One Good Ritual

This week I had the pleasure of beginning my experiments with Type 70 high extraction flour after spending a few years working with whole wheat and bread flour.

First Impressions

Upon combining the dough came together like oatmeal. Less soupy than my previous 50/50 mix of whole wheat and bread flour.

During stretch and folds the dough was quite a lot silkier than I’m used to so it was nice to work with, very compliant.

As expected, the 78% was much stretchier than the 73%, the difference was greater than I’d have thought.

Fermentation

This is the part where I admit that I previously had a relatively poor understanding of fermentation. With my old dough mix I would bulk ferment for about 2h30m before shaping, believing the windowpane to be my end goal. This was just the dough telling me it had strength. I would then shape, and bench rest for another 3 hours before getting the oven up to temperature. In total, the dough would have fermented for about 6-7 hours and would produce a very tight crumb with light flavor.

This time, I allowed the dough to rise before shaping. It was extremely enlightening to watch the dough grow through the ferment. My notes included their rise, descriptions of the bubbles, and a check-in for the estimated % rise.

When the dough had risen by about 40-50%, especially for the 78% dough I decided to shape. The loaves cold proofed for about 20 hours in the fridge before baking

Closed Bake

Both loaves were cooked in a dutch oven for 20 minutes @ 450F

The 78% loaf came out with a large ear, broad shoulders, and showing great interior structure.
Could have dusted the excess flour off better, noted for next time.

The 73% loaf came out with an even large ear and great vertical rise. I should have taken that as a clue for the crumb.

Open Bake

Both loaves were cooked about 18 minutes uncovered @ 425F
The 78% loaf had some slight tearing past the score. Both developed a soft, crisp crust.

Crumb

78% loaf developed the crumb I was looking for: tight enough but pulled apart almost like cotton candy. Absorbs stew/soup so well.

73% loaf surprised me with varied size alveoli, well dispersed. Nice gas retention.

Thoughts

Beyond thrilled with the results. The size and dispersion of the alveoli was perfectly usable.
I think the 78% will remain as my house spec. Perfectly usable plain, toasted, dipped, and for sandwiches or tartines. The crumb stands up well to fillings and shines through with each bite.
The 73% is visually impressive, maybe better for social gatherings where people can appreciate the crumb. Makes good toast as well, obviously, but for me the 78% was almost exactly what I was looking for in a loaf of bread.

Future Dough

Fermentation timing experiment. 5 hours, 6 hours, 7 hours, 8 hours.
Hydrations: 80%, 85%, Bassinage