Multigrain Sourdough on a Couche

This is the loaf that confirmed my previous suspicions that using a couche could produce a larger loaf due to the expansion allowd for the dough. The finished loaf seemed to be too large for what I thought was a smaller amount of dough but I'll take the results.

As in previous years, November means a number of events where I'll either donate or supply loaves of bread. I really don't mind since it means that my starter will be getting some exercise to strengthen up for winter. The first flurries of the season are predicted for tomorrow so I don't think that I'm being premature.

Originally, I was planning on using the last of my malted wheat flakes. Somehow, the package that was at the front of the freezer must have worked its way back into the depths of the frozen food cavern so I opted for the multi grain cereal mix. One of these days, I plan and execute another loaf that ends the way I planned it in my mind but this wasn't that one day.  I guess we'll just have to eat this fine loaf and move the goal post date down the road.

Starter
150 g at 80% hydration, fed 50% WM Natural White AP,  25% stone ground whole wheat flour, 25% whole rye flour

Soaker
60 g Montana Milling 9 grain cereal mix
48 g water at 85F

Main Dough
260 g bread flour
70 g stone ground whole wheat flour
20 g whole rye flour
252 g water at 85F
15 g brown sugar
9 g kosher salt
All of soaker
All of starter

All of the garlic I wanted to plant is now in the ground and covered by wheat straw. Somehow, I seem to have ended up with just one variety, unidentified at that, of hard neck garlic. It has only four cloves per bulb but they are extra large. A single clove could be substituted for two or three cloves of smaller varieties.  There are 46 of those cloves planted and 24 cloves of soft neck garlic. The soft neck are small in comparison but I suspect that's just their nature. Still, I turned the soil over a few times to loosen it up and fertilized the soil as much as I thought would be wise. I'll report the results next July or so.

Two guest page views from unexpected places took place this past weekend. They were from Morocco and Pakistan.

Comments, humor, and questions are welcome.