It had been some time since I would gotten myself into bother with baking, my long-awaited mixer was washed and ready for its inaugural batch, and I had 15.4 kilos of pears readily available. So, naturally, I made pear pizza with a spiced butternut caramel sauce.
THE MIXER
I have been enduring kneading dough with a meals processor since 2024. Whereas mine does an outstanding job growing gluten, it is solely keen to take action inside a slender hydration vary and for not more than 280g of dough at a time. To get the sandwich bread I would like takes about 90 minutes of *lively time*, from pulling the autolyze out of the fridge to beginning bulk fermentation, at which level it nonetheless wants 3-4 folds at 10 minute intervals to right a difficulty from my workaround to the hydration limitation. And it nonetheless requires an exceptionally messy quarter-hour of hand kneading.
After a 12 months and a half of that, I would had sufficient. It was time to buy an applicable equipment for 100% freshly milled wheat doughs.
For a very long time, I used to be torn between the BUP and the Nutrimill Artiste. As a lot as I would love the fancier toy, I in the end went with the Artiste for the smaller footprint (it barely suits in its dwelling as-is) and since I suspected I would find yourself ordering a backside drive bowl in both case, which might make the BUP extra of an funding than I wish to signal myself up for at this level.
With only one use, I can safely say that the Artiste is a far superior device for the job than a meals processor. Determining the way to re-work my strategies to suit it could take a while, however thus far I am completely delighted. If not for all my pointless futzing round with the brand new machine, the dough would in all probability have taken underneath half an hour from time of measuring components to the beginning of bulk fermentation — and my fingers had been clear sufficient all through that I might truly *do different issues!* Comparatively talking, it was a dream.
For the primary time in lots of months, I am trying ahead to baking once more.
THE DOUGH
Normally I add VWG and an in a single day, refrigerated autolyze, however since I’ve by no means used this form of machine for dough earlier than I made a decision to comply with together with a extra examined course of.
Utilizing this pizza recipe from Grains in Small Locations as a reference:
460g RHW (spring Yecora Rojo)
354g water, of which 50g reserved for bassinage
28g toasted walnut oil
6.5g IDY
>7g salt (I used to be aiming for 1.5%, overpoured, then could not be bothered to right it or observe the place I ended up)
Combined all however reserved water and kneaded about 8-10 minutes. 10 minute relaxation, extra out of curiosity than for any function. Then ~8 minutes extra kneading with bassinage.
The bowl turned very messy with every addition of water, however just for 40 seconds or so earlier than the dough collected itself once more. Which is about what I anticipated.
I think that the in a single day autolyze shall be extra useful to gluten improvement than an in a single day BF. However that is one thing I will should attempt one other time.
I did the windowpane check at a number of factors all through this course of. I want I might say what the outcomes had been, however the gluten in Yecora Rojo (or not less than my present batch of it) behaves in methods I haven’t got the expertise to interpret. Early on, it didn’t move the WP check, so I saved kneading. Then it did, however not in addition to I would like, so I saved going. Then it made an ideal windowpane and turning it out into one other bowl left lengthy, ropey strands of gluten stretching near a meter as I attempted to get it to launch from the Artiste’s bowl. Then after a number of rounds of 10 minute rests within the fridge with folds in between (to equalize dough temperature), there was no windowpane.
That is solely my third time working with Yecora Rojo sans VWG. I am certain if I did not use that a lot, I would be higher in a position to interpret what was occurring. What I can say is that industrially produced flours which combine wheats from numerous harvests certain do rather a lot for consistency (consequently, so does VWG), and my batch of Yecora Rojo could be very extensible however low in elasticity, behaving equally however not identically to the spelt I’ve dealt with.
It slackened notably however not egregiously throughout proof, which is constant to my prior experiences with Yecora Rojo. Freestanding bakes might warrant some consideration and deliberate changes or methods.
Whereas I want a number of follow with pizza shaping — to not point out time spent trying up how one ought to take action within the first place — the dough was considerably regarding whereas being stretched. It was susceptible to ripping on the floor and didn’t have practically the extensibility I used to be anticipating from prior experiences with YR; presumably this dough is a decrease hydration and/or there was an ambient temperature distinction (earlier bakes had been in the summertime, and today it is typically single digits F outdoors.) Or, the doughs I am evaluating this one to didn’t have oil; I do not recall.
For now, this bake leaves me with some mysteries to discover additional down the highway.
THE TOPPINGS
I sliced the pears ~2mm thick and dehydrated them at 150F whereas the dough proofed, round 2 hours. They ended up cheesy on one facet and nonetheless moist on the opposite. I organized them cheesy facet up on the pizzas, however between the scorching and the marginally too-wet consistency of the dough beneath the sauce, I feel they’d be higher flipped the opposite approach.
