Multi-grain Bread

This is a two day bread if your starter is ready, if not, this is a fourteen day project.

Have ready : Mixing bowl, rubber spatula optional, plastic wrap

11 Ounces (about 1 1/3 cups) Cool Water, 70 degrees F.

1 Tablespoon Barley Malt Syrup

13 ounces (about 1 1/3 cups) Rye Starter (see below)

11 1/2 ounces (about 2 1/3 cups) Unbleached high-gluten or Unbleached white bread flour

1 Teaspoon Sea Salt

Make a sponge by placing water, malt syrup, rye starter, flour, and salt in mixing bowl, stir with your hands or a rubber spatula. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature for 2 hours, then refrigerate 8-12 hours.

Have ready :

Mixing bowl

Mixer with attachable dough hook

Rubber spatula

Long-stemmed, instant-read cooking thermometer

Plastic wrap

Dough cutter

Proofing cloths

2 unlined proofing baskets

Single-edged razor blade

Spray bottle filled with water

Cooling rack

10 ounces (about 1 1/4 cups) cool water, 70 degrees F.

1/2 cake (.3ounce) or 1 teaspoon packed fresh yeast

Sponge (made above)

12 1/2 ounces (about 3 cups) unbleached high-gluten or unbleached white bread flour, plus extra for dusting

7 ounces (about 1 1/4 cups) whole-wheat flour

9 ounces (about 1 2/3 cups) multi-grain cereal

3 1/2 ounces (about 1/2 cup) flax seeds

1 3/4 ounces (about 1/4 cup) millet

2 teaspoons sea salt

vegetable oil

Place water, yeast, sponge, flours, cereal, flax seeds, millet in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix on low speed for 2 minutes, scraping the dough down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to help incorporate the flour. The dough should be very wet and sticky.

Add salt and continue mixing on medium-low speed until the dough reaches an internal temperature of 65 degree F, about 8 minutes.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a lightly floured work surface. Clean the bowl and lightly coat it with vegetable oil. Gather the dough into a ball and return the dough to the oiled bowl, cover it tightly with plastic wrap, and let it ferment at room temperature for 1 1/2 hours. The dough should rise in the bowl by half its original volume and begin to show tiny cracks on the surface.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F (1 hour before baking if using baking tiles.)

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and cut it into 2 halves with a dough cutter. Slap each piece against the work surface a few times to deflate. Turn under the edges of each piece, cover them with a cloth, and let the dough rest for 15 minutes.

Uncover the dough. Using as little flour as possible, round each piece into a boule.(See below) Place each boule, smooth side down, into a floured proofing basket. Sprinkle the surface of the dough with flour and cover each basket tightly with plastic wrap. Let the dough proof at room temperature until it grows by half its original volume and reaches an internal temperature 70 degrees F, about 1 hour. Check the surface of the dough carefully during the last 15 minutes of proofing. When the surface just begins to crack or when a bubble bursts on the dough, the boules are ready.

Remove the plastic and lightly dust the boules with flour. Carefully run your hand around one boule to loosen it and gently place onto baking tiles or parchment covered baking sheet. Cut a 2 inch vertical cross on the top of the boule, starting and ending 1 inch away from the edges, with the razor.

Open the oven door, spritz the oven heavily with water from a spray bottle, and quickly close the door. Open the oven door again, slide the boule in and quickly close the door. Cut, spritz, and load the second boule in the same way.

Reduce the oven temperature to 475 degrees F. Spritz the oven two more times during the next 5 minutes. Do not open the oven door for the next 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, check the boules and rotate them if necessary to ensure even baking. If the bread looks too dark, reduce the oven temperature to about 450 degrees F and leave the door ajar. Continue baking for 25 more minutes, for a total of 50 minutes.

Remove to a cooling rack. The bread should have increased in volume by about one third of their size. The crust should be dark and the interior fine grained, with coarse particles of cereal and seeds visible.

Using a strainer, sift a thin, even layer of flour along the sides and bottom of each cloth-lined proofing basket. If you do not have proofing baskets, you may proof the bread on a cloth that has been dusted.

Wrap your hands around the side of one piece of dough and with a rolling motion rock it into a ball. Use the work surface to create friction as you shift the dough. If you feel that the friction is not enough, mist the work surface by spritzing water from a spray bottle into the air just above the surface. Bring the dough toward you as you work. Do not over-shape, it does not need to be super-compact. The skin shouldn't be stretched so tight that it starts to rip. This shape is called a boule. It is a taut ball with a smooth skin that stretches over the surface of the dough.

Have ready :

One 3-quart container with optional lid

Rubber spatula, optional

Plastic wrap,optional

9 ounces (about 1 cup) White Starter

4 ounces (about 1/2 cup) lukewarm water, 78 degrees F.

2 1/2 ounces (about 3/4 cup) dark rye flour

Pour white starter into the container. Stir in water and flour, using your hands or a rubber spatula. Cover the container with a sealable but not airtight lid or with plastic wrap secured tightly around the rim and leave the starter at room temperature for 4 hours or up to 6 hours.

6 ounces (about 3/4 cup) lukewarm water, 78 degrees F.

5 ounces (about 1 1/2 cup) dark rye flour

Uncover the starter, Stir in water and flour. Cover the container and leave the starter at room temperature for 4 to 6 hours.

12 ounces (about 1 1/2 cups) lukewarm water, 78 degrees F.

9 ounces ( about 2 1/2 cups) dark rye flour

Uncover the starter. Stir in water and flour. The starter will seem very stiff. As the flour is absorbed, the starter should soften. If the starter seems too thick, add a little water to loosen it a bit. Cover the container and leave the starter at room temperature for 8 to 12 hours, but no more than 15.

