Soakers Explained | How to use a Soaker in Breadmaking

A soaker can be a mix of grains and seeds or a single variety of grain or seed that is mixed with water and left to soak for several hours before being added to bread dough.
It is a great method for adding whole grains and seeds to your bread making it more nutritious and tasty. Besides just nutritional value and flavour, it also helps the bread retain more water and stay fresh for longer.
Soakers can be made with pretty much any seed or grain you could imagine. Anything that can be used in cooking can easily be added to bread dough.
The main reason for soaking grains and seeds is to make them palatable. Imagine biting down on a piece of barley. It would most likely break your tooth. Another important reason for soaking is to prevent the seeds and grains from stealing water from the dough and drying it out in the process. I’m sure we have all one time, or another added a bunch of seeds to a recipe just find that the dough became stiff and dry.
There are two types of soakers - cold and hot.
A cold soaker is made with cold or ambient temperature water. This kind of soaker usually consists of softer grains like oats and cornmeal, and seeds. Such grains and seeds do not require much, or any cooking and they do not take a long time to soak either. Cold soakers can be made in as little as 30 minutes, but they can be left to soak for several hours.
A hot soaker is made with hot or boiling water. This kind of soaker usually consists of hard whole or cracked grains like barley, wheat, millet, buckwheat etc. These kinds of grains can take several hours to soften and hydrate properly.
📖 Read more ➡️ www.chainbaker.com/soakers-ex...
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Principles of Baking bit.ly/principles-of-baking
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Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:54 Cold soakers
3:25 Hot soakers
4:24 After soaking
5:09 The recipe
10:27 The result
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#Bread #Baking #ChainBaker
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Disclosure
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[@ChainBaker]

📖Read more in the link below the video ⤴ 🌾 If you would like to support my work click here ⤵ www.ko-fi.com/chainbaker 🔪 Find all the things I use here ⤵ 🇺🇸 www.amazon.com/shop/ChainBaker 🇬🇧 www.amazon.co.uk/shop/ChainBaker 🍞 Share your bread pictures here ⤵ www.flickr.com/groups/chainbaker/

[@Tbehartoo]

I really like how informational your videos are. Explaining the principles behind what you're doing and not just giving recipes is so helpful. I also love that you leave in things like forgetting to put the preferment in until later. It honestly shows that making "mistakes" aren't the end of the world and that something isn't ruined just because you didn't do it exactly as written. Thanks for another wonderful video.

[@ChainBaker]

🤩

[@marshamoore750]

I love to make 1 gallon batches of beer. I have found using the left over grains (about a cup) make a great loaf of bread. Thank you for your soaking information

[@rlwalker2]

In the past I just tossed the grains and seeds into the dough. This approach makes a LOT more sense. Thanks for the explanations.

[@dinasawlani]

Thanks for this! Especially the structured info on hydration. I normally toast my seeds and would just eyeball the hydration. The salt part is especially helpful in our humid, tropical climate.

[@artycrafty9209]

Fantastic video again and so very informational. I tried adding seeds to my bread many years ago but gave up as the results were less than favourable, well now I know why as back then nobody explained the principles of this method as you do, it is very important to understand the " why's " this will be a game changer. Thank you, Ramon.

[@bonnie5601]

Wonderful lesson. THANK YOU!

[@SaintHarless]

Awesome video as always. Excited to try this sample recipe out and experiment from there! Thanks!

[@thewholewheat5010]

Really interesting video mate! I’ve enjoyed many of your KZbin clips!! Keep up the great work

[@mothtv]

Amazing. Another great highly informative video.

[@theacase8738]

Your teaching is the key.

[@nutrinogirl456]

You know what I love, every video you always look so excited to share more about bread. Makes me excited to learn too :)

[@LloydsofRochester]

What a wonderful idea! I must find a way to try this!

