soupçon

this bread turned out more agreeably than i thought it would. so, it's buckwheat, right, and bread flour. here's the thing about flours not explored hitherto, you want only to start with a soupçon in order to gauge its behavior. my go-to weight for loaves with a total flour weight of 500 grams is always 80-110 grams: 100 grams of rye, 110 grams of wheat, perhaps, 80 grams of corn, i think, likewise for polenta, semolina too. i think that these training-wheel weights are such that no matter the behavior of the grain, it (un) won't assail the progress of your loaf, and (deux) will provide a sort of starting point where after you can exercise a more daring hand. this is not to fault the daredevil within,  but there is nothing more pitiable than the fallen loaf with skins of stone. the cautious have never suffered so much as the imprudent. mark my words.

so you do a little reading first, yeah? and then you decide to dive in and give it a whirl. be prudent, have a look-see, a sniff-about. ah, and then you can adjust from here.

buckwheat. aside from that guileless character with unfortunate hair, what do we know about it? Let's have a look.

BUCKWHEAT. Wholly not a grain, no less than a plant related to rhubarb. its darling seeds look and behave like a grain, thus is the luxury that we may employ it for bread. it contains no gluten, so crackers made from it can be had by those who cannot tolerate the stuff. think: tan asian noodles called soba, these are made from buckwheat, our new friend. and this little rascal, you will be happy to hear, is a complete source of protein.

let's enjoy this new discovery, right? good, because i've a bag of it that must be used.

i began this loaf remembering how wonderfully this flour behaved in some crackers i made a while ago. nutty, i remember them being, and as i love to flog a good, dead horse, i added sunflower seeds to the dough.

the dough, it must be mentioned, feels a bit gluey, flaccid, sticky, you may even feel as though your bread could not possibly come out well, given some evident lack of vigor. but forge on, because it will despite all of these ominous signs. and for those of you who have asked why sometimes i use bread flour flour instead all purpose on various occasion, it's because when working with another flour that lacks gluten, i like to make up for that loss with a higher protein flour, bread flour, as it were, which, of course, contains more gluten than all purpose. i use all purpose when there is no fear of the fallen loaf because all purpose is lower in protein than bread flour, thus providing a more tender crumb. i choose wisely, see, it's not all willy-nilly over here, despite appearances.

carrying on...

a brief note on seeds and nuts, any seed/nut for any bread: those worked into the dough must be toasted for optimum flavor, those that you press to the outside of the dough should remain raw; they will toast in the oven as the bread bakes. if you toast them prior, they will blacken and ruin your day.

with all that said. here is our latest bread. of course, i will post the ensuing results as i experiment with increased measures of this flour along with any further adjustments, using this loaf as a platform for the newest fork in our road.

i give you...

buckwheat & sunflower

THE NIGHT BEFORE DOUGH DAY

make your levain:

50g 100% rye, 100% hydration starter

100g dark rye flour, i used to your health

100g h2o

mix this together to make a paste and ferment. mine took 9 hours

DOUGH DAY

250g levain
110g organic, sprouted buckwheat flour
         (i used 'to your health' with fantastic results)
390g KA organic bread flour
364g h2o
100g toasted sunflower seeds
125g raw sunflower seeds
9g salt
20g organic sprouted barley malt, i used 'eden'

mix together the levain, the flours and water until it reaches a shaggy mass. autolyse for 1 full hour. after autolyse, squish the salt into the dough with your hands. add the toasted seeds. knead the dough for a full two minutes by hand, i mean, really beat the crap out of it. it will be sticky and horrendous, but loads of fun.

begin the 3-hour bulk fermentation. for the first two hours of the bulk fermentation, you will perform a series of turns every half hour at room temp. for the last hour hour, pop the dough in the fridge and allow it to ferment, untouched.

after the bulk fermentation is complete, turn the dough out onto a counter dusted with just  a whisper of brown rice flour, gather it up into a loose round and let it rest for 10 minutes. after it has rested, shape it into a boule.

just a whisper of rice flour, don't worry, the dough won't stick...

spread the 125 of raw sunflower seeds on your proofing cloth (i just use a rough square of linen), place the dough in the center...

now press the seeds to the sides of the dough, taking great care to thoroughly coat it, or it will stick and cause mayhem tomorrow when you are ready to unearth it.

pop this into a bowl, sprinkle the top of the dough with rice flour, then layer it with a dampened piece of cheesecloth, now cover it. pop in the fridge and ferment for 23.5 hours.

BAKE DAY

one hour before you bake, preheat the oven to 550 degrees. make sure your stone and both halves of the combo cooker are in there too. after a full hour (no cheating)...

unearth the dough onto a peel lined with a piece of parchment, man, did this baby rise; brush away any seeds that have cascaded from the dough (feed these to the dog); then slide it into the shallow half of the combo cooker.

pop on the top half and turn the oven down to 475 degrees. steam for 30 minutes. after the steam, remove the top half of the combo cooker using an oven mitt to avoid nasty steam burns.

turn the oven down to 425 degrees, rotating it every ten minutes or so to ensure even browning. at this stage, watch it fastidiously, if the seeds look like they are browning too quickly, turn the oven down a little more. best to go low and slow for even browning (and no burning) of the seeds, and a thoroughly baked interior. this loaf will brown quicker than you are accustomed to because of the seeds and the barley malt. the sugar in the barley malt causes the crust to caramelize quickly, but given your advanced skills as a baker, you will know exactly how to adjust that temperature.

using a large, flat utensil, unearth the bread and cool it for at least one hour on a rack. the bread needs at least this amount of time so that the moisture can redistribute through the crumb. if you slice it whilst hot, you will have a gummy dough. heed this advice, and reap the rewards of it.

be sure to keep a tiny bowl handy while you are slicing the bread to capture all of the little seeds that fall away. these make for lovely snacking.

verdict: goodness me, this bread is to die for. the interior was as splendid as one could hope for, so tender. and the crust was perfectly caramelized. it was pleasantly sour, undeniably nutty. if there is one thing that i will change next time round is to increase the amount of barley malt that i use to at least 40g (which would likely necessitate the reduction of hydration in the dough, so keep this in mind if you make this adjustment on your own). and i may cut the final ferment to 20 hours. i will keep you posted when i make these changes.

and another thank you to Susan's wild yeast blog for letting us flaunt our accomplishments so unabashedly.

to the staff of life!

BECAUSE I CAN NEVER DECIDE...