Last week I made the Oat Porridge Bread from Tartine 3 and I loved it. I wanted to take that basic idea and convert it to my normal procedures using a larger amount of per-fermented flour and a bulk retarding of the dough in the refrigerator.
Well I have to say it was a great success. I find this method much easier and I think the final bread actually has a more complex flavor with the same creamy moist crumb. I highly recommend that you try this as I know you will like it and like it a lot!
I used my standard refreshed AP starter at 66% this time instead of adding some whole wheat to the starter, mainly for convenience sake. I also added some wheat germ which was suggested in the original formula.
Here are the Zip files for the above BreadStorm files.
Levain Directions
Mix all the levain ingredients together for about 1 minute and cover with plastic wrap. Let it sit at room temperature for around 7-8 hours or until the starter has doubled. I used my proofer set at 83 degrees and it took about 4 hours.
Oat Porridge Directions
Add about 3/4’s of the water called for the porridge to the rolled oats in a small pot set to low and stir constantly until all the water is absorbed. Add the remainder of the water and keep stirring until you have a nice creamy and soft porridge. Remove from the heat and let it come to room temperature before adding to the dough. I put mine in the refrigerator and let it cool quicker.
Main Dough Procedure
Mix the flours and wheat germ with the main dough and the water for about 1 minute. Let the rough dough sit for about 20 minutes to an hour. Next add the levain, cooled porridge and salt and mix on low for 4 minutes and speed #2 for another 2 minutes or by hand for about 6 minutes. You should end up with a cohesive dough that is slightly tacky but very manageable. Remove the dough from your bowl and place it in a lightly oiled bowl or work surface and do several stretch and folds. Let it rest covered for 10-15 minutes and then do another stretch and fold. Let it rest another 10-15 minutes and do one additional stretch and fold. After a total of 2 hours place your covered bowl in the refrigerator and let it rest for 12 to 24 hours. (Since I used my proofer I only let the dough sit out for 1.5 hours before refrigerating). Note: this is a pretty wet dough so you may need to do a couple of additional stretch and folds.
When you are ready to bake remove the bowl from the refrigerator and let it set out at room temperature still covered for 1.5 to 2 hours. Remove the dough and shape as desired.
The dough will take 1.5 to 2 hours depending on your room temperature and will only rise about 1/3 it’s size at most. Let the dough dictate when it is read to bake not the clock.
Around 45 minutes before ready to bake, pre-heat your oven to 550 degrees F. and prepare it for steam. I have a heavy-duty baking pan on the bottom rack of my oven with 1 baking stone on above the pan and one on the top shelf. I pour 1 cup of boiling water in the pan right after I place the dough in the oven.
Right before you are ready to put them in the oven, score as desired and then add 1 cup of boiling water to your steam pan or follow your own steam procedure.
After 5 minute lower the temperature to 450 degrees. Bake for 35-50 minutes until the crust is nice and brown and the internal temperature of the bread is 205 degrees.
Take the bread out of the oven when done and let it cool on a bakers rack before for at least 2 hours before eating.
This post has been submitted to the Yeast Spotting Site here: http://www.wildyeastblog.com/category/yeastspotting/.
mookielovesbread 
Nice bread! It is on my to-do list for quite a while, too.
Your procedure makes a lot of sense and I do believe your version has a more complex flavor. Unfortunately your link to the BreadStorm file doesn’t work. I just started testing the beta version – it is much easier to put the file into cloud, instead of dealing with Dropbox and a public folder.
Are you joining the second Plötziade with the ancient grains?
Thanks Karin. I know you will like this one once you try it. Not sure why the link doesn’t work. I will try tomorrow to fix it.
When is the deadline for the Plotziade? I was planning on joining but have not done anything yet.
Deadline is May 25th. So better hurry – I don’t want to miss your post there 🙂
The requirements: a bread or rolls made of ancient (or ecologically bred new) grains, no pseudo-grains allowed (like quinoa, amaranth or buckwheat), but otherwise seeds and nuts are okay.