[@aminakassim7741]

My bread wizard ,God bless you

[@kevinu.k.7042]

Great video on a difficult topic. 👍 There are two popular approaches to water, salt and dough hydration when it comes to soakers. I use the other method to you. I doubt it's better, but for me it is more straightforward. With seeds I add salt at 1.5% I use a a cold soaker and generous amount of water (100%) and drain them well before adding them to the dough. I either use pre-toasted seeds or toast them myself before soaking. That gives a great improvement on flavour. (Toasting is only any good for oily seeds.) For grains it's a hot soaker usually 200% water and 2% salt. Again they are well drained before using. With both of these I do not use salt or water from the dough. The salt in the seeds and grain is more or less the same as the dough and so there is no substantial osmotic pressure dragging salt into the dough. The water in the seeds and grain is effectively captive, apart from the steam they make when they cook. So they too won't affect the hydration of the dough. A cautious baker could hold back a little dough water to make adjustments when the soaker is added, but I haven't found that necessary. There is also an option of cooking the grains a little to get a softer texture. Many bakers who do this cook them until the grain is just al dente, not fully cooked. Either way after soaaking the grain must be soft enough to bight through or it will be too hard in the finished loaf. I can see why you add them early on so as to adjust the dough asap. But even while coil folding its not difficult to add more water, at the home baking scale of things. I put water in a mister and weigh it. I set the scale to zero and do a stretch and fold misting as I go and when I'm done I can see how much water I've added by weighing the mister again. I prefer to add the soaker after autolysis and the first kneed and a rest. That way my gluten development has got off to a good start. The other thing that strike me is that quite a few leading authors say it's important to add salt to stop off flavours and to prevent the enzymes in the grain from kicking in. Staying with grain, they contain complex starches which are difficult to digest and the bran contains pentosans which prevent the absorption of minerals during digestion. The enzymes and lactic acid bacteria that are active in a salt free soaker break these down. Off flavours do not form in viable grains as they in fact soak up water in preparation to sprout, so we are merely kicking off the first stage of malt development. But, the result would be a salt free grain which would not taste so good. Unless one went all the way with sprouting and that is another story. There are many different ways of dealing with soakers and the approach I use is just the one that works for me. It is a low fuss approach. Great tutorial on a complicated subject. Cheers

[@ChainBaker]

Thank you, Kevin. It just goes to show that there are many ways of doing the same thing when it comes to bread making :) Perhaps the off flavours would be more related to hot salt-less soakers. Maybe there could be more of a risk of something going off?!

[@kevinu.k.7042]

@@ChainBaker Yes, I think you are right. 👍😁

[@omgitzsteg]

Hi Kevin, thank you for taking the effort to share this. People like you and the rest of Charlie's fans go a long way to the restoration of some humanity on the Internet. Cheers!

[@kevinu.k.7042]

@@omgitzsteg Thank you. :)

[@eddymursalim6570]

This video I have been waiting. Thanks chain baker for sharing this video

[@aprilrains9921]

Excellent soaker tip. Thanks for sharing your expertise

[@laurajackson6860]

That recipe produced my favorite texture - I just love pumpernickel! Thank you! 🍞

[@natlap1966]

Thank you so much for your videos! You are very interesting. I'm learning a lot about baking bread😊

[@ARZSZN]

I never thought to add Kasha to my dough. I'll give that a try tonight! Excellent video.

[@nathanchristian1221]

So HYPED for this video

[@suprio_gonefishing]

super! I already was using and infusing a bit of seeds and grains in my bread but now i've learnt a few more tricks. Thank you.

[@johnnyzornes9945]

AWSOME video, now i am encouraged to give this recipe a try. Thanks!

[@ChainBaker]

Let me know how it turns out :)

[@sashineb.2114]

This is very helpful; thank you for sharing this. The bread looks delicious. I've made similar breads, but not with as many additions. Thanks again.

[@kleineroteHex]

Love your infos! I have used sprouted lentils in bread, does well.

[@johnlee5937]

Thank You! Subscribed. I finally realize what it is about my voice that drives people to NOT listen listen when i speak. We have a very similar speech pattern.

[@jayminasi6073]

everything you bake is incredible

[@ChainBaker]

If I can bake it you can too 😉

[@luiscejudo-espinosa6613]

Hello! I've added seeds to sandwich loaves, but I'd never have thought of soaking them. BTW, I found your channel about a week ago and I have found it really interesting and nice to follow.

[@aidanmurray8283]

Thanks for this video! I’ll definitely be trying this out in my sourdoughs. I’ve binged a number of your videos over the past days. Love the principals series. Can’t wait for the next one!

[@ChainBaker]

Awesome! Let me know how it goes :)

[@Happy1heart48]

Thanks for sharing this!!! I very much want to try using “soakers” in my bread to make it healthier, so this is extremely helpful! 👍👍❤️

[@TheValiantLion]

The design and look of this video is so clean. You have a great eye for photography.

