Bread Log 14: Sourdough Semolina

Sorry for the long time away folks, it's been hard to find the time to sit down and write!  The opera season here in Minneapolis is in full swing, and that means the baritone part of my title is getting more of my time than the bread portion.  That being said, in spite of not hopping on here to write about it I have done a bit o baking in the past month.  I'm going to try and hop on every Monday night and at least post a quick blurb about one of the breads and of course some pictures. Well enough yammering . . . on with the bread!!

For number 14 it was back to Semolina bread.  For those of you who missed my first semolina bake and are curious as to what exactly that means HERE is a link.  There are were a couple of notable differences between this formula and the former, most notably the use of a sourdough levain rather than a commercial yeast preferment.  This doesn't have a drastic effect on the way the dough handles, but it does make it a bit slower to rise, and gives it a bit of a tangy flavor which compliments the seasame seeds.  I suppose I just gave away the second difference, that being, this formula incorporates seasame seeds in the dough itself.  As I am wont to do I toasted the seasame seeds before the mix, to bring out their flavor.
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There they are just roasting away.  Because I did this just before the mix, I compensated for their heat a bit with cooler water temperature.  Here is a pic of the mix itself, gotta love that golden color of the durum flour.
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This bake was really pretty cozy,  I hit my target temp and the dough acted pretty much as I expected.  I spent most of my energy working on the shaping of the loaves.  After my first braiding attempt I was excited to try it again with some new patterns.  So this time I created a partially seeded 4 braid, different 5 braid, and one tapered seeded batard in the style we used to make at the bakery.  Slide show time!

We'll start off with the 5 braid.  This was the most complex braid I've done and all things considered I think I managed it fairly well.
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Once the braid was done it had to be flipped on its side to present the proper side.  Did I mention that all of these braids and a TON more are in Hamelman's book?  I swear if I don't have you all sold on that tome yet . . .  
Here is a picture of the finished loaf
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The quad braid was my favorite, not only because I corrected my seeding error from my first attempt, but because the pattern gives the loaf a lot of height.  Here is the sequence:
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Quad braid final shots
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Last but not least here are some before and after shots for the batard.
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The second shot shows loaf just before I put it in the oven, you can see the single slash from the curved lame running down the middle.  In the last shot you can really gauge the expansion of the loaf by how much unseeded area is exposed . . . plus it makes it purdy.

All in all a successful bake!  Thanks for bearing with the low post volume of the past few months, but I plan to start making up for lost time with a double header next Monday.

-Vino

Here are the details from the bake:
Room Temp:  71.6
Water Temp: 62.6
Flour Temp:  69.8 (averaged between the two)
Preferment Temp: 73.7
Final Temp: 76.3 (target 76 BOOYAH!)
Autolyse: None
Mix: Standard incorporation + 3 minutes at speed 2, cut on bench, 3 minutes at speed 2, 1.5 minutes at speed 3
Bulk Fermentation: 2 hours, one fold at 30 another at 1:15
Bench Proof: shape, 15 minute rest, shape, 1 hour post shape then in the fridge over-night
Bake: 45min for the boule, 28 for the braid @ 460 degrees
Steam: Tried parchment wrapping, also steamed on entry.