Just out of the oven.
Attached File

I use the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day method.

1000 g unbleached all purpose flour
750 g water @ 90* F.
22 g fine sea salt
10 g instant yeast

Mixed and allowed to rise in 6 quart tub for about three hours and then refrigerated overnight.

This time I added a cup of Attached File

to the dough and some on top of the loaves after they were formed. I added an additional 2-3 ounces of water to the dough recipe so the grain wouldn’t dry out the dough.

There’s enough dough left to make another 3 or 4 baguettes. The dough will keep in the fridge for up to 14 days. Mine usually gets used well before that.

I prefer bread with out all that crap on the crust.

A couple of points:
This isn't GD.
It's not "crap", it's whole grains and seeds.
Leave the Harvest Blend out and the bread will look like this Attached File

You're free to bake your bread the way you like it and post how you do it.

I would eat that bread in a heartbeat.

Same

Do you use a brotform for proofing?

Did you post those other pictures to suggest there was anything wrong with them?

That bread looks fine.

Technical forums don't mean you aren't allowed to have a contrary opinion to the OP.

No. With the Bread in 5 method I just form the loaves and put them in the oven.

Interesting.  I've been intimidated by trying to form and proof a baguette.

Looks good!

I don’t mind differing opinions. I do mind characterizing the wholesome ingredients that I chose to use as “crap”. It was a drive by post anyway, he didn’t contribute anything constructive to this thread.
I posted the other pictures to make the point that bread can be baked any way you like it.

Attached File

I like to make fresh bread. Always dough in my fridge ready to proof...

Thank you.
I suppose I should give a more detailed rundown of how I do it.
I usually mix the dough using the above formula. Mix it however you like, by hand, with a wooden spoon or  by machine. It doesn’t seem to matter. I occasionally use 1200 grams of flour but that’s about the limit for the 6 quart container.
The dough is allowed to rise until it stops and then it’s put in the fridge. I’ve used as little as 4 grams of yeast and as much as 20 grams. Less takes s lot longer to rise completely and more takes less time. 10 grams works well for me. There’s no punching it down, it will collapse somewhat on it’s own when it refrigerated.
The next day or whenever I want to use it I take it out, remove the lid, reach in with a well dusted hand and grab as much dough out as I want to use and cut it with kitchen shears.
There’s no kneading but the surface of the dough gets stretched when I make a big dough ball out of what was removed from the tub. The dough ball in this case was divided into 3 more or less equal portions & then formed into baguettes. There are plenty of videos showing the classic way to form baguettes. Don’t get hung up on that, do it any way you can to get the shape you want.  That usually take about 3 tries to get it like I want it because of the dough resisting the stretch. I give it a minute or two between stretches to allow it to relax a bit. All of the You Tube videos say to let the loaves proof for 45 minutes but I quit bothering with that. I form them, slash them , and put them in the oven, pour a cup of water into the pan that I keep in the bottom of the oven and bake for 25 minutes at 450. The results are nice crusty loaves.

I've been making baguettes for the last couple years following random videos. I usually end up returning to this guy



One video suggested you use diastatic malt instead of sugar to proof your yeast. It makes for a very slight taste difference. Not enough for me to use regularly.

Recently I decided I wanted to grow my own wheat. Since I didnt want to wait a year I ordered up some hard white wheatberries (and recently some red) and talked my wife into buying a grinder for the stand mixer.

Using actual whole grain that you grind is a whole different ballgame. It takes about an hour or so to grind and sift the wheatberries. I've only done a small batch of biscuits with baking powder and tried Mr. Kirkwoods version of whole wheat baguettes as well. He uses about 1/3 whole wheat to strong bread flour.

Those baguettes turned out ok, but were noticeably more dense. I determined to get the big holes in my baguettes and from what I understand I'm goin to half to autolyse the whole wheat if I want it to do that.

For the last several weeks I've wanted to do an overnight rise but for whatever reason I just forget to. I like that you use your dough over the week. I've never done that - will give your recipe a try!

This is what my baguettes usually look like

Attached File

I read The Bread Bakers Apprentice by Richard Reinhart . In that book he talks about Pain a l’ancienne, a rustic baguette that’s given a delayed fermentation. Technically, autolyse is combining the flour & water and letting it sit for a while before adding the yeast so that the natural enzymes present in the flour can convert starch to sugar. With Pain a l’ancienne , all of the ingredients are mixed together and the dough is refrigerated immediately.  Delaying the fermentation allows the dough to autolyse as well.  After spending the night in the fridge the dough is then allowed to warm up to room temperature to continue the fermentation.
I’ve read that the reason bread made with a proportion of whole wheat is dense is because the sharp fibers of the whole grain cuts up the gluten that’s formed in the dough. I’ve had good results by adding a half cup of vital wheat gluten to the dough to compensate for that. You have to mix it  with the flour well before adding the water so you don’t end up with a sticky clump that won’t mix well.
As far as proofing yeast goes I don’t do it every time I make a batch of dough. I use instant dry yeast that I buy in bulk and store in the refrigerator. I proof it when I open a new package and about every six months after that. The proofed yeast isn’t used, it gets discarded.
I’ve seen that video before and that’s pretty much the same thing that I do. Even the hydration ratio is the same, 75%. My salt is 2.2% & yeast is 1%.

