Oat Bran Beer Bread

Mary Buckingham

Ingredients

• 1 Cup cool water	• &#189 Cuprye flour
• &#188 tsp active dry yeast	• 4 Cupflour, unbleached
• 2 Cup flour, unbleached	• 2 tspsalt
• &#189 Cup oat bran	• &#188 Cupdry sherry -- optional
• 12 Oz ale -- a non-bitter beer
• &#188 Cup water

Instructions

Put about 1 cup water into the mixer bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over it. While mixing with either the mixing blade or dough hook, add flour about ¼ cup at a time. Gradually add the flour until it gets to the consistency of thick pancake batter. Continue to mix the dough until it forms gluten strings and has a shiny gloss. The dough should pull from the side of the bowl and from the beater when it is lifted.
Cover dough loosely with a plate or plastic wrap. Pour beer into another bowl, add oat bran. Let soak, covered loosely. Let both dough and bran sit overnight in a cool place, about 60-70 F.
In the morning, add the bran and mix on slow until well mixed. Add the rye flour while mixing. Add flour a bit at a time until it reaches pancake batter consistency. Continue kneading until the batter has fully developed the gluten - it will be stringy looking when lifting it with a dough hook or spoon and will have a sheen. Add the salt dissolved in a little water and the sherry. Mix until the gluten strings form again. Continue adding flour a bit at a time until the dough reaches a soft wet dough stage. The dough should just start climbing the hook. If too stiff, add more water and knead. Continue kneading until the dough is very smooth, very elastic, and has a sheen. (This takes awhile.) The dough should be elastic and smooth and just keep its shape. When scraped off the dough hook, it should come off cleanly. Turn the dough into an earthenware bowl that has a bit of water in it to lubricate it. Turn it over to get the top wet. Cover loosely with a plate or plastic wrap. Let rise in a cool place (less than 70 degrees) until doubled and poking it with a finger leaves an indentation in the dough that doesn't spring back. About 4 hours or so.
Turn the dough onto a floured board. Let rest, covered for 15 minutes. Gently knead in a bit more flour until it holds its shape and is just not sticky. Don't add too much flour. The wet dough gives it the holey, chewey texture. Press out all the air pockets. Form into loaves. For focaccia, flatten to about a half inch thickness. Place on a well floured cloth dusted heavily with rice flour or flour and oats. Let rise, spritzing several times with water to keep the top moist. Don't let it over rise (depending on temperature, about 2 hours or so).
For focaccia, poke a bunch of indentations into the top of the risen bread, then drizzle with a good quality Extra Virgin olive oil, sprinkle with basil and fresh grated Parmesan. (Other options are olives, other herbs like sage or rosemary).

Heat the BGE to 550 degrees, configured with firebricks and a baking stone. Let the BGE and bricks get completely hot (30 minutes preheating).
Flour a peel well with rice flour or flour and carefully move the focaccia or loaves onto the peel. If loaves, slash the top at an angle with a very sharp knife or lame and sprinkle with oats, then spritz liberally with water. With a sharp jerk, slide the bread onto the stone and quickly close the lid.
Bake, keeping the temperature at 500. Remove after top is nicely browned; turn if one side gets more browned than the other.

Notes

All ingredient amounts are approximate.
Getting the dough to the right texture and the slow cool rise is the key to this bread. The temperature of the rise determines both the length of time it takes to make the bread and the flavor of the bread. Slow rise breads also keep longer.
This bread takes about 24 to 48 hours to build, depending on temperature, but most of the time it's rising.
It's easiest made with a strong mixer like a Kitchen Aid. If using a Kitchen Aid, keep the speed at 1 or 2.

Number of Servings:

Time to Prepare: