Enriching

For the past four years, I have been making bread. Ever since I got Legion, I have managed to keep it/them alive, make bread often enough to never have to buy it in the store (except for artisanal loaves, which sometimes I just want), and gradually tweak the bread recipe to be basically where I want it to be.

However, there are times when I want it to be softer, and survive being stored in the freezer without seeming stale when it gets out. I've tried different flours, different sugars, adding more water, vacuum sealing the loaves (which I do NOT recommend) and even adding an egg.

Now that we're home all the time, thanks to the pandemic, I am making bread more often, barely fast enough to keep up with my family and all the sandwiches we're eating. But it gives me more opportunities to adjust the recipe even further. For the past 2 batches I replaced one cup of the water with milk. We are all really liking the results: a softer crumb, better tolerance for the freezer, and a slightly richer taste.

16 oz starter

38 oz bread flour

3 T. sugar

1 cup milk

1 cup + more water (until desired dough texture)

2 T. salt (added just before taking out of the mixer)

I decided to share my bread making routine so you can see how easy it can be. To be fair, I have a slow growing starter so I can let the dough ferment overnight and it works great. Here we go:

This is the dough after fermenting overnight, about 9 hours.

Divided into 3 equal parts (I weigh them) and then rolled and allowed to rest, covered, for 5 minutes.

Pans are prepped with PAM and then parchment on the bottom. Then they're dusted on the sides and bottom with cornmeal. 

Loaves are formed and placed in the pans to proof, generally takes about 4 hours. 

I proof them near the radiator, even if it isn't on. These are ready to bake. They get an egg-milk wash and are scored, then baked at 400˚F for 30-35 minutes, turning the baking sheet every 15 minutes in the oven.

As soon as they come out of the oven, they come out of the loaf pans. The sesame goes on before baking, if you're going to use it.