[@ChainBaker]

Thank you 🤩

[@americanrebel413]

This is great information for the beginner like me! Thank you.

[@ChainBaker]

👍

[@roxiviski9860]

Thank you for your advices! Now in my bread you can find different seeds and my last one cheekpeas flour and soy flakes. It popped up beautifully

[@jorats]

I'm learning so much from you! Thank you!

[@ChainBaker]

You are so welcome! :)

[@hamadashabaan2384]

Seriously this the most important baking channel I have on KZbin thank you 🙏 so much for all this information and good job

[@ChainBaker]

Wow, thank you! 😍

[@erikadogmomanddoc]

another brilliant video and instructions - I also love lots of grains and seeds in my bread, but haven't tried the soaking method before. your videos are definitely taking my bread making to the next level

[@bbeckwin]

Thanks so much for this! I really like your approach of focusing on principles rather than recipes. You are a great bread-making teacher!

[@ChainBaker]

Thank you so much! :)

[@karlastrebel1909]

I love this! I’ve been inspired to experiment with my breads = seeds, whole meal flour, hydration, working the dough, etc. Just using a recipe and the fundamentals. Thank you so much!!! I’ve learned to trust myself and my skills.

[@Pachurry14]

Will try soon! ty bro :)

[@shazmirshahi4973]

You are such a good teacher the perfect teacher really so full of love for the learners and for what you do thank you for this beautiful video

[@ChainBaker]

Thank you! 😃

[@patrician.9436]

Hello Charlie, I’ve learned so much from these videos and your visual demonstration… as well as your sense of humor☺️ . Thank you! My favorites that I’ve used in your bread recipes are oatmeal, barley, pumpkin, sunflower seeds, raisins, cranberries and all types of nuts…yummy 😋 So appreciative for your knowledge and cuteness, thanks 🙏🏼

[@taju999]

so much useful and structured information! I didn't even know there's such thing as soakers in bread making. I always thought that you can just add a little bit of those grains without soaking and that's all (not that I've tried it myself of course, haha), and now as I'm learning how much science is hidden in there I realize how wrong I was! Thank you for helping us become better bakers!♡

[@Hmholmack]

Thank you!!!!

[@scotthodson2467]

Loved this video. Still trying to understand how to vary how much water I add to my dough to not ruin it, lots of experimentation as you suggest. I like to use different types of Bulgur, darker and lighter, coarse and fine ground and also some soaked Spelt and Freekah grains. Glad to hear you integrate them into the dough at the beginning as I have been doing that. Did not think of adding the salt to the soaker, so that will be a new adventure. Appreciate your teaching and want to keep learning from you. Since I bake my breads in pans at this point in my learning I coat them with a vegetable shortening and then before adding the dough into the pans I add more seeds directly onto the shortening base. It does help release the bread from the pan, and adds crunch, nutrition, etc. Have been subscribed and will keep an eye out for new content. Thanks!

[@algorillarithm5572]

Thank you. I've been wondering how to add more seeds and whole grains to my bread. The only seeds I add now are toasted caraway seeds to my rye bread and only 2.5 grams per loaf just enough to bring out the delicious rye flavor. This is a game changer. Thank you very much.

[@kristoferkrus]

Interesting technique! I haven't seen it before. I sometimes add roasted sunflower seeds to my bread, but I don't soak them before. Maybe I should start to do that.

[@kevinzky88]

yo that looks so good i need more practice!

[@lucym8562]

11:03 I really appreciate this final thought. I think so, and that's what I try to do. Even though sometimes I would need to follow the recipes a little more in the begining. But I can help it. I like to customize too much. 😂

[@zakariaisakadze6514]

Thanks man

[@jeffnarver490]

I use so many seeds and grains, but my favourite are wild rice and rye berries, both of which I boil for 30-40 min, and cool before incorporating

[@mayyabie6108]

Shall definitely try to incorporate soaker to sourdough bread next time I bake it.

[@carolseven3802]

Thank you for this video! Would you mind explaining how sprouted grain breads are formed?

[@ChainBaker]

I am yet to try sprouted grains or even sprouting my own. But once I do I will make a video about it for sure :)

[@nevermind7253]

YES 💖

[@jacquespoulemer3577]

depends on the seed. start easy with alfalfa or mung. moist towel out of sunlight keep it damp but not soaked. the harder the seed, like wheat or buckwheat I would soak those first in water then transfer to a damp towell out of sunlight. They take much longer to sprout but if kept moist they will eventually work.

