Starrs Sourdough recipes and baking guides

Tomato basil sourdough

8/9/2020

TOMATO BASIL SOURDOUGH RECIPE

This naturally leavened, red-tinged loaf is the epitome of summer. Whole rye gives it a denser crumb and a delicious tang to bring out the acidity of the tomatoes and the freshness of the basil. And paprika gives it a flavorful zing and deepens its natural color. Pair this loaf with some bruschetta or a Caprese salad or even just olive oil and herbs, and you're in for the perfect summer meal.

Recipe yields 2 1-kg loaves.

LEVAIN

120g water
120g bread flour
30g mature starter

FINAL DOUGH

610g bread flour
390g water
305g whole, peeled canned tomatoes
285g whole rye flour
250g levain
100g tomato paste
30g dried basil leaves
20g salt
15g paprika

TOMATO BASIL SOURDOUGH BAKER'S PERCENTAGES (a universal, slightly more technical way to share recipes that is explained here, but you can also just ignore this)

LEVAIN
100% hydration
100% bread flour
25% mature sourdough starter

TOTAL DOUGH FORMULA
72% bread flour (12% pre-fermented in levain)
50% hydration (12% pre-fermented in levain)
30% whole, peeled canned tomatoes
28% whole rye flour
10% tomato paste
3% sourdough starter
3% dried basil leaves
2% salt
1.5% paprika

EQUIPMENT

Two medium bowls
Large bowl
Dutch oven, oven-safe pot, or a baking sheet plus cast iron pan or other oven-safe pan
Scale
Bench knife (optional, but helpful for shaping)
Two bannetons (optional, but helpful for proofing)
Parchment paper (optional)

TOMATO BASIL SOURDOUGH PROCESS

Mix

Mix the levain 6 to 8 hours before you intend to start mixing the final dough by dissolving 30g of mature starter into 120g of cool water in a medium mixing bowl. Mix the milky solution with 120g of strong bread flour and leave to ferment at room temperature, loosely covered.
When the levain is at its optimal fermentation point, it will have doubled in size and have bubbles pushing up out of the surface, but will not yet have started to recede in volume. Once it's ready, dissolve 250g of the levain into 390g of cool water in a large mixing bowl. You can set the rest of the levain aside to use as discard, or save it to perpetuate your original starter.
Add 305g of the whole, peeled canned tomatoes and 100g of tomato paste and mix well, breaking apart the tomatoes with your hands as you mix.
Sprinkle 30g of dried basil leaves, 20g of salt, and 15g of paprika over the solution and give it a stir to evenly distribute the spices before adding 610g of bread flour and 285g of whole rye flour and fully mixing to combine. The high percentage of rye will make the dough feel a little sticky, but resist adding extra flour unless the mixture isn't coming together in a cohesive mass.
Once thoroughly mixed, leave the dough to bulk ferment for four hours, performing two sets of stretch and folds one hour and three hours after the initial mix.

Shape

After four hours of bulk fermentation, the dough should feel stronger (more elastic) and have risen about 50 percent. Turn it out onto a well-floured surface and divide into equal 1-kg rectangular pieces using a bench knife or other cutting tool, and then pre-shape the dough by extending each of the four corners of the dough and folding them toward the center to form an envelope-style package, with the seam facing up, and then roll one edge over the other and leave to rest, smooth-side up, for about 15 minutes. This gives the dough time to relax before the final shape into a boule. Repeat with the other dough portion. While the dough is resting, liberally flour two bannetons or parchment-lined bowls for the boule to proof in before baking.
Once the dough has loosened and relaxed, scrape most of the flour off of your surface and flip the pre-shape over so the seam-side is up. Working decisively and confidently, fold the edge closest to you over on itself, rotate the dough about 90 degrees (seam-side up), and repeat. Then, cupping your hands under the boule, pull back under the dough slightly to create surface tension, stopping if the dough tears or sticks to the table. If using a banneton, carefully deposit the boule seam-side up in the floured wicker basket. If using a parchment-lined bowl, gently transfer it so that the smooth-side is facing up. Repeat with the other pre-shape.
Let the boules proof for about an hour at room temperature before moving them into the fridge to retard for 12 to 18 hours, depending on your schedule. You can also skip the cold final rise and bake them the same day.

Bake

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees for 40 minutes, with your baking vessel(s) (dutch oven or oven-safe pot) inside to also preheat.
1. If you do not have a pot or dutch oven, place a steam-making agent, like a cast iron pan (never glass), onto the bottom rack of the oven about 20 minutes into the pre-heat and boil enough water to cover about an inch of the bottom.
2. If you only have one pot or dutch oven, move one boule into the fridge to bake after the first.
Remove your baking vessel(s) from the oven and transfer your boule(s) in, either carefully flipping them out of the banneton so the smooth, lined side is face-up, or lifting the edges of the parchment and depositing the parchment and boules into the bottom of your baking vessel. Cover and place in the oven.
1. If you do not have a pot or dutch oven, you can transfer the boules to a baking sheet, leaving ample room between them, since dough likes to grow together. After transferring the baking sheet to the top rack of the oven, carefully remove the steam-making agent and pour the boiling water in, away from any glass oven doors or exposed skin, as it will hiss and steam immediately. Pour in about an inch of water and return to the bottom rack of the oven.
Bake, covered/with steam, for 20-25 minutes, then remove the lid(s) and/or steam agent.
Bake uncovered for 20-25 more minutes. The bottom of the boule should sound hollow when tapped, and have an internal temperature of 200 degrees.
Remove from the baking vessel, repeating steps 2-4 for the second boule if needed, and let them cool for at least 3 hours before slicing, and for 6-8 hours for optimal crumb to prevent the high rye percentage from making the interior gummy.

