There are several methods used for making bread softer, moister, and longer lasting which we have covered on this channel already. You can find videos about various dough improving ingredients such as fats, eggs, sugar, milk. Techniques like tangzhong and yudane/scalding. The use of cooked vegetables like potatoes or pumpkins and various soakers which are made with seeds and grains. But the one topic we had not covered up until now is porridge.
Grains and pulses have historically been added to bread dough to get more out of it. Flour has been more expensive at times so bakers added cheaper ingredients to keep the costs of production down.
Most of us don’t need to do this out of necessity anymore. But that does not mean that porridge is useless to the modern baker. It’s quite the opposite. As with all the other methods listed above, we can use porridge to enhance our breads. We can create breads with interesting and unique textures and flavours. Breads which can stay moist for longer and even develop their flavours as they age.
What exactly is porridge?
Porridge can be prepared from various ingredients. When I say porridge, I don’t necessarily mean your breakfast oatmeal although that is certainly one of the types of porridge that can be used in breadmaking. When I say porridge what I really mean is any type of grain/pulse/seed/legume that is cooked in liquid until all the liquid has been absorbed or evaporated. This is the main distinction between soakers and porridge.
Soakers can also be made with seeds, pulses, or grains, but they are simply soaked as the name suggests. Often more than enough water is used in the process and if you know my recipes then you would have seen me using all the water of a recipe for making a soaker.
At the end of the day soakers and porridge achieve the same results when used in a bread dough recipe. The main difference is the method of preparation and the convenience of one over the other, which can swing either direction depending on the type of bread being made and the type of grain or pulse used in either method.
What are the advantages of using porridge?
Since all the cooking liquid is absorbed or evaporated, we do not need to worry too much about adjusting the hydration of the recipe which the porridge is being added to. The porridge will release some of its moisture into the dough and make it slightly wetter, and it will interrupt the gluten structure making the dough weaker, but generally we do not need to lower the hydration of the original recipe by much.
Soakers on the other hand can be a bit more involving because the ingredients must be submerged in liquid to get soaked properly. As there is little to no cooking involved some of the liquid will be left over. So, there is liquid in the grains/seeds and liquid around them. If you want to add the whole soaker to a recipe, then some major adjustments need to be made to the hydration of that dough.
The ease of use is the main advantage to porridge. As I mentioned above, historically one would simply add leftover groats or whatnot to the dough, and it would make a perfectly fine bread.
How to prepare porridge.
Any grain, seed or pulse which can be cooked in a way that makes all the cooking liquid get absorbed and/or evaporated can be used in the preparation of porridge. Oats, buckwheat, millet, lentils, bulgur wheat, barley, rice, farro, quinoa, freekeh, spelt, rye, corn, amaranth are just some of the most common ones.
Some will absorb more water than others. When it comes to rice, buckwheat, millet, bulgur wheat and other whole grains/seeds the usual ratio of ingredient to liquid is 1:2.5 by weight. So, if you are cooking 100g rice you would need 250g water.
Split pulses and oats need less water at around 1:2 by weight. The best thing to do is to read the cooking instructions on the packaging.
Other ingredients can be added to the porridge as it is cooking. Fragrant seeds like cumin, caraway or fennel seed can be added in order to bring more flavour. So can spices and other types of seasoning or sweetening.
Cooking times vary greatly from the hardest whole grains like barley to the lightest split cereals like oats. The former taking up to an hour to cook and the latter taking no more than a few minutes.
When it comes to calculating the correct amount of porridge in baker’s percentage terms, I prefer to only count the raw grain instead of the total mass of the cooked porridge. As a general guideline I would suggest sticking to 10% – 20% of raw grain/seed/pulse. Of course, you do not need to stick to it. As little as 5% can be enough for some and far more than 20% for others.
Sample recipes.
Rice bread:
Porridge – 40g wholegrain basmati rice, 100g water, pinch of salt.
Dough – 230g white bread flour, 20g whole wheat flour, 2.5g instant dry yeast, 5g salt, 165g water, 8g olive oil.
Bring the rice up to a boil, turn the heat down low, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Cool down. Mix all ingredients. Bulk ferment for 60 minutes with one fold halfway through. Shape, proof for 30 minutes, bake at 200C fan on for 40 minutes.
Buckwheat bread:
Porridge – 40g toasted buckwheat, 100g water, pinch of salt.
Dough – 230g white bread flour, 20g whole wheat flour, 2.5g instant dry yeast, 5g salt, 165g water, 8g olive oil.
Bring the buckwheat up to a boil, turn the heat down low, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Cool down. Mix all ingredients. Bulk ferment for 60 minutes with one fold halfway through. Shape, proof for 30 minutes, bake at 200C fan on for 40 minutes.
Millet bread:
Porridge – 40g millet, 100g water, pinch of salt.
Dough – 230g white bread flour, 20g whole wheat flour, 2.5g instant dry yeast, 5g salt, 165g water, 8g olive oil.
Bring the millet up to a boil, turn the heat down low, cover and cook for 15 – 17 minutes. Cool down. Mix all ingredients. Bulk ferment for 60 minutes with one fold halfway through. Shape, proof for 30 minutes, bake at 200C fan on for 40 minutes.