[@Jeepy2-LoveToBake]

Great video - lots of good information and techniques for soakers. Thank you for sharing! You mentioned something about millet escaping from the dough. I was going to post that in one of your recent recipes - if anyone else had "millet rolling all over the place"?😆 I did track them all down and incorporate back into the dough. 👍 57.5K subscribers and climbing every day - so exciting!!!. Thanks everyone - keep sharing your bakes (and ChainBaker's YT videos) with your social media channels and don't forget the new "Charlie's Baking Buddies" group on Flickr! Gooooo "Team ChainBaker"🙌🙌🙌

[@ChainBaker]

Thank you so much, Lan! 🤩

[@marjamerryflower]

So i'm not the only one watching the numbers going up each day. It is so exciting!

[@ChainBaker]

🙏

[@dsdsdsds10101]

This is an awesome explanation, I've sometimes been adding sunflower seeds and chia or linseeds to my bread (I find the latter a bit harder to bake properly given how much water they hold onto and how gelatinous they become). Looking forward to seeing your channel grow, your videos are of high quality and a pleasure to watch!

[@ChainBaker]

Thank you 😊

[@marjamerryflower]

Hi ChainBaker, how is it going? Thanks for this video. I find it very interesting. I have heard that parchment paper is not so healthy after all. So covering the bread with superhealthy seeds is a fantastic way of moving forwards. Stay happy and healthy! The channel is getting closer to 60.000!

[@ChainBaker]

I agree! Can't beat some seedy goodness :) Cheers!

[@Quibus777]

Very nice vid! Thanks. Just ready baking some bread, with soaker (whole einkorn grain kernels and sunflowerseeds), 3 heavy rye/buckwheat loaves with dades added (and yay your tip on adding some more flour over it gave them the nice "cracked" look) and 2 large wheat/full grain wheat and a touch of rye and buckwheat. The boiling water over the einkorn kernels surely makes them easier to eat then only soaking for a day.

[@ChainBaker]

I recently got some einkorn flour. Looking forward to trying it out. I've never actually used it :)

[@nolenl1503]

Yummy always creative god give you health and wellness Thanks for the best chef in the world Thanks for all recipes ❤️😘😘🌹😘🌺❤️🌹👍

[@ChainBaker]

🤩

[@JEEROFUKU]

Wow! The soakers are completely new level of the knowledge for😍Cheers! P.S. Buckwheat FTW👌🏻

[@ChainBaker]

Yeah buckwheat for the win! ;))

[@salwa4ever818]

Wow you really took bread making to another level meaning heavenly. I have only added flax seeds to my bread due to the benefit of the omega and keeps bread soft and delicious. I will certainly try implementing your ideas in my future bread baking. Wishing you a very successful new year filled with happiness and great health. Warm greetings from Canada

[@ChainBaker]

Happy New Year! Cheers 🥳

[@paulkaranfilianchristiesre2068]

I thoroughly enjoyed your KZbin video on soaking seeds and greens for sourdough bread. I’ve been baking for about eight months now. My last type of bread was with wheat and white flour. I added commercial 7 seed mix, consisting of sunflower kernels, pumpkin kernels, brown and golden flax seeds, black and white Chia seeds, and hemp kernels. Since the mix tasted rather raw, I browned the seed mix in a frying pan with a teaspoon full of vegetable oil. This made the seed mix much more tasty. I then added that into my dough. The bread came out super tasty. This was all before I saw your soaking video. Should I have soak my seeds after browning them? Paul Karanfilian

[@ChainBaker]

You can soak them after toasting for sure. They may take even less time to get fully soaked I think.

[@Wavelover757]

Thanks so much for doing ALL of your videos. As a baker, I’m always looking for information about how to take my craft to a new level and your channel is helping me fill that. ❤

[@dilboteabaggins]

I like to combine scalding my flour (yudane) and the soaker into a single step. I use a 1:2.4 ratio when combining soaker and yudane.

[@YannisManesiotis]

Click play video, click like, watch video. This is the way.

[@ChainBaker]

😍

[@piotrtrocki3842]

WTF!!! It took me 2 years to find your channel!!! You explain how everything works, so people understand what they are doing, not just follow recipes without thinking. Because there is always a reason why you should do things certain way! I'm so happy, I'm going to beat my wife when I get home. Thank you for your work and knowledge! And now I'm going to binge watch everything on your channel.

