FEELING YOUR OATS

I like oats, and enjoy every morning my muesli with fruit and yogurt, or citrus-y oatmeal with raisins and apricots (thanks to Maria Speck and her wonderful book "Ancient Grains for Modern Meals".)

Whereas you can find rolled, steel cut oats or oat bran in many recipes, you will hardly see anything made with actual oat flour. I knew from experience that, in principle, I can treat oat flour like rye in mixed breads, since it doesn't have gluten. My German Feinbrot (see my earlier post) tastes great with oat instead of rye, too.

I experimented with Peter Reinhart's Oat Bran Broom Bread ("Whole Grain Breads"), substituting some of the wheat for oat flour for an "oatier" taste, with good results. Finally I came up with a formula for a sandwich loaf, combining oat flour, rolled oats and oat bran in a nice "fluffy" bread that is also great for toasting.

The best of all husbands commented: "After eating this you will definitely feel your oats!"



"FEELING YOUR OATS"

SOAKER
100 g oat flour
  27 g oat bran
100 g rolled oats (not quick cooking)
    4 g salt
198 g buttermilk

BIGA
227 g bread flour
    1 g instant yeast
142 g water

FINAL DOUGH
all soaker and biga
 28 g whole wheat flour
   5 g salt
   5 g instant yeast
 19 g honey
 14 g melted butter (or canola oil)
rolled oats, for topping


DAY 1:
Morning:
1. In a small bowl, stir together all ingredients for soaker, until well hydrated. Cover, and let sit at room temperature.

2. Mix all ingredients for biga until they come together, knead for 2 minutes at medium-low speed  (or by hand), let rest for 5 minutes, and knead for another 1 minute. Place in oiled container, turn around to coat, cover and refrigerate (remove from fridge 2 hours before using).



Evening:
3. Mix final dough at low speed (or with hand) until rough ball forms. Knead for 4 minutes at medium-low speed. Let rest for 5 minutes, then knead for another 1 minute. Place in oiled container, turning dough ball around to coat, cover and refrigerate overnight.


DAY 2:
4. Remove dough from refrigerator 2 hours before using, to warm up.

5. Preheat oven to 425 F, including steam pan. Roll dough into sandwich loaf, and place in greased loaf pan (I use a smaller one).

6. Brush or spray with water, score, and sprinkle with rolled oats, pressing the flakes gently into the dough (it's important to score first, otherwise the flakes obstruct the slashing.)

7. Mist with oil spray, cover, and let rise at room temperature, or until it has grown to 1 1/2 its original size, about 45 - 60 minutes.

8. Bake bread at 350 F for 25 minutes, steaming with 1 cup of boiling water, rotate 180 degrees for even browning, and continue baking for another 30 minutes. The bread should be golden brown, sound hollow when thumbed at the bottom and register 195 F.

9. Remove bread from pan, and let cool on wire rack.

I like overnight bulk fermentation, because I can do most of the work in the evening before the baking day. But you can, also, let the pre-doughs ferment overnight, and do the mixing of the final dough on baking day.

Submitted to Yeast Spotting: http://www.wildyeastblog.com/