time: 30 minutes minimum and up to 45 minutes depending on things like altitude, oven, climate etc… there is nothing definite here- the color should shade towards mahogany rather than golden brown. You can stick a thermometer into the loaf to check also- should be between 195 and 205.
Pull the bread out, and if your hearing is good you can actually hear it “sing” (sort of like Rice Crispies- it should snap crackle and pop very faintly.
Let it cool for at least an hour before slicing- otherwise the moisture in the bread escapes and you end up with an inferior loaf.
DH insists that I point out that he learned the original technique for this type of bread from Jim Lahey's book "My Bread". Lahey set out to recreate the original, primitive breads and this is what he came up with.
Interestingly, my mother, who grew up in pre-war rural France, once told me that they used a yeast starter similar to this, but if it turned sour they threw it away because it was considered to have gone bad. She didn't like sourdough bread at all.