0 Comments

Roggenbrot

3/17/2020

0 Comments

Rye is a magical, fearsome, and wholesome grain. Often grown as a cover crop, it's excellent at preventing field erosion over long winters and is relatively inexpensive for farmers. And rye is delicious for baking, especially when in naturally leavened breads.

Baking with rye is quite different than baking with wheat, especially in this 100% rye recipe, because of the grains' different chemical compositions. Rye still contains a type of gluten (a prolamin called secalin), but it can't create the same elastic bonds that wheat's gluten proteins (glutenins and gliadins) do. Instead, pentosans (a complex sugar present in rye that is also in wheat, but in lesser amounts) and starches are responsible for rye's crumb structure.

When mixed with water, the pentosans in the rye swell and absorb large amounts of water, while its amalyse enzymes break down starches into sugar. But too much sugar and not enough starch will cause the rye bread's structure to collapse. Bakers refer to this as "starch attack." One way to slow down the enzyme activity and protect rye's crumb structure is to acidify the dough with sourdough starter. Another way is to use scalded, pre-gelatinized rye four as a portion of your dough. This recipe employs both techniques, and was developed for the Starrs Sourdough January 2020 sale.

This is a 100% rye sourdough recipe with whole rye berries and sunflower, flax, and pumpkin seeds, using a rye sourdough starter. If you have a whole wheat or all-purpose wheat flour starter and don't want to make a new whole rye one, you can substitute in your own starter. The final dough won't be exactly 100% rye, but it'll be pretty close! The bakers percentages are listed alongside the ingredient weights, as well as for the total formula.

RECIPE
Yields one 1135-g loaf

Levain
25g rye starter (20%)
125g whole rye flour (100%)
125g water (100%)

Scald
125g whole rye flour (100%)
25g rye berries (20%)
25g sunflower seeds (20%)
25g flax seeds (20%)
25g pepitas (20%)
250g water (200%)

Final mix
250g whole rye flour (100%)
125g water (50%)
10g salt (4%)
(+ 475g scald and 275g levain)

Total formula
500g whole rye flour (100%)
500g water (100%)
25g whole rye berries (5%)
25g sunflower seeds (5%)
25g pepitas (5%)
25g flax seeds (5%)
25g rye starter (5%)
10g salt (2%)

EQUIPMENT
Loaf pan
Three bowls
Mister or cast iron pan
Plastic bowl scraper (helpful, but not required)
Kitchen thermometer (helpful, but not required)

PROCEDURE

1) Ensure your rye starter is active and bubbly by feeding it about 8 hours before you begin to mix your levain, and a day before you plan to begin your final mix. I usually feed my starter the morning of the day before I plan to bake.

2) 8-12 hours before your final mix, prepare your rye levain and scald. I usually do this the evening before I plan to bake.

Put water on to boil.
In one container, mix 25g active rye starter with 125g whole rye flour and 125g cool water until fully combined in order to create your levain.
In a separate bowl, mix together 125g whole rye flour, 25g rye berries, 25g sunflower seeds, 25g flax seeds, and 25g pepitas for your scald.
Pour 250g of boiling water into the dry scald ingredients and mix thoroughly. The rye flour will quickly gelatinize, making it more difficult to stir as it cools.

3) The next morning, check your rye levain's activity level. When it seems to have reached its full expansion (about double its size when mixed the night before), combine the remaining mix ingredients.

Roll up your sleeves, tie back your hair, and prepare for a bit of a mess. This can be done as either a hand mix or in a mixer, but I prefer to do it by hand, as rye doesn't require intensive kneading. But it is an incredibly sticky process.
Mix 250g whole rye flour, 125g cool water, and 10g salt with the levain and the scald, breaking up the now-solidified bits of the scald with your hands as you go.

4) Let ferment for 1 - 2 hours.

5) Line or spray a loaf pan and moisten or oil your hands. Then, scoop the dough into the tin and smooth the surface. This is where a plastic bowl scraper comes in handy. Sprinkle extra rye flour on the top of the loaf and place in a warm area.

6) Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Ready your spray bottle/mister or place your cast iron pan at the bottom of the oven and boil more water about 30 minutes from your bake time.

7) Let bread proof for 1 - 2 hours. Rye doesn't rise anywhere near the same amount as wheat, or feel the same when poked. When the rye flour at the top develops cracks, it's a good indication that the bread is proofed.

8) Put the bread into the hot oven, and either mist with a spray bottle of water or pour boiling water into the cast iron pan at the bottom of the oven to create steam. Bake for 10 minutes at 500, then drop to 450 for 20 minutes, then 400 for about 30 more minutes. When the bread temperature is over 200 degrees F, remove from the oven to cool.

9) I recommend waiting at least 24 hours before cutting into this dense, nutty, aromatic loaf. Rye can be quite gummy if sliced earlier. It will last a week or more in your bread box or stored in a paper bag.

0 Comments

Tomato basil sourdough

Roggenbrot

Recipes

Guides

Author

Archives

Categories