Baking by Hand (10 page)
Authors: Andy King
A LITTLE SWEET, A LITTLE NUTTY
Our very first PM baker, Jereme, came up with this formula, which mixes our liquid sourdough culture with commercial yeast. The goal was to put a little tang in the bread to counterbalance the sweetness of the turbinado sugar. The result is a loaf that is sweet and sour, like cranberries themselves, and goes to show that you can use your culture as an accent, rather than a centerpiece, with no less impressive results. It’s a customer favorite. There’s a little prep to do beforehand—toasting walnut pieces and grinding walnut meal—but it’s not too bad. Try and get them done the day before so you’re not flailing on baking day!
• Yield: Three 1 lb 8 oz/700-g loaves; or eighteen 4-oz/100-g rolls
• Desired Dough Temperature: 85°F/30°C
• Mixing Time: 40 minutes
• Bulk Fermentation: 3+ hours
• Proofing Time: 3+ hours
• Baking Time: 25+ minutes
• Cooling Time: 3+ hours
Mix your final starter (see
here
). This will be enough for the bread formula, plus some extra to carry on the starter.
10 oz/280 ml 75°F/20°C water
2 oz/40 ml liquid sourdough
8 oz/230 g white bread flour
1 lb 10.5 oz/750 g white bread flour
2.5 oz/65 g turbinado sugar
10.5 oz/300 g liquid starter
1 lb/450 ml 90°F/32°C water
2 ½ tsp/18 g fine sea salt
2 tsp/8 g instant yeast
7.5 oz/215 g toasted walnut pieces
3 oz/75 g raw ground walnut meal
5.5 oz/160 g dried cranberries
Combine your flour and sugar in your large mixing bowl. In another bowl, mix your liquid starter and water, and remember to keep that water warm to give your yeast a comfortable atmosphere to grow. Then, dump your flour and sugar on top of the liquid ingredients, and mix it by hand for about 30 seconds, until it comes together in a shaggy mass. Don’t forget to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl regularly; you want all of that flour hydrated and don’t want to see any dry spots. Set aside in a warm place, at least 80°F/25°C, for 30 minutes. If you’re having trouble finding your warm place, it’s time to use your trusty heat lamp.
Sprinkle the salt and the yeast on top of the dough and grab a four-finger pinch of the dough and pull. It should stretch out like chunky taffy rather than just tear off. Incorporate the salt and yeast into the dough, continuously pushing the sides of the dough into the middle while turning the bowl. After a minute
of this, add in your walnuts, walnut meal and cranberries and continue that incorporating action until everything is evenly distributed. Cover the bowl, and put it in your warm place for 30 minutes.
Turn your dough onto a lightly floured surface and give it your four-fold (see
here
). It should make a tight little package and after every fold the dough’s volume should increase. It should consistently feel warm and active. Roll the dough over and place it, seam side down, back into the bowl. Repeat every 30 minutes until the dough is strong but puffy, warm to the touch and holds a fingerprint when pressed into the surface. The whole process will take about 2 hours.
Once your dough is ready to cut, turn it out onto your floured work surface. Using your bench knife and scale, divide into three 1 pound 8 ounce/700-g pieces. Gently shape the dough into rounds (see
here
), being careful not to compress the dough too much, and place seam side down on your work surface. Cover and rest for 20 minutes to build a bit more strength into the loaf before final shaping. (Alternatively, you can divide the dough into 4 ounce/100-g pieces, roll into little rounds and place on a sheet pan for rolls.)
Next, dust three round bannetons lightly with flour and set them to the side. Take your rested rounds and gently but firmly shape them into rounds again. If your seams feel like they’re coming undone when you lift the loaf up, give it a few minutes sitting seam side down on the table to seal it, and next time, use less flour for shaping. The dough’s moisture should be enough to seal the loaf closed. Place your shaped loaves seam side up in your bannetons, cover with a cloth or plastic wrap and place in your trusty warm spot.
While your dough is proofing, place your baking stone on the lowest rack in your oven, and your cast-iron pan on the highest rack. Preheat the oven to 425°F/220°C. Check in on your bread periodically; if the surface feels dried out, spray it with a bit of water to allow for maximum expansion. If it feels cold, make it warmer. This may take up to 2 hours, depending on the conditions of your kitchen (or only an hour if making rolls). The loaf is ready to go in when it feels very airy and holds a fingerprint when pressed into the surface.
Flip the loaves over onto your peel. It might take a couple of batches to bake all your bread, depending on your oven size. Score the face of the loaf with your razor in your desired pattern. (If you’re making rolls, slash a small cross into the surface of each one to allow for a bit of expansion.) Now, grab three ice cubes from the freezer. Being careful to not keep the oven door open too long and let the heat out, open the oven, slide your loaf onto the stone, throw the three ice cubes into the cast-iron pan and close the door. After 5 minutes, quickly open the door and spray the interior of the oven with water. Continue baking until the loaf is evenly browned, about 25 minutes (15 minutes for rolls), and has a nice hollow thump when you tap it on the bottom. Let cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting.
Toasted Walnuts:
Place walnut pieces on a baking tray, and toast in a 375°F/190°C oven for 10 minutes or until crispy and fragrant.
Walnut Meal:
Process raw walnuts in a food processor until they become a fine meal.
