Noah Elber's Maple-Oatmeal Bread

Noah Elbers's Maple-Oatmeal Bread (as sold at the bakery)

Related post: Meet the Baker: Noah Elbers

Since discovering Noah Elbers's Maple-Oatmeal Bread (and before I learned how to make it myself), I have bought maple-oatmeal breads from other bakeries, including in Vermont. I have yet to find one that can compare. I even remember being so put off by one of these other loaves that I cut it into small pieces, took it to the lake and fed it to the ducks (who, having no basis for comparison, seemed to like it way more than we did). It is hard to describe the flavor of Noah's maple-oatmeal bread other than to say that it is barely sweet, supremely delicate and very, very addictive.

Noah Elbers's maple-oatmeal bread (as sold at the bakery)

I watched the making of this bread from the mixing of the dough through the shaping but since it was going to be baked much later (after retarding) and we needed to drive back home, I didn't see the baking. 

Here is Noah's formula in baker's percentages:

60% all-purpose flour

20% whole-wheat flour (+ 10% each in starter and in poolish) = 100%

20% cooked steel-cut oatmeal

44% water

2.2% salt

16% pure maple syrup

20% liquid starter

20% poolish (made with a pinch of instant yeast)

All liquids together = 75%

Pointers:

• Starter and poolish: 12-hour fermentation at 75°F/24°C
• Oatmeal: Scale equal weight of oats and water. Boil the water, pour it over the oats, stir, cover and bake in the oven at a temperature of about 410°F/210°C for 40 minutes. The oats absorb all the water and by the time they are mixed with the maple syrup, they form an "oat chunk" rather than oatmeal. The water used to cook the oats is not included in the total water percentage
• Autolyse: 20 to 30 minutes
• Desired dough temperature: 77 to 78°F/25 to 26°C
• Bulk fermentation: 2.5 hours with 5 folds after 50 minutes and 5 folds again after 40 minutes
• No pre-shaping
• Scaling: at 24 ounces/680 g
• Shaping: as a boule or as an oval
• Proofing: 45 minutes on the floor (at least 1 hour at home where the temperature is probably lower) then 14 to 15 hours in the retarder with the cover on
• Baking: at 400-415°F/204-213°C for 35-40 minutes with lots of steam at the beginning

The first time I made the bread, I miscalculated the amounts (not surprisingly, since I truly am mathematically challenged) and used way too much water. I tried to rescue the dough but to no avail. It spread so much on the parchment paper that I thought I had totally messed up and would for sure get another treat for the ducks. What I got instead was a weird looking but delicious maple-oatmeal ciabatta which we found particularly enjoyable at breakfast. Before we tasted it, I was so mad at having messed up that I didn't take any pictures but I should have: the bread was rather too dark for a ciabatta and a bit flatter too but the crumb was perfect, delectable and open. I think I will actually make it again...

The second time was at my kids' house in the Northwest. Having no access to baskets of any kind, I shaped the dough as a boule and proofed it directly on a couche. It rose beautifully in the oven and even though it again turned out darker than I would have liked (the oven was way too hot), the taste was almost spot on.

However since I didn't want to end up with a ciabatta again and since I had no proofing baskets, I had reduced the amount of water to make sure the dough wouldn't be too slack. The end result is that I got a tighter crumb than the one I was shooting for.

(By the way, I am sorry for the poor quality of these two pictures. It was very dark out and raining and nowhere in the house could I get enough of the natural light I would have liked to work with.)

Ingredients:

• 447 g all-purpose unbleached flour
• 151 g whole-wheat flour
• 151 g steel-cut oatmeal, cooked as described above
• 328 g water
• 151 g liquid starter
• 151 g poolish
• 121 g pure maple syrup
• 16 g salt

Method:

Note 1: The starter has to be fed and the poolish mixed the night before

Note 2: Poolish recipe: 100g flour + 1 pinch of instant yeast + 100g water. Mix well and leave to ferment overnight, preferably at warmish room temperature (above 70°F/21°C if possible)

Note 3: Noah retards this bread for 14 to 15 hours. I didn't do it (there was no room in the refrigerator) and even though the bread still turned out quite tasty, next time I will retard it and see if the flavor becomes even more complex (it should). Also, since I had no access to a mixer, I mixed the dough by hand.

1. I mixed all the ingredients except the salt in a big bowl and let the dough rest for 30minutes, covered
2. I mixed everything again to medium soft consistency, covered the bowl (dough temperature by then was 75°F/24°C ) and applied the 5-folds regimen recommended by Noah (see pointers above). Total bulk fermentation time was three hours at room temperature (72°F/22°C)
3. I skipped pre-shaping, shaped the whole dough as one single boule and let it proof for two hours covered, on cornmeal-dusted parchment paper (I had no semolina), again at room temperature
4. I pre-heated the oven at 475°F/246°C half-an-hour prior to baking time, after placing an old metal pan at the bottom and a half-sheet on the middle rack (my kids have no baking stone in their oven)
5. I slid the boule with the parchment paper underneath on the half-sheet, quickly poured one cup of water in the metal pan and closed the door
6. I immediately lowered the oven temperature to 450°F/232°C and let the bread bake for 25 minutes without opening the door
7. I then rotated the bread, lowered the oven temperature to 420°F/216°C and continued the baking for another 20 minutes.

As indicated above and obvious from the picture, I started with an oven which was way too hot and I didn't lower the temperature enough afterwards. Oh, well, that's how we learn, isn't it? Noah bakes this bread at 415-425°F/213-218°C and, according to him, even at that lower temperature it colors quickly, much like it would in a hotter oven, maybe because of all the steam coming off the baking loaves or the materials his oven is made of or the heat or a combination of all these factors. Basically the home baker will have to find the temperature that works the best in his/her oven for this bread. But even if it comes out a bit too dark for your taste at first, I bet you will love it!

Noah Elber's Maple-Oatmeal Bread goes to Susan's Wild Yeast Blog for this week's issue of Yeastspotting.