That’s weird. The link worked the other day. I wonder if I fixed it on the TFL site and not on here. Will get it fixed.
I’m only beta testing the IPAD version so I don’t have a full version of the computer one. On the IPAD I don’t think I have the cloud option, but I will have to see if it was added.
Try the link now. It should work.
Arrgh! The bun zip file is empty 😦
Sorry, never mind – I made a mistake with the download – I got it now!
Ian, I’m looking at the formula again – I don’t quite understand what you mean by seed for levain – does that just mean 27 g of your regular levain, consisting of 11 g water and 16 g AP? But you add 114 g of your starter to make the levain. How does that add up?
It is a bit confusing. I should have explained it better. You take 27 grams seed starter which consists of 16 grams flour and 11 grams water and add it to 114 grams of AP flour or bread flour and add 71 grams of water. That gets you a total of 212 Levain to add to the main dough. I should have listed the AP starter as AP flour for Starter. If you have any other suggestions of how to do this, please let me know.
I would just enter the levain as 71g water, 27 g AP starter and 114 g AP flour, and in the column with ingredients put in: mature AP starter (66%).
I am just preparing the Tartine version and your version for a side by side comparison (I put almonds in both). To make a Tartine bread you basically have to stay home for the whole day – I fully understand that you came up with a simplified method (and I like a bit more SD tang, too).
I think your suggestion makes sense. Have you done it like this yourself using BreadStorm? If so maybe you can send me the file so I can use it as a template going forward. If not I will give it a go myself for the next one. Let me know how your comparison turns out. I did mine a few days apart so it was a little difficult to get an accurate assessment but I liked both of them and my last one is a lot easier.
Here is the BreadStorm formula: http://bunfiles.breadstorm.com/bunfiles/RWY79E/F6XN7Z/
I found your dough wetter than the Tartine version. I baked it in the DO (like a Forkish bread), at 475ºF.
Both loaves turned out very nice, I can’t see too much difference in taste (ate them still warm), maybe tomorrow it will be more distinctive.
I had my Tartine loaf recipe from Food52 (http://food52.com/recipes/25384-oat-porridge-bread), and just now read all Chad Robertson’s comments to readers questions.
A bit confusing: he said typically they would cook the rolled oats in water at a ratio 1:2 – I used your ratio (1:2.6) for both breads, and the porridge was pretty stiff, I can’t imagine how it would have been with less water.
Also, he says, since home refrigerators were colder than retarders in bakeries, one should probably remove the bread hours before baking. I put in in the DO cold, and it rose just fine and was quite holey.
Anyway, an interesting bake. I might post about it later.
Instead of the high extraction flour that I don’t have, I took 41% bread flour and 59% WW.
That seems like a very high amount of WW but it probably tasted great.
I found that ratio in the internet, when I looked for a substitute for high extraction flour. I wonder how it would turn out, if I took the same ingredients, but used Forkish’s method instead. Inquiring minds want to know 🙂
By the way, check out Don Sadowky’s guest post on my blog – all what you always wanted to know about authentic bread 😉 http://hanseata.blogspot.com/2014/05/guest-post-authentic-bread-by-don.html
I’m so glad they turned out well. I’m actually mixing up another version tonight using more WW and adding some Rye. I also changed up the porridge by using a couple of additional ingredients and milk instead of water. I look forward to seeing your post when you get a chance.
Ian
That’s a funny guest post…..I don’t think my dogs would even want to touch that concoction!
I have to check one of my bread books which I used many years ago to make a substitution for High Extraction flour and see if it is the same. One of these days I will buy the correct sieve so I can try and mill it myself.
I have to post the rolls I made based on your German Rolls formula today hopefully. Will bake off my latest version of the Porridge bread later this morning as well.
I hate to mail order tiny bags with expensive specialty flours. Medium rye I fortunately could get from Honeyville in bulk, and when I visit Germany I bring some medium wheat (1050). Please, let me know what substitute your research comes up with.
Sometimes you just need something to loosen up. Especially in the TFL the bread discussion are sometimes too serious (not to say overly zealous).