No-Knead and Multi-Grain

"almost" no-knead bread

      Yesterday we made an "almost" no-knead bread and today we made a multi-grain bread, I am putting these together because half of the class made one while the other half made the other, and then we switched.  The no-knead I made was a variation on the original that included a small amount of vinegar and lager to give it a more developed flavor.  For this bread you mix the ingredients until it forms a shaggy ball, and then you let it rise for around 18 hours.  The next day you knead it 10-15 times and shape it into a boule, before letting it rise again.  The key to having a good shape is to make a "sling" out of two pieces of intersecting parchment and using these to lift the dough in to the dutch oven.  It is cooked in a very hot (500 F) preheated dutch oven.  After baking for about 30 minutes covered, it is cooked uncovered to allow it to brown.  This bread was very good for the small amount of work involved.  It had a strong "yeasty" flavor with a nice crust and slightly chewy crumb.  We had it with chili beans and it was eaten very rapidly.

Multi-Grain (notice the ridges from the basket)

      The multi-grain was started with a "soaker" of cornmeal, wheat bran, and rolled oats the previous day.  The day of baking flour, brown sugar, salt and yeast were mixed before adding the soaker, cooked brown rice, honey, milk, and water.  This is a VERY sticky dough it works best to do a pre mix with an electric mixer and then knead it on the table top.   It is important to keep the work surface well floured or the dough will absorb the flour and stick to the table top.  The finished dough is soft and tacky but should not be sticky.  This was hard to get to and we had to occasionally sprinkle flour on the dough itself.  Once it comes together let it rise for about 40 minutes do a series of stretches and folds and let rise for another 40 minutes.  Once it has doubled in size you can shape it into one loaf or make two.  We divided the loaf and used well floured wicker proofing baskets.  The bread was then baked on the hearth and the proofing baskets gave the dough a nice ridged appearance.  The multigrain had a soft crust with a very soft crumb.  The grains were noticeable but did not interfere with the softness of the crumb.  This was a very successful product.