‘Whole Wheat Carrot and Walnut Pan Bread’ 50% Whole Wheat & 50% Inclusions and she still stands ‘Tall & Airy.’ The main contribution made by the carrots is moisture retention. This bread has excellent shelf life.” This is a 'hybrid'; it has both a sourdough levain and instant yeast. Note the high percentage of levain, 35%. A larger amount of levain introduces more organic acids into the dough immediately. This acidity acts as a natural dough conditioner, strengthening the gluten network and making the dough easier to handle. I always use at least 33% levain on a same-day bake without an overnight cold retard. I scaled the recipe to make one 1,157-gram loaf to fit in a 1.5 L Zyliss tin (8 in. x 4 in. x 5 in.). Total flour: 500 grams: 50% KA Bread flour, 50% KA Whole Wheat flour, 78% hydration, 2.1% salt, 25% walnuts, 25% shredded carrots, 1.3% instant yeast, and 35% levain (100% hydration). Ingredients: - Bread flour - 163 (g) - Whole Wheat flour - 250 (g) - Water - 303 (g) - Salt - 11 (g) - Walnuts - 125 (g) - Carrots - 125 (g) - Instant yeast - 6 (g) - Levain - 175 (g) - Method: 1. Mix the levain the night before. 2. Mix all with stand mixer except the inclusions, salt, and yeast 3. 30 min. rest (fermentolyse) 4. Knead for 5 min with stand mixer, then rest 3 min. 5. Add salt and yeast, mix for 3 min. in a stand mixer  6. 3 min. rest, mix in inclusions with stand mixer #1 7. 30 min rest > S&F-1 > 30 min > S&F-2 Fully proofed. This took 1 more hour. (Brod & Taylor @ 78°F) 8. Shape and place in tin 9. Final proof to 1 inch over rim 10. Preheat the oven to 500°F.  11. Lower the heat to 460°F and bake with tin for cover for 15 min. Lower the heat to 420°F, remove the cover, and bake for 15-20 minutes. The 100% hydration levain is a 1:5:5 build, fermented overnight at 70°F. 16 grams (100% hydration starter), 79 grams bread flour, and 79 grams water Fully proofed and baked in a 1.5 L Zyliss tin with a second tin for a cover. No score required.

Shook the jar this morning and there it was. Tiny bubbles racing across the surface, gone in a second. Water’s a little cloudier. Grapes are riding higher. No off smells, just clean fruit. 🍎 Day three is the moment. The yeast just punched the clock. There’s finally enough of them in there to make a scene. Quick teaching points for today: See that dusty haze on the grapes? Don’t wash it off. That powdery, almost frosted look on the skin is called the bloom. It’s a natural coating of wild yeasts and bacteria that lives on the fruit, and it’s exactly what you’re trying to capture. Rinse if you must, but a gentle one, never scrub. The bloom is the whole point. Wash it off and you’ve thrown the inoculum down the drain. This is also why organic, unwaxed fruit matters. Conventional grapes are often coated with food-grade wax or treated post-harvest, and that interferes with the wild population you’re trying to grow. Loosen the lid. Active fermentation means gas needs an escape route. Snug, not sealed. Size your jar to the recipe. If you’ll use 300g of yeast water in your bake, you need a jar that holds more than 300g of water plus the fruit plus headspace. Think backwards from the recipe and add a buffer for evaporation and pour-off. Trust your nose. Fruity, slightly sweet, a little tangy is exactly where you want to be. Solvent, sulfur, or anything sharp tells a different story. Drop your Day 3 photos below. Let’s see those jars. Henry ⭐🔥