Bread is good folks. I want to bake you some.
I'm already plotting the reinvention of the industrial revolution come at me bro.
Unrelated but your username is fantastic.
the reinvention of the industrial revolution
Actually, if the current industrialization ever comes to a halt, there's reason to believe that there wont be a second. We've already used up all of the easily-accessible coal and oil, and without advanced industry we won't be making things like solar panels or wind farms, so we might get stuck with just water wheels.
uh but anyway nice bread.
Wheat is a civilizational crop. After it ripes you have to sow it quickly and store it which leaves you vulnerable to preying states.
Now Sweet Potatoes are an prim food. Leave it in the ground and come back whenever you need it.
And you can saute the greens like spinach while you wait for the potato to be ready for harvest.
That's a good strat, whatever happens people'll need bread!
You are legally obligated to drop the recipe after posting such a beauty
It's sort of a combination of a bunch of sourdough recipes and techniques, but it's not too complicated.
I start with a 100g levain made from equal parts plain white flour, water, and sourdough starter, risen overnight.
Then combine 400g bread flour and 100g whole wheat flour and add 350g water (70% hydration) and mix until all the flour is hydrated. Leave that to autolyse for 30 minutes before adding the levain and 9g of salt, mix thoroughly.
Then I do about 4 stretch and folds 20-30 minutes apart, until the dough seems like it has good strength and texture.
After that let it rise until doubled. If it's cold I'll leave it in a the oven with the light on to warm it up.
Once risen turn it out onto the counter and shape a boule, let that rest under an overturned bowl for 30 minutes, and then re-shape it again the same way. Put a dish towel in a bowl, dust with flour, place the loaf in and let it proof for an hour or two.
Preheat the oven with a cast iron dutch oven inside to 450 and let the dutch oven heat up for an hour. Then place the loaf in, score the top with a razor blade, and bake with the lid of the dutch oven on for 20 minutes, then remove the lid and bake another 20 minutes. Cool for at least an hour before cutting.
Wheat is pretty straight forward. There are warm season and cool season varieties so you could extend your wheat harvest.
The "hardest" parts are getting the grain from the seed heads and grinding the grain into flour.
So, get a power drill, a 8"+ drill bit (doesn't need to be sharp), a pair of ubolts that fit snugly on the drill bit, a short length of chain (~6 to 8 inches), and a large bucket with lid (4.25 gallon seems to work fine).
Drill a hole in the lid large enough to stick the drill bit into. Slide the chain onto the drill bit and sandwich it into place with the Ubolts. Put wheat seed heads into the bucket. Put on lid. Make drill powered chain flail go spinny. This should beat the seed out of the seed heads. Seed falls to bottom and empty seed heads can be picked out. Repeat until you get tired.
Hand crank grinders should be available online or if you frequent junk/antique stores you may run across some. The you may need to find a source for new grinding plates though specifically for grinding flour. So research may be required to find replacements for the model of grinder you find.
