Tuesday, March 9, 2021

Almost no-knead whole wheat bread

I am experimenting with "almost" no-knead bread  variations. This time, I made a whole wheat version and increased the hydration level to exactly 70%. As shown below it came out nicely. 

Some of the holes were a bit too large but it had a nice overall texture, crust and flavor. I am posting this just as notes for my record.


Ingredients:(everything except salt and yeast were weighed)
425gram of AP and whole wheat flour (1 cup wheat flour and I added about 3 cups of AP flour to reach the total weight of 425grams).
300 grams of liquids (Total liquid amount is most important),
80grams (6tbs) of beer (again I used Samuel Adams Boston brown ale)
13grams (1tbs) of rice vinegar
207grams of water (I just added water to the total liquid amount of 300grams)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp instant yeast

Hydration ratio = 70%

Direction:
Mix the ingredients in a bowl with a spatula until all the flour is incorporated (towards the end, I used my hands to incorporate all the flour. Again it looked too dry). Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap.
Place the bowl in the proofing box at 85F (with a water tray), this time, I let it rise overnight for about 12 hours.
Next morning, the dough was more than doubled and well-hydrated. Using a floured plastic dough scraper, I placed the dough on a well floured board and quickly kneaded it 15-20 times then made a boule shaped dough ball.
I placed the dough ball on a piece of parchment paper (sized to hold the whole thing) with the seam side of the dough boule down. I then placed it in a bowl or skillet in which the dough ball snugly fit.
The bowl uncovered went into the proofing box for 1 and half hours.
Preheat the oven with a cast iron Dutch oven in at least 30 minutes before the secondrise is finished.
Slash the top of the dough ball using a lame.
Lift the dough by the parchment paper and place it in the hot Dutch oven. Put the lid on and bake for 30minutes.
Remove the lid and bake another 10 minutes.
Again,hydration ratio of 70% makes a wet but very manageable dough and using the parchment paper is easier and safer than the original floured towel method.

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