Regardless of what I “named” it, the sauce is just not subtle. After cooking butternut squash in my Prompt Pot, I diminished the cooking liquid to the purpose that it caramelized barely. This form of discount, caramelized or not, is a pleasant and fascinating sweetener that I’ve loved making from candy potatoes and numerous fall squashes. Mainly, if the liquid left over after cooking tastes good, I’ve discovered that it is value decreasing and utilizing by some means if I’ll be hanging round within the kitchen anyway. And whereas I usually attempt to keep away from added sugars (and this positively qualifies), I am not too bothered by this sort since I would be consuming these energy anyway if I as an alternative baked the supply meals. Additionally, there’s in all probability a nonzero quantity of soluble fiber and/or minerals in there.
Notice that counterintuitively, I discover such reductions to not be all that good when used to prime the meals they initially got here from. The flavors mix collectively and the discount finally ends up being invisible flavor-wise. Although for functions like barely sweetening cranberry jam or vinaigrettes, it offers a pleasant twist.
To make such a discount right into a caramel sauce, scale back and caramelize the cooking liquid, add no matter milk-type liquid you favor together with any spices, then scale back once more to desired consistency. It’ll change into significantly extra viscous after cooling.
I added cinnamon (Ceylon), cardamom, nutmeg, and floor ginger. If I had been doing this once more, I would in all probability skip the cardamom and possibly the cinnamon, since they didn’t come by way of. The ginger was undoubtedly vital for balancing the harshness from the actual butternut squashes I had this time.
THE PIZZA
The outcomes:
Relating to pizza, all I really need is an enormous, fluffy flatbread, a bready aroma, and that exact texture that the dough will get underneath the sauce and toppings. On the primary two counts, this was unbelievable. The dough remained a tiny bit too moist underneath the sauce for me, although. Most individuals would not suppose something of it, however I am after one thing very particular and this did not get there.
Subsequent time I attempt one thing related, I will see if additional limiting the moisture content material of the toppings helps; I am unsure that the sauce was guilty, since uncooked tomatoes work simply positive with a a lot greater water content material.
Whereas heat, the bread is splendidly comfortable and supple. The crumb turned out a lot airier than I used to be anticipating, provided that the gluten improvement appeared comparatively poor late within the course of.
I uncared for to take footage of the underside crust, but it surely wasn’t something outstanding, simply a good gentle browning. I believed I would have a further 90 minutes of proofing time not less than, however I ended up having to activate the oven when the dough was practically prepared. My forged iron pan obtained just about no preheating time.
Total, for an entire shot in the dead of night with a kind of mixer I’ve by no means used earlier than, a dough I’ve by no means made, plus a sauce and topping combo that I totally winged with out even trying up different recipes to reference, I am fairly happy. My harshest critic “beloved” it (direct quote, recorded for posterity) and for as soon as was much more enthusiastic and had fewer notes for enchancment than I did.
FURTHER EXPLORATIONS
I am unsure precisely the place I will go along with what I’ve realized from this bake, however a number of issues stand out to me as worthy of noting for future reference.
Firstly, Yecora Rojo (not less than my present batch) could make a properly ethereal flatbread. Its gluten “profile,” so to talk, will not be suited to freestanding loaves at this hydration, or which will have been right down to points with my strategies.
Total that is barely candy and sadly the pear taste could be very delicate. With some walnut butter on prime (as seen on this shot underneath a lot poorer lighting with my previous telephone’s digital camera), the fruit is totally misplaced, even the slices I dressed extra modestly than this one. Subsequent time I will use a well-cooked spiced pear butter for the sauce; or, apple butter, as I think I would do that with apples earlier than pears. If I do attempt pear once more, I will wish to check out toasted fennel seeds with it, as I feel these would swimsuit properly.
For apples, I think a McIntosh apple butter, presumably with a smaller portion of Fuji for sweetness, and maybe Golden Scrumptious to prime. I’d peel any apples used for the butter, then purée the peels and add them to the dough, as I discover apple peel purée texturally disappears when inside bread however is grainy in any other case, even when effectively cooked. Apples would additionally get cassia cinnamon and extra pumpkin pie sort spices. (Now, pumpkin pizza, there’s one thing I will should attempt!)
Relating to shaping, I feel I tucked every ball of dough in on itself an excessive amount of going into remaining proof, given how skinny a few of them had been within the heart. One thing I will take note of sooner or later.
Additionally: I’ve rather a lot to (re-)find out about images, too.
– Regis
