Bread roll tales - the sequel

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2023-09-02

Last week I held about 25g of dough over. I fed it yesterday morning with 50g each of flour and water. In the evening it had started to bubble.

All 125g of it and some dry yeast went into the bread roll dough.

This time I’m going for bigger rolls, (4 * 150) / 1.67 = 360 g of flour, 67% hydration, 2% salt and 34% starter.

Yeah, I know, forgot about the 5% idea from last week.

4 oblong and 1 round bread roll on baking parchment on a holed baking sheet

5 bread rolls fresh from the oven, fairly blond

b/w picture, 5 rolls on the cooling rack, small bread knife to the right of the rack

our holed baking sheet

pizza/baking steel cooling in the oven

I need to work on my forming and cutting, otherwise quite stoked.

2023-08-27

My dough was getting softer and softer. I dropped hydration to 60%, still soft.

So I searched the internet, as you do. This time specifically German sourdough baking.

I had been holding back a bit of the dough from a bake and stored it in the fridge between bakes. As anticipated this turned into sourdough, with a really nice smell, turning my bread rolls even better tasting.

Than, after a few bakes, we entered soft dough territory.

My “research” suggested that keeping the old dough in the fridge, adding all of it to the new dough, and then fermenting the dough in the fridge over night led to too much lacto bacillus. This leads to enzymatic action that weakens/destroys the starch structure.

So, change of method:

  • still keep the old dough in the fridge
  • take 10g of the old dough and mix with 50g each of flour and water and keep on the counter until well bubbly
  • add 5% (of flour weight) refreshed starter to the bread roll recipe

Continue with normal method.

4 dough balls raising on baking parchment paper, bread rolls in waiting

4 bread rolls on the cooling rack

Much improved, need to up the size though

They keep rolling

Leaving aside my forgetting for the second week in a row to put steam into the oven, the #BreadRolls keep getting better.

Hydration reduced to 65%, 28% old dough (sourdough), 2% salt, 1% dry yeast.

Fermented overnight in the fridge.

Oven heated to 250C + and held there for 30 minutes to heat through the pizza steel. Put rolls into the oven, directly above the steel, reduced temperature to 220C and baked for 30 minutes.

6 dough balls proofing on a rack, raising to the occasion

6 nice bread rolls, lightly floured

2 bread rolls, cut open, to reveal their holey crumb

I reduced the weight per roll to 80g, will go to 100g next time, too much crust for too little crumb.

#baking #sourdough #recipe

Still the easiest way to get to sourdough. Make your preferred bread (or in this case bread roll dough) and hold some back.

Mine goes into the fridge in a jam jar. One week later your nose will confirm, sourdough.

I feed once and then incorporate into my dough. When I start shaping one undersized bread roll goes into the jam jar.

Old dough, from last weeks bake, in the jam jar it survived in the fridge in

#sourdough

No. 14.2022 #spelt #sourdough

sourdough loaf

I had tried a baking method where you start the loaf / baking tin in a cold oven. Good rise, but, in our oven, it got too hot too soon. Hence very dark and the crumb too moist. #sourdough #spelt

No. 13.2022 #sourdough #spelt a bake on the dark side

very dark bread

No 12.2022 #sourdough

sourdough

No 11.2022 #sourdough #spelt - fairly flat without the tin

No 10.2022 #sourdough #spelt - getting there

sourdough spelt bread

No 09.2022 #sourdough #spelt - more a flow than a rise

sourdough spelt

There’s the bubbly stuff #spelt #sourdough

spelt sourdough

No 08.2022 #sourdough #spelt

sourdough breadsourdough bread

No 07.2022 #spelt #sourdough

spelt sourdough bread

No 06.2022 #spelt #sourdough

doughsourdough bread

No 05.2022 #spelt #sourdough the good oven spring rerouted some of the dough

sourdough bread

No 04.2022 #sourdough #spelt bursting the seams

bread, headviewbread, sideviewbread, topview

No 03.2022 #spelt #sourdough went with the flow

Update to my #spelt #sourdough #recipe

See www.zahr.koeln/2021/12/2…

Upped water to 260 g

No 02.2022 #sourdough #spelt great oven spring

No 01.2022 #sourdough #spelt

No 44.2021 #sourdough #spelt and new „tin“

Spelt sourdough update

While the bread went through 40+ iterations I didn’t update the recipe.

My bread idea has always been a „Hausbrot“, a tasty, no-faff bread that can be integrated into the week with minimum hazzle. The spelt came into it because of the taste and because it is a historical grain in my area.

There is definitely room for improvement, but I’m quite happy with my bread as is.

Room for improvement

  • the crust breaks at the edge where the rise goes over the top of the tin, not where I cut it
  • the rise is not quite „rapid“ enough
  • the pores in the crumb are still quite regular

recipe

200 g wholemeal spelt sourdough 1: (100/100) 500 g spelt flour (630 or 1050, depending on mood) 240 g water 12 g salt

Mix and knead in the stand mixer for 10 minutes. Form round and let ferment for three to four hours. Form long and put into the olive oiled tin, let rise for another hour or so. Bake at 250 C for 30 mins and at 180 C for another 30 mins.

#spelt #sourdough #recipe


  1. About 50 g of starter lives in the fridge. I take it out the evening before baking and add 100 g of wholemeal spelt flour and 100 g of lukewarm water, mix well and leave to ferment on the counter. In the morning it is foamy and bubbly, ready for the dough. ↩︎

No 43.2021 #sourdough #spelt

No 42.2021 #spelt #sourdough VERY dark, but not (quite) burned

No 41.2021 #spelt #sourdough