Reinhart's Pain a l'Ancienne

[Willy]

I finally got around to trying this bread from Bread Baker’s Apprentice and I’m really glad I did. It’s an 80% hydration loaf that is made with cold water, mixed briefly, then stretch and folded a few times before going straight into the fridge overnight. Next day, out of the fridge and allowed to double in size before cutting it into six loaves with no shaping at all beyond making the dough into a rough rectangle to facilitate cutting loaves of roughly equal size. Reinhart says the cold primary fermentation is the secret in that it allows the enzymes in the flour to act overnight, thus freeing up a lot of sugars for the yeast to feed on when they "wake up" the next day as well as leaving some residual sugars that sweeten the bread. He feels it’s an entirely new approach to bread making and opens up "...areas of exploration not previously charted…"

I really recommend you try this. It very easy, despite the intimidating hydration level, because there is essentially no shaping. It makes a very tasty, light, and airy loaf.

[Spinaker]

Those look great Willy!

[Willy]

Well...actually they're kinda ugly (so are Reinhart's)--but they taste GREAT and they're easy!

[Thunder77]

I'm always open to new ideas when it comes to making bread!

[Willy]

BBA is a great book. Wonderful water bagels, too.

[6th Borough BBQ]

That looks great. I've never made bread but am thinking I should give it a try sometime soon!

[Thunder77]

You should! It's very rewarding, like good BBQ. 😎

[Willy]

Do it! Follow Breadhead 's thread on making sour dough (even if SD isn't your goal), watch and read the Stella Culinary stuff he links to, and buy a copy of BBA. You'll be surprised at the quality of loaves you can turn out with a minimum of gear expense.

[fzxdoc]

Of course when I first read the title of this topic, I though it translated to Ancient Pain, so I thought it must be about my ex. Hahaha

Kathryn

[Willy]

LOLl

I really don't get the "a l'ancienne" name since it's supposedly a very recent technique. Oh well.

[Thunder77]

Kathryn you are cracking me up! 😜😜

[HouseHomey]

Sorry Doc, mine had you beat and it still hurts. : )

[RonB]

That looks great Willy. If you can do 80%, you can make real french bread.

[Breadhead]

Hmmm... that's delayed fermentation sourdough Ciabatta bread. You can use 80% to 95% hydration and get lots of different crumb textures. I like 82.5% hydration the best.

If you're going to make that type of bread often, and I bet you will, it's fantastic for sandwiches, you might want to buy a couche and a transfer board, see video.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d4NfYiVN_N0

[HouseHomey]

That is some darn fine Bread Sir!!

[Breadhead]

Making real high hydration bread is delightful. It's not something a beginning bread maker ought to attempt early in their bread making journey. However once you've developed your bread making skills, it's actually easier than a normal loaf of 70% hydration sourdough bread.😬

[tbob4]

Amazing photo!

[Skip]

Nice looking loaves Willy ! Yours too Breadhead ! Something more for me to try sometime.

[gcdmd]

http://www.tastebook.com/blog/recipes/2699447-Pain-l-Ancienne-Rustic-Bread/?redirect=true

[Breadhead]

http://www.tastebook.com/blog/recipe...?redirect=true

After seeing the actual recipe I see that it's not sourdough Ciabatta but he stipulates using commercial yeast. It's an 80% hydration Ciabatta dough.

If you want to make that recipe using sourdough instead of the commercial yeast just delete the commercial yeast and do a preferment using half of the total flour in the recipe, an equal weight of water and 10 grams of your starter. Stir it together, cover it, and let it sit on your kitchen counter overnight or about 16 hours. Then add the rest of the ingredients and continue just as Mr Reinhart's instruction read.

You will get some really great bread.👍

I mix the final dough together in my kitchen aid mixer... I cheat.🙈 It takes a long time to mix high hydration dough by hand.