Edited to add:
The method that I use is from The New Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François. They have a bunch of videos on YouTube also.
Another good book on bread baking is Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish. If you make pizza, his book, The Elements of Pizza will serve you well.

I recently decided to try my hand at it and the first couple of times were sub optimal.
Turns out my home is not warm enough for the dough to rise, so now I leave it in a sunny window.

You can also try putting it in the oven with the oven light on.

Literally for like, 3 or 4 weekends I keep forgetting to get the dough started before I go to bed.

I will purchase those books. Thanks!

@reddog_3d, check your local library they may have them. My library is in a very small town & they have every book mentioned.

When I make my sourdough bread (a version of tartine country bread per Chad Robinson's recipe) I make the levain in the morning which is just a tablespoon or so of starter plus 100 grams of a 50/50 mix of AP and ww, plus 100 grams of water.  This is left out on the counter for 10 hours or so (its supposed to float when its ready).  Then I combine the levain with 750 grams of water and 1000 grams of flour (90/10 ap / ww).  Once that is mixed I let it rest or autolyze for 1/2 hour to an hour.  I cant tell that it makes much difference going longer than 1/2 hour.  Then I blend in 20 grams of fine sea salt and run the mixer for 5 or 6 minutes.

I think at the end of the mix cycle you should be able to do the window pane test, but I can't say I've ever really passed that test.

Then I go through a room temp proof cycle doing stretch and folds every 1/2 hour or so.  Usually 4 to 5 stretch and folds, then shape the boule and put it in the banneton.  I'll let that rest 1-1/2 hours. Then it goes into the refrigerator overnight.  I don't know how long that dough can stay in the refrigerator and still bake ok.  I've read up to 36 hours is fine, I don't think I've ever gone longer than 12 hours.

What I dont really know is the right time for the room temp proof before it goes in the refrigerator.  The recipe says about 4 hours from adding salt to when it should be properly proofed - which is what I do.  But I do it by time as I don't really know how to evaluate a dough and decide if it's under or over proofed.

In the morning I'll take the banneton out of the refrigerator, put the Dutch oven in the oven and preheat to 450.  When the oven is up to temp I'll put parchment paper over the banneton, invert it, and then lift the dough by the parchment paper and put in in the Dutch oven.  25 minutes at 450 with the lid on then about 35 minutes with the lid off.  I pull it when internal temps get to about 202f.

Yesterday's bake

Attached File

Evaluating the dough is the hard part. I’ve watched many videos of French bakers handling the dough and judging it by how it feels. The ability to do that comes from the experience of being a lifelong baker.
I also admire their delicate touch. They make shaping the dough look easy. As a home baker I can only hope to get it perfect once in a blue moon. As long as the bread I’d tasty I’m ok with that.

kind of where I am.  I've never had a 'failure', though I'm sure a pro baker would scoff at what I think is good stuff.

Sometimes I forgo the stand mixer and do it all by hand.  It does give you a better feel for the dough - and really isn't all that difficult or messy.

I find that easier than a free form rye or even a sandwich loaf.  

I tend to get my rye loaves or my italian loaves to spread out like a cow patty.   Usual use KAF bread flours with the rye, or whole wheat grains.   My semolina loaves also flatten more than I like.

Thats why i bake in a dutch oven :)   I have a Le Cruset enameled dutch oven that is the perfect size for the breads I make.  It keeps the dough corralled and the first 20-25 minutes with the lid on tends to create a self steaming bake - no need to spritz the oven or put a pan full of water in there.

I'm told that free flowing dough is a sign of either being over-proofed or insufficient gluten development.  I found by increasing the WW percentage from 10% to 15% it tended to help the strength of my dough.  WW has higher protein content than AP which helps to develop the doughs strength.  The last bake I did i went back to 10% WW - and got a much more fluid dough.

I finished up the last of the Harvest Grains dough and started a poolish for the next batch of dough.
Attached File

Even at six days in the refrigerator it was still gassy enough to make big holes in the crumb.
Attached File

250 g each of flour and water along with a scant .25g of instant dry yeast was used to make the poolish.
Attached File

That’s not much yeast but it ought to be quite bubbly by morning.

Looks really good.

Mine must have been decent enough.  the Fng Weimaraner opened the bread barn and stole about 1/2 of it.

I have two dogs…..the youngest one is a most excellent food thief.

Fresh bread is my kryptonite

New York style deli Rye (sourdough recipe)

Attached File