GET YOUR DELI MEATS READY
There’s almost no other sandwich Andy prefers more than a Reuben. Pastrami piled high with sauerkraut and Russian dressing (and seriously, he’ll send it back if it doesn’t have enough kraut or dressing) is his go-to sandwich. So, because a great rye loaf is essential to a good deli sandwich like this, it makes sense that we’d develop one. If only to serve Andy’s singular purpose.
• Yield: Two 1 lb 10 oz/750-g 5-in × 9-in/12-cm × 23-cm pan loaves
• Desired Dough Temperature: 85°F/30°C
• Mixing Time: 40 minutes
• Bulk Fermentation: 1+ hours
• Proofing Time: 3+ hours
• Baking Time: 25+ minutes
• Cooling Time: 3+ hours
Mix your levain (see
here
). Remember to save some liquid starter to carry on the sourdough!
4 oz/115 ml 75°F/20°C water
1.25 oz/25 ml liquid sourdough
6.5 oz/180 g bread flour
0.5 oz/14 g whole rye flour
1 lb 3.5 oz/550 g white bread flour
4.25 oz/120 g whole rye flour
8.25 oz/230 g levain
1 lb 1.75 oz/500 ml 90°F/32°C water
2 ¼ tsp/16 g fine sea salt
1 tsp/4 g instant yeast
1 ½ tbsp/15 g caraway seeds
Combine your flours in your large mixing bowl. In another bowl, combine your levain and water, and remember to keep that water warm to give your wild yeast a comfortable atmosphere to grow. (You should pull your levain apart with your fingers when adding it to the water, so it incorporates into the rest of the ingredients more easily.) Then, dump the flours on top of the liquid ingredients, and mix it by hand for about 30 seconds, until it comes together in a shaggy mass. Don’t forget to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl regularly; you want all of that flour hydrated and don’t want to see any dry spots. Set aside in a warm place, at least 80°F/25°C, for 30 minutes. If you’re having trouble finding your warm place, it’s time to use your trusty heat lamp.
Sprinkle the salt, yeast and caraway seeds on top of the dough and grab a four-finger pinch of the dough and pull. It should stretch out like chunky taffy rather than just tear off. Incorporate the salt and yeast into the dough, continuously pushing the sides of the dough into the middle while turning the bowl. Cover the bowl, and put it in your warm place for 30 minutes.
Turn your dough onto a lightly floured surface and give it your four-fold (see
here
). It should make a tight little package and after every fold the dough’s volume should increase. It should consistently feel warm and active. Roll the dough over and place it, seam side down, back into the bowl. Repeat every 30 minutes until the dough is strong but puffy, warm to the touch and holds a fingerprint when pressed into the surface. This will take about 2 hours.
Once your dough is ready to cut, turn it out onto your floured work surface. Using your bench knife and scale, divide into two 1 pound 10 ounce/750-g pieces. Gently shape the dough into rounds (see
here
), being careful not to compress the dough too much, and place seam side down on your work surface. Cover and rest for 20 minutes to build a bit more strength into the loaf before final shaping.
Next, lightly oil your 5-inch × 9-inch/12 × 23-cm bread pans and set them to the side. Take your rested rounds and gently but firmly shape them into stubby cylinders (see
here
), leaving the first seam side down on the table as you shape the second. Place your shaped loaves seam side down in your loaf pans, cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and place in your trusty warm spot.
While your dough is proofing, place your baking stone on the lowest rack in your oven, and your cast-iron pan on the highest rack. Preheat the oven to 450°F/230°C. Check in on your bread periodically; if the surface feels dried out, spray it with a bit of water to allow for maximum expansion. If it feels cold, make it warmer. This may take up to 2 hours, depending on the conditions of your kitchen. The loaf is ready to go in when it feels very airy and holds a fingerprint when pressed into the surface.
When you’re ready to bake, score the face of the loaf with four or five diagonal slashes. This releases tension in two directions, so when the oven spring occurs, you get a nice, even expansion of the surface of the loaf. Now, grab three ice cubes from the freezer. Being careful to not keep the oven door open too long and let the heat out, open the oven, slide your loaves onto the stone, throw the three ice cubes into the cast-iron pan and close the door. After 5 minutes, quickly open the door and spray the interior of the oven with water. Continue baking until the loaf is evenly browned, about 25 minutes, and has a nice hollow thump when you tap it on the bottom. Immediately, but carefully, remove the loaves from the pans and place them on a cooling rack. If the sides and bottom of the loaf look light, feel free to pop them back in the oven for a few minutes. Let cool for at least 3 hours before cutting.
THE HEALTHY ONE
This dough is one of the only ones we make at the bakery that is 100 percent whole grain. Dealing with breads that contain no white flour always poses the same problem: They have a propensity to come out dense and chewy and to have little to no oven burst. The little bits of bran and germ that make whole wheat flour so cleansing for your gut act like little knives that pierce the gluten matrix as the dough proofs. Our solution is to build strength in the existing gluten through a whole wheat poolish, which absorbs water overnight, and to add olive oil to lubricate the strands of developing gluten and allow for more stretching. The honey serves as a foil for the increased bitterness due to the whole grain and the olive oil, and also to add that bit of sweetness that makes for great toast, with or without butter.
We have it with!
• Yield: Two 2 lb/1 kg 5-in × 9-in/12-cm × 23-cm pan loaves
• Desired Dough Temperature: 85°F/30°C
• Mixing Time: 40 minutes
• Bulk Fermentation: ~2 hours
• Proofing Time: ~1.5 hours
• Baking Time: ~25 minutes
• Cooling Time: ~3 hours