Ive been working on a sort of desem starter for a bit witch is kind of an old way to make a starter. It’s a really thick starter that you keep in a cold place and it last much longer than regular starter. What i did is took my extra starter and add alot of flour till it was think and put it in the refrigerator. then i keep doing that for a few weeks seem to work well. but it might now be the traditional way haha.. I used freshly ground flour so that made a Difference.
Preferment – 12 hours on counter top
61 g desem starter
122 g freshly ground red hard wheat flour
61 g water
Dough – makes 2 loafs
243 g starter
919 g Freshly ground hard red wheat flour
838 g water
2 tsp malt syrup
20 g Salt
– Mix preferment
-Mill flour and allow to cool then mix flour and water except for 50 grams and cover and set for an hour.
-Mix Starter in for a while use french fold to knead. then squeeze in the rest of the water,malt and salt. Then do the french fold for about 10 to 15 minutes. here’s a good video on how to do french fold http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dUZ0O-Wv0Q
-Bulk ferment 2 1/2 hours with stretch and fold at 30,60,90 minutes
– Shape your dough and cover with ether rice or wheat bran and put in rising baskets “banneton” or you could use a bowl with a kitchen towel.
– Rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours but don’t over rise i let it go two long the first time and it didn’t turn out well and you starter wasn’t strong. Stone and stem are a necessary to get a good crust and crumb. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes with steam and 400 with out steam for about 30 to 35 minutes.
Adapted from http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/27999/honest-bread-100-wholewheat-desem-bread-and-some-country-bread
About Purely Sourdough
My Purely Sourdough blog is about making breads from natural starters and also about becoming a better baker and opening my own artisan bakery someday. There are and will be post about other baking related things but mostly sourdough breads.
Grain Mill Wagon Challenge Experience:
My experiences with the Wonder mill where great. From the movement I opened the box I couldn't wait to grain my own flour. I already had got some hard red wheat from the health food store. So I ground what I needed and put together and bunch of whole wheat sourdough rolls. To bad I had to wait till the next day to bake. Next day I got the rolls ready and baked them on my stones and we had them with dinner. The Flavor of the whole wheat was so much better with fresh flour.
Then I moved onto the wonder mill challenge to make 5 recipes within two months. It was fun but I had a lot going on during the contest and I had to wait a long time to get rye berries and hard white wheat. There where none in my area. I made 100% whole wheat desem sourdough, whole wheat sourdough croissants, roasted buckwheat dinner rolls, gluten free sandwich bread , and a triple grain sourdough bread. Most of Recipe where mine and also some of the didn't work out at first but I had fun making them work right.
Also I learn a few new thing about flour while I was doing this. I think the knowledge was there I just forgot but I ordered a bag of soft white wheat and tired to make a loaf with it. Didn't turn out so well. Then I did a little research and soft wheat doesn't have much gluten. I felt dumb because I learned that 7 years ago in culinary school. Also freshly ground absorbs more water that flour from the store. well that's what I experienced while baking with freshly ground flour.
It Was a Great challenge and lots of fun. I like to thank the people at wonder mill for giving me the chance to use your mill I wouldn't have the extra money to buy one for a while. Also I hope you enjoyed my recipes and pictures.
