Artisan Bread
Description
The recipe won’t take much time. From this amount of ingredients you get a medium loaf weighing 550 grams. Don’t let the length of sourdough bread-making put you off—you can always pace the steps to suit your schedule. The bake is ready. Serve at the table.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
Prepare the ingredients for making the dough.
- 2
Step 2
Prepare a levain from your starter in advance. In a bowl, combine 20 g starter, 40 ml water, and 40 g wheat flour. Stir, cover the bowl with a lid or plastic film, and leave at room temperature for 6–8 hours. Doing this the night before works well: by morning your levain for the dough will be ready. At peak activity the levain will have grown to roughly 2.5–3 times its original volume.
- 3
Step 3
To make the dough, pour cool water into a bowl, add all of the sponge from the sourdough starter, and mix.
- 4
Step 4
Combine high-grade or first-grade wheat flour with whole-grain wheat flour and sift through a sieve. Pour the mixture into the liquid component of the dough.
- 5
Step 5
Mix all the ingredients together, transfer the dough to a bowl, and cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap. Leave the mixture for 30 minutes for autolysis. During this time the dough will soften and will be easier to knead afterward.
- 6
Step 6
At this stage, add salt to the dough and give it a final knead until the gluten reaches medium development. Knead the dough using stretch-and-fold. At this stage the dough must not overheat.
- 7
Step 7
The finished dough does not stick to your hands or the work surface; it is smooth and slightly shiny. It stretches well and does not tear.
- 8
Step 8
Transfer the finished dough to a bowl, cover it, and leave at room temperature for 5 hours. Every hour, fold the dough.
- 9
Step 9
Shape the loaf by folding the edges toward the center and rounding the shaped dough. Generously dust the proofing basket with whole wheat flour and place the shaped dough in it seam side up. Sprinkle flour on top of the dough.
- 10
Step 10
Cover the basket with a linen lid or a towel so the dough does not dry out. Put the pan in the fridge. Proofing at 6–8 °C may take up to 20 hours.
- 11
Step 11
Transfer the preparation onto parchment paper.
- 12
Step 12
Make an incision using a blade, knife, or scalpel.
- 13
Step 13
Preheat the oven to 250°C. Preheat the baking pan. Transfer the bread to the pan together with the parchment. Bake the bread for 10 minutes with steam. For a good shape and a golden, crispy crust, keeping the bread moist in the first 10–15 minutes of baking is very important. To do this, place a pan of boiling water on the bottom of the oven. Another way to create steam is to cover the bread with a cloche; in that case, a deep roasting pan with a lid works well. After 10 minutes, remove the lid or take out the pan of boiling water and continue baking the bread for another 20–25 minutes.
- 14
Step 14
Cool the finished bread on a cooling rack.
- 15
Step 15
Wonderful bread! An open crumb, and the flavour and aroma are stunning!
- 16
Step 16
Wishing you delicious bread!