4 ounces (about 1/2 cup) lukewarm water, 78 degrees F.

2 1/2 ounces (about 3/4 cup) dark rye flour

Uncover the starter. The top should should cracked and rough. Measure out 2 cups of this. Discard or give away the remainder. Place the 2 cups of starter back in the container. Stir in water and flour. Cover the container and leave it at room temperature for 4 hours or up to 6 hours.

6 ounces (about 3/4 cup) lukewarm water, 78 degrees F.

3 1/2 ounces (about 1 cup) dark rye flour

Uncover the starter.Stir in water and flour. Cover the container and leave the starter at room temperature for 4 to 6 hours.

8 ounces (about 1 cup) lukewarm water, 78 degrees F.

4 1/2 ounces (about 1 1/4 cups) dark rye flour

Uncover the starter. Stir in water and flour. Cover the container and leave the starter at room temperature 8 to 12 hours, but no more than 15.

Repeat this feeding schedule on the third day. After three days the starter should be ready to use.

This Takes 14 Days, But it only has to be done once. As long as you feed and maintain it, the starter will be ready to use over and over.

Growing the Culture (Fermentation Begins)

Have ready

Cheesecloth

Scale

One 1 gallon plastic, ceramic, or glass container

Rubber spatula, optional

Plastic wrap, optional

Long-stemmed, instant-read cooking thermometer

Room thermometer

1 Pound red or black grapes

2 pounds (about cups) lukewarm water, 78 degrees F.

1 pound 3 ounces (about 3 3/4 cups) unbleached white bread flour

Clean everything that will come in contact with the ingredients of the starter culture; scale, culture container, hands, to prevent starer from contamination with unwanted bacteria. Once you've got an active starter, you don't have to be as meticulous. A healthy starter is harder to kill.

Wash the grapes and lay on a double layer of cheesecloth. Tie together the opposite corner of the cloth to form a bag. Set aside.

Use the instant-read thermometer to check the water temperature. Use the scale to measure the water and flour, and place them in a one gallon container. Stir together, using hands or spatula. The mixture does not have to be completely smooth. Hold the bagged grapes over the container and lightly mash them with your hands, squeezing the juice into the flour mix. Swish the grapes through the mixture a few times, then push them to the bottom. Cover the container tightly with its lid or a piece of plastic wrap secured tautly around the rim with a rubber band or a second piece of plastic. This traps the fermentation gases that will form over the next few days. Leave the culture at room temperature, ideally at 70 to 75 degrees F. Move the culture to a cool place, a basement, for instance, if your kitchen is hotter than room temperature. If it below room temperature, move the culture to a warm place.

The second day bubbles will form in the mix.

The third day remove the plastic and smell the mix. It should be fruity or yeasty, and the bag of grapes may have become fully inflated with gas. Replace the plastic.

Have Ready

Scale

Rubber spatula, optional

1/2 pound (about 1 cup) lukewarm water, 78 degrees F.

4 ounces (about 1 cup) unbleached white bread flour

By the fourth day, the mixture may begin to turn a brownish purple, and may have large bubbles. If the culture was especially active on its third day, the activity may subside on the fourth. A distinct, unpleasant, alcohol-like smell should be present, and the culture will taste sharp and acidic. The bag of grapes may be deflated by now.

To refresh this culture through its growing period, you need to feed it. Without food, the acidic bacteria will overwhelm the wild yeasts. You want a balance between the yeast and bacteria.

Uncover the culture, add water and flour, mix everything with hands or spatula. Swish the bag of grapes through the mix. Return the bag to the mix. Cover securely, as before.

It may be used to make bread at this point, but if you continue the next steps, the bread will be much better.

Check once a day. If mold appears, remove it and add a cup of flour and a cup of water. If it is removed promptly, mold will not hurt the culture, but may be a sign that the yeasts and bacteria are out of balance. The unpleasant smell of a young culture will eventually be replaced by the yeasty aroma.

Have Ready

One 6 quart covered but not airtight plastic, ceramic, or glass container

Uncover the culture and remove the bag of grapes, squeezing any remaining liquid into the culture. Discard the grapes. Stir the contents of the container well. Pour off and discard all but about 1 pound 2 ounces (about 2 cups) of the culture. You make more than you need because it is easier to start fermentation with a large amount of flour and water.

Transfer the culture to a clean, sealable but not airtight container. The culture is now ready to be fed.

1/2 pound (about 1 cup) lukewarm water, 78 degrees F.

5 1/2 Ounces (about 1 1/4 cups) unbleached white bread flour

1 Pound 2 ounces (about 2 cups) starter

Stir the water and flour into the starter base and cover the container. The mixture does not have to be completely smooth. You may not notice much activity in the beginning.

Before each feeding, measure out 2 cups of the starter and keep. Discard or giveaway the rest, unless you plan to do a lot of baking.

2 Cups Starter

1 pound (about 2 cups lukewarm water, 78 degrees F.

11 ounces (about 2 1/2 cups) unbleached white bread flour

Uncover the starter and stir in the water and flour. Cover the container.

2 Cups Starter

2 Pounds (about 4 cups lukewarm water, 78 degrees F.

1 Pound 6 ounces (about 5 cups) unbleached white bread flour

Uncover the starter and stir in the water and flour. Cover the container and let it ferment 8 -12 hours, but not more than 15.

The next day, no more than 15 hours after the third feeding, repeat the feedings. You will continue this feeding schedule for the next 4 days. This takes you up to day 14.

Each day, before you begin, pour off all but 1 pound 2 ounces (about 2 cups) of starter.

Nancy Silverton, "Breads from the La Brea Bakery"

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