I pour my prefermented poolish into my kitchen aid mixing bowl and then add the remaining flour and water in the recipe and mix it to a shaggy mass by hand. I let it autolyse for 20/30 minutes. I add the salt and oil and start mixing it with the flat beater attachment. When the dough climbs onto that attachment I turn it off and remove that attachment and put on my dough hook. I turn the speed up to pretty high until the dough climbs the dough hook completely. When ALL of the dough climbs the dough hook and there's none on the bottom of the mixing bowl, you're done mixing. Don't worry about burning your motor out. 80% hydration dough is too wet to do that.

Then I can let it double in mass sitting on the counter top and bake that day, or I can put it in the fridge to delay the fermentation for a day or 2 or 3... your choice. The longer you wait the better it will taste. There is a point of diminishing return though. If you leave in the fridge way too long the yeast will consume all of the sugar and your loaf won't brown. NO sugar, NO Maillard reaction.😬

[gcdmd]

One ciabatta making video I watched makes a point of a slapping sound you get while mixing with the paddle in a KitchenAid mixing at speed 6. The baker pointed out that it correlated with the dough climbing up the paddle, indicating that it was time to switch to the hook.

[Breadhead]

I agree with him... using the paddle first really speeds up the mixing process. I used to do all of the mixing with the dough hook and it took much longer.

[Willy]

gcdmd and Breadhead Thanks gcd for posting the recipe; the only versions I found appeared to be unauthorized. It is somewhat different (small details) than the recipe in the second edition of BBA, which is in turn different from the one in the first addition. I actually followed the first edition, which specified 40°F water instead of 55°F water.

BH--Interesting that you use it for sandwiches--the crumb is so open that it seems any condiment would just leak through? I will try your SD idea soon, though the commercially yeasted version was great. Vinnie (the high altitude one) is doing well in his latest incarnation where I feed him twice daily in hopes of heading off the acetone smell. He lives in the wine cooler at about 57°F. A couple more weeks will tell.

BTW, mixing a dough like this in a mixer doesn't seem like cheating to me! ;«)

[Breadhead]

Willy... real Artisan bread makers look down on us guys that own mixers, and they think if you own ANY commercial yeast you are a heathen.😖 40° or 55° water... he's just trying to slow the process down as much as possible. Bread & BBQ are the same... low & slow produces a better product.

[Breadhead]

Ciabatta bread for sandwiches... is pretty common, but they don't slice a long loaf. That would leave gapping holes for your condiments to leak out onto your chin and shirt. I make small square or rectangle sandwich loaves. There's no holes in the crust.👍

[Breadhead]

Willy ... here's my notes on Ciabatta bread with commercial yeast. If you want me to convert these recipes to sourdough recipes let me know.

https://app.box.com/s/x7jpy65i0drn9au9lelnnysq3da8t351

[Willy]

Thanks!

[Willy]

Breadhead Agreed on the 40 vs 55, which I why I found it surprising that his later version went to 55.

I can't remember the specifics on the origin of this line, which came from a Dutch oven cookbook years (and years and years...) ago, but whatever the "chef" wisdom was (and it came in the form of "real men don't..."), the author said something like: "I don't care much what they say as I suspect some of them sing soprano anyway". Which, speaking of what "real men" don't do, reminds me that my wife makes the world's BEST quiche and I should post that recipe someday.

I like easier (sometimes) rather than purist--I don't have super-taster taste buds--and shortcuts are often just fine. Plus, I am a heathen regardless of what techniques I use. lol

Gotcha on the right way to slice the bread--it didn't even occur to me. The Reinhart mini-baguettes would be perfect for this.

[gcdmd]

Breadhead An old girlfriend used to say that if it weren't for women, men would never get into heaven. Fortunately, I'm now married to a good woman. We're in our mid seventies; so, I may have a shot at getting past the pearly gates.

[Breadhead]

Well I hope to see you there... I'll meat you in the BBQ area.👍

[gcdmd]

@ Breadhead If I miss you there I'll check the artisan bread area.

[gwschenk]

I don't have a mixer, and IIRC, he says to use one.

[Thunder77]

I have a mixer, and I use it for bread. I don't consider it cheating.

[gwschenk]

I'm too cheap to buy a mixer. :-) And I sorta like feeling the dough change as I knead it.

OK, I lied. My WIFE is too cheap for me to buy a mixer! :-)