I saw a recipe for "Honey Buckwheat Sandwich Bread," by Mario the Sourdough Guy, and the flavor combination appealed to me, even though his recipes are rather meticulous (or fussy, depending on one's attitude). I also had to buy two 9-inch Pullman pans. The recipe does not require the lids, but the high sides are necessary to support the bread. Fortunately, King Arthur had a free shipping deal in January and a 20% off deal earlier this month, so I now own two pans. I decided that Wednesday was the day to try the recipe.
The levain is mixed the night before. It only called for 10 g of sourdough starter. As my starter is not as thick as most, I doubled the amount to 20 g. Due to the coolness of the house, it was not ready 12 hours later. I added several more hours for it to get some bubbles. I was not sure that it would work, so I decided to add 1 ½ tsp. yeast, which I proofed in the honey and the water. It was a good decision, as the rising times were still as long as in the recipe--and those are long. I do not have the means to grind fresh white whole wheat, so I used the King Arthur white whole wheat (now called Golden Wheat).
I did not have cracked buckwheat. My attempt to crack it in a small processor yielded buckwheat flour. I had done some Google research about substituting cooked whole buckwheat groats for cracked buckwheat with boiling water poured over it. Google is not knowledgeable on that topic. However, I found one blog where the writer recommended cooking the buckwheat in milk to soften it. So, instead of using the water amount in the recipe, I followed the cooking instructions on the Bob's Red Mill package but used 7 oz. milk and 7 oz. water. I brought it to a boil, then simmered it for almost 15 minutes before cooling it.
The recipe called for two stretch and folds, one after 30 minutes and another 30 minutes later, but it said a third could be added if needed, and I did a third. The final rise in the pans was an hour and 45 minutes. (I did a poke test.) To create steam, when I preheated the oven, I put a cast iron skillet in the bottom (removed bottom baking rack). When I put the loaves in to bake, I threw a tray of ice cubes into the skillet. As directed, I removed it after 20 minutes and turned down the oven. The bread baked for another 35 minutes and was 208 F when I took it out of the oven. I should have checked it a few minutes earlier, as 200 F is the specified internal temperature. The two loaves look great, and I look forward to a slice or two at lunch tomorrow.
.
