More Pain*

I got up this morning at an unprecedented 5:30 am, thanks to my little furry alarm clock.

He’s cute so you don’t kill him.

So I made an omelet. And tea.  And started a poolish for bread later today.

For those who don’t know, a poolish is a pre-ferment. Or, in non-baker terms, it’s a gross primordial soup that sits on the counter for hours and allows yeast to grow and burp and reproduce until it’s a mass of bubbles on bubbles that starts off a bread dough. And it gives you a lovely softly soured dough flavor. Tasty stuff from that goo, I tell ya.

  

I dunno why I decided to start a bread loaf pre- seven a.m. this morning.  Maybe it’s because I gave a loaf away yesterday to a dear man I don’t get to see often enough.  It’s not that I need to replenish my supply—I’ve two loaves (wheat and focaccia) on the bread board right now.  But started I did, and there’s no going back.

Screwed up Poilane (Pain sur Poolish)

Poolish--

Flour   7 oz     200 grams

Water  7 oz     200 grams

Yeast   ½ tsp  2 grams

Let sit for 5 hours at room temp, then refrigerate overnight. Remember you put the silly mess in the fridge, and pull it out to come to room temperature. Then,

Add to poolish

Water              17 oz                480 grams

Bread Flour    31 1/2                         890 grams

Dry Yeast        1 Tbsp             15 ml

Salt                  1 Tbsp                         22ml

Malt syrup      1 Tbsp              15 ml

Put the poolish, water, sugar, yeast, oil, malt syrup and milk powder in the mixer bowl. Add half the flour and mix for two minutes. Switch to the dough hook, add the rest of the flour and salt and mix for two minutes. Then let the dough rest for 30 minutes. Clean up your mess, put away stuff, play on Facebook. Then,  add the salt and knead for 10-15 minutes. Set a timer, so you don’t forget.  The dough will become smooth and not very sticky. Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let ferment for 1 1/2 hours. Sit on your tookus, do some laundry, and then come back to fold the dough, and then let it ferment back in the bowl for 30 minutes more.  When that’s done, divide the dough into two pieces. Let the pieces rest, covered, on the counter for 10 minutes. Shape each piece into a tight log about 3 by 6 inches / 75 x 150 mm (or make into two round loaves and ignore the stretching). Let the loaves relax on a well-floured surface and covered by a damp towel, for 15-20 minutes. Gently stretch the loaves to a length of between 12 and 14 inches / 30 to 35 cm. Place the loaves on either a lightly oiled baking sheet or parchment paper and let them rise for 1 1.2 to 2 hours. They should double, or so. Slash in a tic-tac-toe  (if round) or in slashes every 4 inches (if baguettes) and bake in a dry oven at 425 F / 220 C for 15 minutes, then throw in ice at the bottom of your oven to create steam. Cook another 20-30 minutes, turn and finish baking, or until the loaves sound hollow when rapped on the bottom.

  

Alright, this was hit with egg wash....notice the shiny exterior

The internal temperature should be 200F / 93C. Let the loaves cool on a rack before eating.

 *BTW--pain is bread for those of you who don't do French.