When I’m rushed for time and don’t know what to bake for my daily bread, I often pick something out of Hamelman’s book Bread, and this is one I had yet to try. The recipe calls for 80% bread flour and 20% whole wheat. I chose T-65 flour from France for my bread flour, and fresh milled Rouge de Bordeaux for whole wheat, and the flavor was out of this world. I’ll definitely use this combination again. The crumb is a little dense, perhaps from the addition of rolled oats and 250g of golden raisins, and only 69% hydration. I’ll try increasing the hydration on my next bake.
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Looks like a lovely wholesome loaf, Richard. Will toast up a treat! Gotta agree with you… Hamelman’s recipes are excellent and will always be a firm favourite of mine. His recipes are sound with good results.
I’m craving his Swiss Farmhouse Bread right now but after seeing your bake there’s two on my list to do in the near future. When i get home I’ll get busy.
Thanks, Abe. Yes, his Swiss Farmhouse Bread is probably my favorite. I’ll have to get my raisin yeast water going again.
Richard
Both crust and crumb look amazing Richard. The golden raisins are well distributed so you get enough raisins in every slice which is a must for inclusions in my book. Beautiful baking sir.
Benny
Thanks, Benny.
Hi, @evnpar . That is a beautiful loaf. It looks about perfect to me.
May I ask about your French T65? I purchased a small bag about a year and half ago when I was trying to up my baguette game and struggled with it. I ended up having to reduce hydration by about 7% - 10% in addition to making some handling adjustments. This was a straight dough leavened with IDY and no other flours in the mix. I wonder what your experience is with French T65 flour.
I haven’t noticed that I’ve had to reduce hydration with T65. With this recipe I had to increase hydration by 10%, and I should have increased it a little more, but perhaps that was because of the addition of my freshly milled whole wheat flour. I’ve used it for several recipes from Leader’s “Living Bread” that recommend T65 or the equivalent, which he claims is all purpose flour, and haven’t had an issue with hydration. I’ve started using it wherever all purpose flour or a medium strength bread flour is recommended, as I love the flavor and have been pleased with the way it handles. I might use it for a ciabatta recipe using IDY this weekend or next and I’ll let you know if my experience was similar to what you described.
Richard
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