I really liked the way my first loaf of Ken Forkish's Overnight Country Brown from Flour Water Salt Yeast turned out, so I made the
same loaf again with a different shaping method (I will explain it later in
this post). The recipe uses a very
long overnight (8-15 hours) bulk fermentation at room temperature, using a
small amount of young levain. This long slow fermentation process promotes
vigorous activity in the dough, developing the gluten fully, resulting in a
complex rich aroma fully extracted from the dough and creating a soft
flavorful crumb with large irregular-shaped holes. I like the bubbly dough and
the wild look of the resulting bread. This is so far my favorite daily bread.
This time, as one of my experiments, I used a younger levain that was 5
hours old, which had just passed the float test. In my previous loaf, I used 7
hours old levain by following the original recipe, which had a slight sour
smell when I used. I was curious about how the age of levain would affect the
taste of the final loaf.
Bulk fermentation was 9 hours and 40 minutes at 72F room
temperature, until the dough rose to double. I gave 4 foldings every 25
minutes in the initial 2 hours of bulk fermentation.
After the long overnight bulk fermentation, the
dough had a mild sweetish smell just like the dough of the Double-Fed Sweet Levain Bread, while the previous dough I made with 7 hours old levain had a
rather acidic smell at this stage.
Last time when I baked the same loaf, I omitted the pre-shape and bench rest time. But this time, I added pre-shape and 15 minutes bench rest before shaping the final loaf, to see if there would be significant differences in the crumb of the resulting loaf.
After the 15 minutes bench rest, I flipped the dough for final shaping.
With extra gentle handling, I tried to keep the trapped gases inside the
dough as much as possible during the shaping stage. I folded the dough from 4 different
angles, and made the loaf a round shape by tucking in the bottom of the dough
from every angle by very gently using a bench knife.
The shaped loaf was very bubbly and plumpy. I
sprinkled some bran on the surface of the loaf, to add flavor and color.
I like the way the crust opens on oval-shaped loaves, so I used an oval basket for the final rise again. Before placing the shaped loaf in the proofing basket, I sprinkled a 50/50 mixture of rice flour and all-purpose flour inside a basket, so the dough would not stick.
After 2 hours and 17 minutes, I tried the
'finger-dent test', the method Forkish instructed in his book to see if the
final rise was done. I sprinkled a small amount of rice flour on one spot of
the loaf, and poked the spot with my finger. The finger-dent test is a little tricky
when the dough is very cold after retarding in the refrigerator, since the cold
dough reacts slower. (*Here is a good tip on how to know if the could dough is properly proofed, from The Fresh Loaf discussion board).
I left the dough at room temperature for a few minutes,
then tried the finger-dent test again. The dough bounced back very slowly,
so I judged that it was ready to bake.
The proofed loaf was flatter than the previous loaf when I flipped
it over onto the parchment paper. I was afraid that the loaf might not be able
to hold its shape in the oven, due to my loose shaping. I placed the loaf
onto a preheated combo cooker, wishing that there would be some oven spring.
After baking 30 minutes with the lid on, I
removed the lid. It had actually a pretty great oven spring, to my surprise.
Perhaps the fully developed gluten structure via the long overnight bulk
fermentation must have given it strength to help the oven spring.
I was again very happy with the thin crisp crust
and the deep amber color of the final loaf. The great thing about this
Overnight Country Brown is the aromatic 'umami' flavor developed in the matured
dough, that steeps deep into the crust and the crumb of the final loaf.
The effect of using
younger levain was very subtle – there was a more sweetish aroma in the kitchen
while baking, but this loaf had also distinct tanginess right after being
baked just as the previous one. However, the tanginess of both loaves mellowed
as time passed in a couple of days, so there was not so much recognizable
difference in the resulting tastes. The slight hint of tanginess is actually
great when having it with some other foods, since the tanginess brightens up
the deliciousness of the meal whatever it is, like a nice spice or
accent.
I love the look of crumb of the Overnight Country Brown loaf. When
I was struggling with baking Tartine Country loaves in the past, one of my main
issues was that my dough tended to be under-fermented during the bulk
fermentation stage (since I was always worried about over-fermentation). But after baking several loaves from Forkish’s book, I
finally came to understand how properly fermented dough should feel and look
with fully developed gluten structure that I should aim for during the bulk
fermentation.
Experiment: Shaping the loaf with pre-shaping vs. without pre-shaping
In most of Forkish's recipes, pre-shape was not
included in the procedure (except some doughs that contain rye flour). I have
been wondering if pre-shape is really necessary, and if so, why. I kind of
liked the wild irregular holes in the crumb of the loaf I made without pre-shaping,
but I was curious of the differences if I compared these two versions.
Chad Robertson wrote about the importance of
the pre-shaping (initial shaping) and final shaping in his Tartine Bread as
follows:
"The initial shaping of the dough
sets structure for the final shape. With highly hydrated dough, the final shape
is crucial for developing the tension or force needed for the loaf to maintain
its form throughout the long final rise. Proper final shaping is
also essential to achieve the dramatic arced "ears"
that bloom forming a decorative crust when your scores expand and
open." (Chad
Robertson)
So for my experiment, I changed the shaping
methods in the last two Overnight Country Brown loaves to see if shaping with
pre-shaping or without it had some effect on the final shape of the loaf and
the crumb.
Here is a comparison of the side shot of
both: The loaf without pre-shaping and bench rest (above) seemed to have a
little weaker dough structure, resulting in somewhat uneven and less
oven spring, with one side of the loaf slightly corrupted. The loaf with
pre-shaping (below) seemed to hold the dough structure better, resulting in
higher and more even oven spring. So when it comes to a matter of visual
appeal, the loaf with pre-shape was better.
Crumb comparison: shaped with or without pre-shaping
The crumb structures of both loaves looked
different, too. Both had large air holes, but the holes in the loaf without
pre-shaping were not evenly distributed. Meanwhile, the holes in the loaf using
pre-shaping and bench rest were more evenly distributed, and the loaf has
risen more vertically than the other. The crumb of the latter showed more
dynamic moves of the gluten structure, which must have been the reason of
higher oven spring.
Taste and flavor comparison
As for the tastes and the flavors, I must say that both loaves were equally great - really hard to tell
which was better. But I kind of think that the crumb of the loaf without
pre-shape was somewhat softer and more flavorful, perhaps since the gluten
structures were more relaxed and the gases trapped inside
the crumb were more intact. I don't really know how the differences
actually affected the final loaves, but my conclusion after this experiment was
that the pre-shape makes the loaf look better visually, helping the
oven spring at maximum. But taste-wise, the loaf without pre-shape was just
fine (or could be even better).
FWSY: Overnight Country Brown (2)
7:10PM Mix leaven
(water=70F)
12:05AM Float test (passed)
11:40PM Autolyse (flour + 80F
water)
12:15PM Add salt and levain
for Final mix
12:25PM Bulk
fermentation starts (Initial DT=79F) at 73F
10:05AM Bulk fermentation
ends (Final DT=72.8F)
10:05AM Preshape + Bench rest (15 min.)
10:20AM Shape the loaf
(without bench rest)
10:30AM Final proof starts (2
hours 17 minutes in the refrigerator)
12:47PM Final proof ends
11:20AM Oven on @475F
12:47PM Baking (30 min.
with the lid, 20 min. without the lid)
1:37PM Take out the
loaf from the oven
*room temperature = 72F - 75F
*outside temperature = 59F (warm day of early
spring)
