Description
This is a beautiful country loaf, perfect for sandwiches, toast, or just about anything. It requires an overnight preferment, which means you can make 23 loaves of sourdough per single sachet of Leaven!
Ingredients
Units
Dough Ingredients (Amount - Baker's %):
Poolish:
- 100 g (3/4 C + 1 Tbsp) Bread Flour (12-13% protein) - 100%
- 100 g (1/3 C + 1 Tbsp) Water - 100%
- 0.3 g (1/6 tsp) Leaven Instant Sourdough or Leaven Instant Wild Yeast - 0.3%
- 400 g (3 1/3 C) Bread Flour (12-13% protein) - 80%
- 240 g (1 C + 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp) Room Temperature Water (75℉ or 24℃) - 48%
- 10 g (Scant 2 tsp) Salt - 2%
- 200.3 g Poolish - 20%*
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.
- Mix Final Dough – Add the water, flour, and poolish to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on speed 1 for 3 minutes, or until all of the ingredients are fully incorporated.
- Autolyse – Let the dough rest undisturbed for 10 minutes to allow the flour to fully hydrate.
- Mix – At the end of the 10 minutes, add the salt and mix on speed 1 for 1 minute. Increase the mixer to speed 3 and mix for 3 minutes, then finish with 5 minutes on speed 5. The dough will not be completely smooth at this point; the remaining gluten development will take place during the stretch-and-folds. The desired dough temperature at the end of mixing is 74–78°F (23–26°C).
- Bulk Ferment- After mixing, transfer the dough to an oiled container, cover, and let rest for 4 hours. During the first hour, perform two sets of stretch and folds 30 minutes apart.
- Shape – Place the dough onto a floured work surface and preshape into a loose round, cover with a towel and let rest for 20 minutes. Then, shape into a boule or batard and place into a floured banneton, seam side up.
- Proof – After shaping, cover the banneton with plastic wrap or towel and proof at room temperature for two hours. After the two hour room temperature proof, either continue to the next step or place in the refrigerator overnight for better flavor and oven spring.
- Bake – When ready to bake, place a Dutch oven into the center rack of your oven and preheat 475℉/246℃ for 1 hour. Turn the dough out onto a square of parchment paper slightly bigger than your Dutch oven. Score the top with a bread lame or sharp kitchen knife, and carefully place into your preheated Dutch oven. Cover with the lid and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes or until the loaf is dark golden brown and the internal temperature reads 205℉/96℃. Let cool fully before slicing and enjoy!
Notes
* percentage of preferment 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.