A Late Winter Bulgur Loaf

 

 I like the sweet flavor that bulgur brings to a loaf. That gave me the idea to add it in as I was rummaging through the refrigerator, looking for ingredients that I hadn't used recently. It also adds a little bit of detail, maybe texture is the word I'm looking for, to the outside of the loaf. Since I had the luxury of time to make this loaf, I also used retarded proofing in the fridge and a longer than usual finish to that proofing on the counter before I loaded the loaf into the oven. I expected that the loaf would spread out due to the hydration but I had no complaints when the bake was done.

Starter
140 g at 100% hydration

Soaker
42 g bulgur
36 g water

Main Dough
228 g bread flour
72 g white whole wheat
205 g water at 85F
All of starter
All of soaker
7 g kosher salt

Spring time has really started to roll in, semingly a few weeks early. Considering that the average last frost date in this area is 15 April, everyone is quite amazed. The trees are budding out and a few have a leaf or two to show for their efforts. The grass in the yard grew enough that I actually mowed the lawn this past week. I've dug up and turned over a couple small sections of my garden but the soil is still wet from the December rains and quite cold. I haven't seen any new varieties of birds at feeders, just the usual suspects with an increase in gold finches. There are quite a few hawks around town right now. They're often seen perching lower than normal in my observations, on power lines or on the arms of street light poles.

Some casual, drive by visitors to my obscure corner of the internet over the past few weeks have come from Austria, Israel, Lebanon, and Peru.

Comments, humor, and questions are welcome.