Montana Bread

(MTJohn) #1

I appreciate the flavor and nutritional value of breads that are incorporate whole grain and made with starter. I call this recipe “Montana Bread” because 1) I live in Montana; 2) I typically bake with farm to market flours, grown and processed in Montana; and, 3) the bread is like Dakota bread on steroids. The loaf incorporates rolled cereal. I typically use either Wheat Montana’s 7 Grain Cereal or a mix of rolled oats, rolled barley, rolled spelt and rolled Kamut. And, regardless of which combination of rolled grain, I usually substitute a portion of the cereal with teff berries. The following is the recipe that I used for the loaf in the pic.

AUTOLYSE
640 gr Water
320 gr whole grain spelt
320 gr whole grain Kamut
mix together and let stand for four hours

ADDITIVES
Toast in a frying pan over medium heat 115 gr 7 Grain Cereal and 35 gr teff berries. Pour into a bowl, let cool and soak with 120 gr water

Toast in a frying pan over medium heat 75 gr sunflower seeds and 35 gr poppy seeds

LOAF
Stir 120 gr starer (100% hydration) into the autolyse.
Stir in 2 T honey
Incorporate the cereal and seeds.
Incorporate160 gr white Kamut and 2 t salt

After fully incorporating the white flour, I let the dough stand for about a half an hour. Then I work it in the bowl three or four times over a 2 hour interval. Then, I let the dough proof for another 10 hours; divide; form 2 loaves and proof for another 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Bake for about 45 minutes at 375; tented for the first 25 minutes. For a “tent”, I used an empty loaf pan.

For a crustier loaf, I have baked this recipe as a single loaf in a Dutch oven, pre-heated to 475; covered for about 25 minutes, uncovered at 425 for another 25 minutes, or so, until the loaf is 200 degrees.

(Karen) #2

Thanks for sharing. Your recipe sounds Wonderful. I hope to give this a try sometime in December.

(Stuart) #3

That must be a very tasty loaf as well as a big one. Always nice to use local ingredients when possible and whole grains are always a good idea. Good recipe that leaves a lot of room for substitutions .
Stu

(Kate) #4

I also use rolled grains sometimes but am interested to read that you toast then soak them. I have only used them raw so I will try your method next time. Thanks for sharing your recipe and method so clearly.

(MTJohn) #5

Kate - since I have started doing it, I now consider toasting to be essential. I think it enhances the flavors that the rolled grains and seeds add to the finished product. The pre-soak is probably optional - just add the water when adding the rest of the flour.

I got the idea for pre-soaking after reading a recipe for porridge bread. That involved actually cooking the grains, like you were making breakfast cereal, and then adding the cooked grains to the loaf. When I tried that, the results were acceptable. However, the grains were not as evident in the texture of the loaf and hydration was bit of guess work.

Depending on your taste, I did try one interesting variation on the porridge bread. That involved soaking one part grain, two parts water and 40 grams of starter for 12 hours before cooking and then adding the “sour oatmeal” to the loaf. That result is acceptable but I prefer the flavor of the recipe that I posted above.

(rspairo) #6

This sounds wonderful!!

(Monicakhoo) #7

This looks interesting. The picture doesn’t seem to come up at all. So I don’t know what to expect how it should look like. The crumb, texture etc.

May I know what’s the reason for autolysing only some of the flour, and adding more after that?

(MTJohn) #8

Montana Bread.JPG1024×704 338 KB

I tried uploading another picture.

I started baking this recipe well before I had read the Tartine books. The recipe is predominantly whole grain flours. The autolyse includes all of the water and an equivalent weight of whole grain flour. This step hydrates the whole grain flour and allows gluten development before completing the dough. I have not yet tried it with the Tartine method. When I do, I will do a 2-stage autolyse, first hydrating a portion of the whole grain flour for a couple of hours and then adding the starter, more liquid and the starter and the rest of the flour, reserving 50 grams of water and the salt to add after another 90 minutes of autolyse. But, without a lot of AP flour in the recipe, I still don’t expect a lot of oven spring.

(Monicakhoo) #9

That’s gorgeous! I’m gonna try this. Although I think you don’t ship to Singapore and I can’t find teff berries in Singapore…do you know of an alternative to buy the 7-grain cereal and the teff berries, please?

(MTJohn) #10

I buy the teff berries in a local store - they are from Bob’s Red Mill. As an alternative to teff, you could try amaranth. Instead of the 7-grain cereal, I sometimes use a combination of rolled grains - oats, barley, kamut and spelt. That, you could add some flaxseed meal. I think a variety of things would work. I just like bread that is full of whole grain goodness.

(Crust N Cakes) #11

Thanks for sharing with us . Your recipe Wonderful.

(Monicakhoo) #12

Hey John, I made artisanal loaves, using banettons, out of your recipe (without the cereal part). I so love this!

Now managed to get Amaranth seeds and grain cereal to try your original recipe.

What is your pan size, please L x B x H for your 1kg dough each? I’m so excited! :-). Thanks so very much in advance!