This evening I baked a boule with dough refrigerated overnight. The flour mix was 57% Hodgson Mills Whole Wheat, and a 1/4 cup (3.8%) of Bob’s Red Mill Vital Wheat Gluten, with the balance made of my standard Eagle Mills flour from Costco, with a 70% hydration. The final proof was done in a banneton.
I am reasonably pleased with the result, however, some larger holes were anticipated. We’ll be having this bread with soup this evening with some left over for sandwiches or toast in the morning.
I tried a couple new tricks with this batch. First, I bought a new cast iron dutch oven the othe
r day, and I’ve been dying to try it out. I believe it is a new model in the Lodge line-up. It has a lid that doubles as a skillet. I got the 5 quart model from Amazon.
Second, I used 500 grams of my standard Costco flour and 500 grams of Hodgson Mill Organic Whole Wheat less the 1/3 cup of Bob’s Red Mill Vital Wheat Gluten that I added to make 1 kilogram total, with a 75% hydration. The Vital Wheat Gluten is often recommended for course whole wheat flours to help hold in the gases during fermentation. I didn’t do the window pane test, but will next time. I’d like to try this VWG for pizza dough.
I made the dough right after work yesterday and let it set on the counter, covered in a plastic container. I heated up the oven this morning around 3 AM and baked the boule first at 475 (convection) in the pot and after 20 minutes removed it for browning. It didn’t rise as much as I expected. I haven’t cut into it yet, but I’m sure it will be good. But could be better. I may use more dough next time. This was roughly half of the whole batch.
I formed the epi last, and it had more time to rise. It came out fantastic. I had a hunk of it for breakfast with a second cup of coffeee. The picture only shows about half of it. I used the rest of it for sandwiches for lunch. Is it noon yet?