[@ChainBaker]

I'm glad you're here. Thanks! Don't beat your wife though. Make her some bread instead ;D

[@piotrtrocki3842]

@@ChainBaker She is going to beat me up if I don't make her bread.

[@ChainBaker]

Haha you know my missus is the same. She'll ask me to give her a piece as soon as it comes out of the oven. Like, let me finish filming the video and then you can have all the bread you want 😂

[@cynettacynclaire9594]

I love caraway seeds in bread and soak it. You didn't mention ingredients other than seeds and grains, but I use granulated garlic and onion (NOT POWDERED) and always soak those.

[@chefdalal1215]

Love your videos well explained and everything is clear what camera are you using 😍😍😍😍

[@ChainBaker]

Cheers! :) It's a Canon M50 with the kit lens, so nothing fancy ;D

[@Alpemomi]

Dude, so fucking interesting, man, my baking world has just expanded 10x!

[@ChainBaker]

I'm glad you're finding it useful 🤩

[@polythewicked]

Your cupboard must look a lot like mine. I’ve got so many flours, seeds, grains, nuts, etc. The life of a baker.

[@amgari007]

Thank you for all the great videos. I was wondering what difference makes to use toasted buckwheat vs not toasted ? Thanks.

[@ChainBaker]

Toasted tastes better in my opinion.

[@amgari007]

Thank you for the reply@@ChainBaker

[@ugochinnamdi9275]

Hmmn! You are just the best when it comes to bread making. I can't get enough of your videos. Thank you sooooo much Sir. Now my question is this, is the water from soaking the seeds a part of the whole water in the recipe?

[@ChainBaker]

I count it as part of the total water.

[@ugochinnamdi9275]

Thank you for the response Sir

[@ChainBaker]

✌️

[@mohammadaboohosseinitabari4454]

I did not have a great day today, but now that I saw your beautiful face everything’s changed and I’m happy!🥰

[@nattanichachen2616]

❤❤

[@Fireneedsair]

Love the channel mate. I just put the buckwheat groats in without soaking them. The heat makes em more tender and chewy but I’m going to try the soaker method. Btw, have you ever tried a buckwheat molasses loaf? Absolutely fantastic.never saw a bakery combine the two.peace

[@ChainBaker]

Not yet, but it sounds nice! 😎

[@Fireneedsair]

So the soaker method created a more moist loaf, which I don’t want unless it is a quick bread. I will continue to grind buckwheat into flour and use dry buckwheat groats. I appreciate all the experimentation you do even if I choose another path. Thx again!

[@rabbit_scribe]

Am I the only one who gives a thumbs up before watching the video? 🙂

[@CMARIEViolin]

Thank you so much for this very informative video!! Just a quick question, is the water on the soakers also included in the dough’s hydration? So i will deduct that too wih the total hydration of the dough? Or is it separate? Thank you

[@ChainBaker]

The water in the soaker makes up part of the total hydration, so you should deduct it from the recipe when converting.

[@aleikamac]

Thank you for a very helpful video! A question about cracked grains: does roasting/toasting them affect the soaker? I toast cracked wheat before cooking it for breakfast, and the smell is lovely. Do I need to cook the cracked wheat before adding it to the dough?

[@ChainBaker]

You can roast or toast as long as the grains are soaked it's all good ✌

[@russianrick8403]

Buckwheat, YEAH!

[@Acrivec]

I've just got an idea for a comparison video - I remember that once I had a nice dough (I've been doing really high hydration, like 85, but real percentage was lost because I wasn't soaking seeds (sunflower and flax seed), and then adding water to 'maintain' the 'feel' of hydration). It was getting nice tension, I wanted more, and more... and I've passed the breakpoint. My gluten couldn't hold more tension and ripped apart. There was no rescue from that point, ended up with a gooey jelly dough. tl;dr: Gluten tension and over-tensioning dough comparison?

