My 107th experiment: rustic wheat bread

This experiment confirms that dedicated interest and attention is one major cause of success. In this experiment, I have taken up an old recipe to remake it in a different form. The primary difference with the other sandwich loaves I'd recently made is that I pay attention to this dough every now and then.
This is such an impressive loaf---a loaf of comfort and joy.

Recipe: Rustic wheat bread (make 1 round loaf)

Ingredients:
- 2 cups KAF whole wheat flour
- 1 cup KAF bread flour
- 1/2 tp active dry yeast
- 4 TB buttermilk powder
- 1+1/4 tp kosher salt
- 1 TB honey
- 2 TB olive oil
- 1+1/2 cup warm water

Procedure:
Day 1
1. Sieve flours, buttermilk powder, salt together.
2. Proof yeast in 1+1/2 cup warm water with 1 TB of honey.
3. Mix dry ingredients with proofed yeast and water. Gradually form a dough. Knead until uniformly smooth.
4. Add about 1 TB oil. Knead dough until smooth. Add extra water to make a soft dough.
5. Grease a medium bowl. Rub oil on dough. Allow to proof overnight in fridge.
Day 2
Knead dough once. Then return to fridge.
Day 3
1. Grease a pan generously with oil. Dust bottom of pan with rye flour.
2. Rub rye flour on dough. Flatten and place on pan. Cover with plastic wrap and proof for a few hours, initially without heat. Then, about 2-3 hours before baking, allow dough to sit on the heating element of stove top and lowest setting.
3. When dough has at least doubled, preheat oven to 375F. Bake at 375F for about 30 minutes.

Results:
Day 1, 7:46pm, all ingredients:

Day 1, 8:30pm, dry ingredients sieved, wet ingredients proofed:

Day 1, 9:02pm, ingredients mixed for 30 minutes to form a lean dough before adding oil:

Day 1, 9:17pm, dough after another 15 minutes of kneading and adding water to increase hydration:

Day 1, 9:25pm, dough oiled, and ready to chill:

Day 1, 9:25pm, dough's height before chilling:

Day 2, 11:04am, dough chilled overnight:

Day 2, 11:04am, dough's height after chilling overnight:

Day 2, 11:05am, dough's texture:

Day 2, 11:05am, dough punched down and reshaped before returning to fridge:

Day 3, 8:01am, dough chilled for 2 days, no significant change in volume:

Day 3, 8:01am, dough's height:

Day 3, 8:46am, dough dusted with rye flour and placed on greased pan to proof in cool kitchen:

Day 3, 12:07pm, dough proofed 3 hours without heat:

Day 3, 12:07pm, dough's height after proofing 3 hours without heat:

Day 3, 1:20pm, dough on very mildly warm stove for 1 hour:

Day 3, 1:20pm, dough's height:

Day 3, 2:47pm, dough in mild warmth for 2 hours:

Day 3, 2:27pm, dough's height:

Day 3, 3:28pm, dough in mild warmth for 3 hours:

Day 3, 3:28pm, dough's height:

Day 3, 3:29pm, baking started at 375F:

Day 3, 3:57pm, taked 28 minutes at 375F:

Day 3, 4:01pm, internal temperature way above 190F:

Day 3, 4:01pm, thermometer coming out clean:

Day 3, 4:02pm, loaf's height:

Day 3, 4:03pm, loaf's top:

Day 3, 4:06pm, loaf's bottom:

Day 3, 4:07pm, loaf's side:

Day 3, 4:17pm, hole:

Day 3, 4:17pm, loaf's top after 15 minutes:

Day 3, 7:21pm, loaf after cooling 3 hours, no shrinkage at all:

Day 3, 7:22pm, loaf cut across the center:

Day 3, 7:23pm, interiors of the loaf:

Day 3, 7:25pm, tearing apart the hole:

Observation:
1. Using the pie pan to proof the dough, I find that proofing the dough on the large stove at the lowest setting (between low and off) provides a very good warming effect. Dough grows really rapidly at this warm temperature. The heating element does not burn the hand, it is just warm and comfortable.
2. This loaf may be done in less than 30 minutes. Next time, for dough of same hydration, and baked in a round pan, baking may be done at 375F for just 25 minutes.
3. The impressive thing about this loaf is that the crust does not shrink after cooling. The crust is hard enough to hold the shape of the loaf.
4. This loaf tastes wonderful! Not chewy, just nice. The buttermilk is not distinctive.

My 105th experiment: Rustic whole wheat bread

Recently, I noticed that the quality of my homemade bread has been declining. I blame it on the lack of time and attention. The loaves have become too dense to be appetizing. It almost defeats the purpose of home baking. So I decide to go back to delayed fermentation again. In this experiment, I am trying out a wet dough. This is an adhoc loaf. It turns out to be a little too wet, but not bad. This is probably the way people made rustic loaves in the past.

Recipe: Rustic whole wheat bread (1 loaf)

Ingredients:
- 2 cups KAF whole wheat flour
- 1 tp active dry yeast
- 1/2 tp salt
- 5 TB buttermilk powder
- 1/4 can guinness beer
- water

Procedure:
1. Sieve whole wheat flour, active dry yeast, salt, and buttermilk powder.
2. Add beer. Mix. Then add water to make a wet dough.
3. Chill overnight. Then allow to warm up.
4. Dust the wet surface of the dough with rye flour. Place in greased pan to proof.
5. Brush top with water.
6. Preheat oven to 425F. Then bake at 375F for 30 minutes.

Results:
Day 1, 3:43pm, initial mixture:

Day 1, 4:04pm, final dough before chilling:

Day 2, 4:07pm, dough after overnight chilling:

Day 2, 4:07pm, dough's height after overnight chilling:

Day 2, 7:10pm, dough warmed on counter for 3 hours, then dusted with rye flour and allowed to warm on stove top:

Day 2, 9:00pm, dough warmed 2 hours:

Day 2, 9:03pm, dough poured into greased pan:

Day 2, 9:03pm, dough's height in pan:

Day 2, 9:09pm, dough's surface moistened:

Day 2, 9:10pm, oven preheating to 425F:

Day 2, 9:10pm, dough to bake at 375F:

Day 2, 9:39pm, loaf baked 29 minutes:

Day 2, 9:40pm, loaf's top:

Day 2, 9:41pm, loaf's internal temperature:

Day 2, 9:45pm, loaf's bottom:

Day 2, 10:45pm, loaf's interior:

Day 2, 7:35am, loaf cut and sliced:

Observations:
1. This loaf has a rich flavor of wheat, beer and buttermilk. The texture is a little chewy. But it's nice even when left overnight. In fact, the slightly sour and grainy taste makes a great sandwich with ham and pickles.

The evening I bake this loaf is a tuesday. Dough has been feeling a bit gassy after a huge drunken rib eye at lunch. So hubby decides not to have dinner. When I start baking this loaf, it's past 9 pm. It's ready in 40 minutes. Since it's fresh, I place it in front of hubby so that he may have a bite if he wants. Then I go off to make a call as he starts tearing off bits and pieces to munch on. When I return, he has finished nearly half the loaf. The remaining half is left on the counter overnight. It remains pretty good, and goes into his lunch box as a sandwich. I think hubby likes it.