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Sourdough Sandwich Loaf With Preferment

  • Author: The Leaven Foods Team
  • Total Time: Active Time: 45 Minutes | Inactive Time: 22-23 Hours | Bake Time: 40-45 Minutes
  • Yield: 1 x 8.5”x4.5” Loaf
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Description

This recipe makes a wonderfully soft and versatile sandwich loaf, made with a Leaven poolish for amazing flavor and a light, airy texture.

Ingredients

Units

Equipment:

  • Mixer
  • Digital Thermometer
  • Digital Scale
  • 8.5”x4.5” Loaf Pan

Poolish Ingredients (Amount – Baker’s %):

  • 200 g All Purpose Flour (10-12% protein) – 100%
  • 200 g Room Temperature Water (75℉ or 24℃) – 100%
  • 20 g Sugar – 10%
  • 0.6 g Leaven Foods All Purpose or Wild Yeast – 0.3%

Final Dough Ingredients (Amount – Baker’s %):

  • 300 g All Purpose Flour (10-12% protein) – 60%
  • 115 g Room Temperature Water (75℉ or 24℃) – 23%
  • 67 g Room Temperature Butter – 13%
  • 20 g Milk Powder – 4%
  • 10 g Sugar – 2%
  • 10 g Salt – 2%
  • 420 g Poolish – 42%*

Egg Wash Ingredients

  • 1 Egg
  • 1 Tbsp Water

Instructions

  • Mix Poolish – In a bowl, combine all ingredients listed under Poolish and mix until fully incorporated. Cover with a towel and let rest at room temperature (70–75℉/21–24℃) for about 16 hours, or until doubled in size and bubbly on the surface.
  • Incorporate – When the poolish is ready, combine all of the final dough ingredients (except for the butter) until fully incorporated- about 3 minutes on speed 1.
  • Autolyse – Allow the dough to sit in the mixing bowl for 10 minutes.
  • Mix –  Mix the dough on speed 3 for 3 minutes to start developing the gluten structure. While the mixer is still running on speed 3, add marble sized pieces of softened butter to the dough, only adding the next piece after the previous has fully incorporated (this should take about 4 minutes). Once all of the butter is mixed in, turn the mixer speed up to 5 and mix for 3 minutes. Finally, turn the mixer up to speed 8 and mix for 3 minutes. The dough should be smooth and pull away from the sides of the bowl and the desired temperature at the end of the mix is 80-85℉/27-29℃.
  • Bulk Fermentation – After mixing, transfer the dough to an oiled container. Cover the container with a towel and bulk ferment for two hours at room temperature (70-75℉/21-24℃ ).
  • Shape – At the end of bulk fermentation, remove the dough from the container and shape into a loose round. Let rest on the counter for 20 minutes, covered with a towel. Once the 20 minutes is up, flatten the dough out into a 8”x8” square, fold the top 1/4 of the dough down, then fold the top corners into themselves to form a triangle on the top of the square. Next, fold and roll the dough onto itself to form a cylinder. (How to shape a sandwich loaf) Put into an oiled 8.5”x4.5” loaf pan, cover with a towel, and let rise at room temperature (70-74℉/21-23℃ ).
  • Proof –  Cover the loaf with a towel or oiled plastic wrap and allow to rest a room temperature (70-75℉/21-24℃ ) for 4-5 hours or until the dough has risen an inch above the top of the loaf pan.
  • Bake – About an hour before baking, preheat the oven to 375℉ /190℃. When the dough is ready, whisk together the egg wash ingredients and brush the mixture evenly over the loaf. Place the pan on the center rack and bake for 40 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Allow the bread to cool completely before slicing. Enjoy!

Notes

* percentage of poolish calculated by % of prefermented flour

Mixing speed and times may vary depending on the mixer. The following protocol has been adapted for a 4.5 qt. KitchenAid® or similar mixer using a dough hook attachment.

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