[@Nicvik]

I have a book thats use allot of soaks with yest in the soak overnight

[@M4tactics]

Charlie, I know this is op topic but, do you have a Dutch crunch recipe? Every one of youre recipes has been absolute perfection and I’m afraid to go anywhere else for a recipe

[@ChainBaker]

I have tried it a couple of times, but I was never happy with the topping. Still trying to perfect it. But now that you reminded me I will give it another go :)

[@marjamerryflower]

What is Dutch crunch? I would like to know;-)

[@ChainBaker]

Kind of like tiger bread :)

[@marjamerryflower]

@@ChainBaker thanks

[@divinape9812]

I followed this recipe which has 480g of mixed seeds and grains soaked in 500grams of water. Then it has additional 700 grams of water for the 1kg of flour (all purpose, wheat flour and rye). It was very wet that i was hard I finally dump in into a tin. I made it again but straining the water from the seeds after 1 hour. It was better but it was still wet. i guess I just have to lessen the water from the soaker. Our family loves this bread though.

[@ChainBaker]

I would still use the same amount of liquid in the soaker and instead just add less water later to the main dough.

[@hannahsvoxx]

The main bread I make is a multigrain recipe I created years ago. Without knowing all the reasons why, I always soaked my nuts and seeds for an hour or so but I did so in the milk that would later go in the recipe. Would you say that this would have a similar outcome as a soaker with water? And would you still do a sponge with an enriched multigrain dough? Thanks in advance! I just found this channel and, though I've been making bread forever, I'm learning things that will really help me improve :)

[@ChainBaker]

It's definitely a soaker! Sponge is great. But long bulk fermentation can be even better ;)

[@michaelempedrado8233]

Hi Charlie, how do you properly use dried fruits in bread, for example raisins? Should they be soaked too like the seeds and grains?

[@ChainBaker]

Ideally you'd want to soak them for around 30 minutes. I normally add more water than needed and then drain them off well. But I must say I have never applied the same hydration calculations to dried fruit as in grains and seeds. The fruits tend to absorb less water. The main reason for soaking raisins is to make them easier to slice through and not tear the bread. You can find a couple of recipes with soaked fruit here - kzbin.info/aero/PLJ97q0PY0sXIwFcsJzV0LYG_SxC-6B5by

[@michaelempedrado8233]

@@ChainBaker Thanks for your prompt reply and suggested playlist.

[@mr.pizzamarlon]

This gave me a fantastic pizza 🍕 dough idea. I will create a pecan soaker to add to my pizza dough. I'm going take my pizza 🍕 skills to the next levels of taste! Thank you Charlie for your well put-together bread 🍞 recipes! 👌🏼😁 *PECAN PIZZA 🍕 HERE I COME!*

[@MrLotw333]

I love wild rice. Had store bought Wild Rice and cranberry bread. Question, i want to bake my own wild rice bread. Soaking it in boiling water, will it make the Wild Rice soft enough to eat without cracking a tooth? Using wild rice cooking recipes requires a long boil/simmer time to open the wild rice up. Thoughts? Thanks

[@ChainBaker]

The wild rice in my soaker was just fine. It had a bit of a bite to it, but it was definitely fully soaked.

[@MrLotw333]

@@ChainBaker thanks. Keep up the great work

[@eac-guy7272]

Hello there. Thank you so much. It took some time to find a recipe this Questions though, would grinding up the cold soakers make a difference on the method? I.e soaking, length of time to soak,texture? Would I be able to make it without the preferment? I make bread for the elderly and people with disabilities some of whom have no teeth or dentures. Thanks in advance

[@ChainBaker]

I have not tried grinding the grains for soaking. I would imagine they would make the dough heavier and denser. They could also absorb more water so you may need to increase the hydration. I have stopped using preferments altogether in favour of cold fermentation - kzbin.info/www/bejne/rl6bhqJ7nNmnapo But you can certainly just combine all the ingredients and ferment the dough at room temperature.

[@eac-guy7272]

@@ChainBaker Thanks a million

[@bvazdiniz]

Not only this guy have one of the best baking channels in KZbin, he also have the most sexy voice… congratulations!!!

[@ChainBaker]

😍

[@bvazdiniz]

@@ChainBaker ❤️😍🙈

[@timnicholls19]

Do you rehydrate dried fruit? We do and don't depend on what we are doing with them sometimes with water sometimes with alcohol

[@ChainBaker]

Sometimes. It makes the bread easier to cut and prevents it from tearing. If I'm making buns, then most of the time I will leave the fruit as is.

[@mateofabian]

Hi Chainbaker! Greeting from Argentina! There is something that I did not understand. Should I deduct the amount of water that I use for the sosker from the total amount of water in the recipe?

[@ChainBaker]

Hey! The water in the soaker makes up a part of the total water in the recipe. So, baker's percentage wise it should be added to the water in the main dough. Example: 60% hydration bread. Soaker 200g seeds, 200g water. Dough 800g flour, 400g water. Seeds + flour = 1000g, soaker water + dough water = 600g.

