The Imperfect Loaf

• 500g Matthews Cotswold Eight Grain flour
• 250g Matthews Cotswold Churchill White Flour
• 476g + 23g water – 66% hydration
• 12g salt
• 8g yeast

I like Matthews Cotswold Eight Grain flour, but it makes a fairly dense loaf. It’s not quite a wholemeal loaf, but close. I love that type of bread sometimes, but not always, so I decided to use two-thirds of that flour and one-third white flour to make the loaf a bit lighter.

Always check your numbers. The last time I used Matthews Cotswold Eight Grain flour, I made two loaves, and I used 68% hydration. But this time, while I added one-third Matthews Cotswold Churchill White Flour, I upped the total amount of flour to 750g per loaf, and didn’t think to change the amount of water I used. So after a few minutes in the Ankarsrum, the dough was much too dense, and I added another 23g of water. This was fine, but I could have added more. It’s only when I came back to my computer to take notes that I realized that I had changed the amount of flour.

Most of the time, I use 700g flour, but it makes a loaf that fits in my Netherton loaf tin cloche. When I tried with 800g flour, the loaf hit the top of the cloche and stuck to it; at 700g, regardless of how much oven spring there is, I know I’m safe. But with a denser flour like the Matthews Cotswold Eight Grain flour, I know I will have less oven spring, so I added another 50g.

Bulk fermentation for 30 minutes, though my kitchen is cooler than it’s been in a while; it’s heating season, and I don’t leave a radiator on in the kitchen all the time, so I had to turn it on to get it up to 21º. When I dumped the dough out, it felt perfect: stretchy, not too dense, and I gave it a few folds and shaped it. While I had been a bit worried that 66% hydration might be too low, it turned out fine. Though next time I’ll stick with 68% and make sure I calculate correctly. I put it in my pan and let it rise for 40 minutes, then baked at 200º for 25 minutes with the lid on, and 20 minutes with it off.

The resulting loaf has a great deal of oven spring, and just barely missed hitting the top of the cloche. This is exactly what I wanted: a slightly larger loaf benefiting from the eight-grain flour, without the density. You can compare this loaf to the last time I used the eight-grain flour on its own.

Taste-wise, this is on of the best loaves I’ve made in a long time. This is an ideal combination of flours: the eight-grain gives it rich flavor, the white flour eliminates the density, and the crumb is wonderful.