[@mateofabian]

@@ChainBaker thank you very much! I’ll try it out today!

[@scootertron8332]

How do I adjust the water in an existing recipe if I want to add seeds/nuts/other flours to it? I'm interested in trying this with my favorite baguette and croissant recipes.

[@ChainBaker]

The same way I showed here. Measure the water which you soak the seeds in and the subtract it from the main dough.

[@AnnaEmilka]

@@ChainBaker yesterday I tried doing it differently, I soaked my oats in a lot more water than required and then added all of that to flour, but I guess I made a mistake and added too much water anyway as the buns came out really sticky inside despite being completely baked through (not that I mind, they're still very tasty). I'll try adding less water next time

[@koouka5291]

Hello Charlie, i have tried to use this method of soaking but unfortunately i failed, not saying that your way doesn't work, but i had followed all the guidelines and the dough did not rise at all. I want to ask a question; if i use 9°C water should i be mixing the yeast into the cold water directly or mix it an a small amout of warm water then adding it to the cold water and the dough, to avoid slowing down the fermentation process for the yeast?

[@ChainBaker]

The yeast can be mixed in cold water directly with no issues. If your kitchen is cold, then you should not use cold water of course. What kind of yeast are you using? If it is Active dry yeast, then it should be left to activate for 10 minutes in the water before all other ingredients are added. Here is a video about it - kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zn6oi3pvn6x5rac

[@markbraxton1289]

do u grind linseed all the time or leave whole...i think as a flour it works better than seeds which often pass through your body without any benefit at all ..

[@ChainBaker]

I did not. You are right, it would definitely be more beneficial.

[@isaachowell2142]

Would this also work for dried fruits ; blueberries, cranberries ect?

[@ChainBaker]

It depends on how much of them you use. I have not yet made a recipe with enough dried fruits to require any extra calculations in terms of the recipe formula. Soak them, drain them and add them towards the end of the mixing stage or fold them in during bulk fermentation ✌

[@user-tw5bq9pb9j]

Could I put the dough in the fridge for cold fermentation after kneading ？🙏

[@ChainBaker]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/rl6bhqJ7nNmnapo

[@cdavid0624]

do you have a link for the black loaf pan?

[@ChainBaker]

I got in the my local supermarket. It's a 1kg (2lb) pan.

[@Fatimazation]

Hello, is it possible to mix yeast in bread after proofing it a bit?

[@ChainBaker]

It's not proofing if there is no yeast.

[@Fatimazation]

@@ChainBaker what I meant to say was that is it possible to add more yeast into the bread after it has been set for proofing?

[@ChainBaker]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/iKnXeIGNg8uLmNE perhaps like this?

[@Teo_Diakor]

What's the max % of seeds/grains we can put in the flour?

[@ChainBaker]

I have not pushed it to the limit, so I'm not sure. The more you add the heavier the bread. In rye bread the seeds can be used in a 1:1 ratio with flour.

[@ugochinnamdi9275]

And again how many percent hydration did you use?

[@ChainBaker]

You can calculate it with the recipe.

[@roserostami2476]

Good morning chain baker please tell me how I can find list of the ingredients all I want is the name so I can buy them. Greetings from London. Take care

[@ChainBaker]

Pumpkins seeds, sunflower seeds, poppy seeds, pine nuts, brown linseeds, cornmeal, oats, more oats, black sesame seeds, wild rice, barley, toasted buckwheat, and millet! :)

[@roserostami2476]

Thank you for being such a nice person and a professional take care.

[@gordianknot5625]

Just one word of caution: I made your rye, whole wheat bread with a soaker. It came out great except for the millet seeds. They were still too hard and detracted from the bread. Next time I may try boiling them a bit beforehand just to make sure or leave them out entirely.

[@ChainBaker]

That's strange. The millet should be soft for sure. The barley in that soaker takes far more cooking/soaking. If anything that should be hard.

[@ba3992]

Question - let's say I make a cold soaker and leave it for 24 hours in water. What will happen if I then make a 100% Biga pre-ferment and add this soaker to the pre-ferment?

[@ChainBaker]

That should work as long as you have enough water. Biga is usually quite dry and the grains need quite a bit of hydration. Try it and see. Make a small batch in case it goes wrong.