Recipe – 50% Whole Wheat Sourdough Loaves

Directions

• PREPARATION
• About 200g of ripe levain must be available before getting on with this recipe.
• Day 1 – Prep Day
  AUTOLYSE LETS WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR ABSORB WATER AND SOFTENS THE BRAN
• Start around late morning, say 10 am.
• Blend the dry whole wheat flour, bread flour, rye flour, and malt powder by hand or with a whisk in a large tub or bowl. Add the water and mix the batter until all flour is well incorporated and wet. Do not knead the batter yet.
  
  On hotter days, use ice-cooled water; on colder days, use lukewarm water. The batter’s desired temperature would be between 75°F and 80°F.
• Let this batter soak for about an hour. This is called autolyse.
• THOROUGHLY MIX THE INGREDIENTS BY HAND OR DOUGH MIXER
• Gradually add the levain into the batter and mix by hand or with a strong whisk until light/dark streaks in the batter have disappeared and the batter looks uniformly shaggy. Gradually add the salt to the batter and continue mixing by hand or with a strong whisk until the salt has dissolved.
• Continue kneading the batter for 8 to 12 minutes in the bowl or on a silicone mat. The batter will gradually change consistency to become more like dough. Working this high-hydration dough requires kneading for a good while as it will strengthen the gluten threads and make the dough elastic. This will be a good exercise if all is done by hand. Alternately, work the dough in a stand mixer at low-to-moderate speed for 6 to 10 minutes. Work the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic, much like Play-Doh.
• Use the windowpane method to check that the dough has achieved the proper elasticity. Grab a small piece of dough with a thumb and two of your fingers between each hand and gently stretch the dough out. The dough, if ready, should not tear and appear transparent − like thin skin or a fogged window. If the dough still tears easily, keep kneading the dough for longer.
  
  It is difficult to over-knead a moist dough by hand.
• BULK FERMENTATION WITH STRETCH AND FOLDS EARLY ON
• Bulk fermentation starts when mixing the starter in with the flour/water batter. By now a dough, this moist or high-hydration mass will now benefit from 4 sets of stretch-and-fold maneuvers, preferably during the first 2 hours after a windowpane test indicated a well-developed dough, and in 20 to 30-minute intervals.
  
  Each of the four sets of stretch-and-fold maneuvers takes about a minute and comprises four stretches and folds each. Four times four stretch-and-fold make for 16 stretch-and-fold.
  
  With a moistened hand, grab up to a quarter of the dough’s perimeter, pull the portion up and stretch it out a bit, then fold it back into the main portion of the dough and press it down a bit. Repeat this process four times, turning the bowl a quarter-turn each time to complete one set.
• Let the dough relax for 10 to 20 minutes between each stretch-and-fold set. Over time, the dough will become less shaggy and more elastic. However, the dough will noticeably tighten quicker by the third or fourth set of stretch-and-fold. After four sets are completed, grab and invert the batch of dough so the seam side faces down.
• Cover and let the dough relax (bench rest) and ferment for a few more hours. Look for the dough to have risen from its original volume by 30% to 50% and have become slightly domed with noticeable bubbles emerging. Shaking the vessel a bit should make the dough wiggle like jello.
  
  Bulk fermentation might take as little as 2 to 3 hours in warmer temperatures or as much as 5 to 8 hours in cooler temperatures. The time allowed for bulk fermentation depends not only on ambient temperatures but also on the strength of the starter, the type of flour used, and the level of hydration. This is to say that there is a bit of leeway or elbow room in the process as a lot of factors play out.
• DIVIDE AND PRE-SHAPE
• Lightly flour a flat work surface and ease the dough out of the fermentation vessel onto the work surface.
  
  When sticky dough is released onto the lightly floured surface, it becomes a bit less sticky on the bottom but will remain sticky on top. Simply try not to touch the more sticky upper side of the dough.
• With a dough scraper, gently shape the batch of dough into a more uniform round.
• Divide the dough into approximately two equal pieces of about 850g. Shape each dough into an approximate round or oval.
• Stretch out and pat each batch of dough a little without trying to flatten or degass it too much. Gently stretch-and-fold a few outer sections of each batch into the middle and press down to seal and to build strength for the dough to better hold its shape. Turn the dough over, leaving the dough’s less sticky underside on the top. With hands and dough scraper, slide each dough around the work surface in a somewhat circular motion to create surface tension on top.
• Cover, and let the two batches bench rest for 20 minutes to relax again to become extensible for final shaping.
• FINAL SHAPE
• Prepare two cottoncloth-lined bannetons. If they are brand-new, dust their inside cavity with a bit of flour to make it more non-stick.
• Sprinkling into the cavity a bit of black and white sesame seed.
• The final shaping of the dough can be difficult. Again, fold a few sections from the circumference of each dough into the middle and press down to seal. Use a dough scraper to slide the dough over the work surface and into the desired form, thus helping the dough build strength and keep in shape.
• This brief, written description of shaping the dough does not do justice to the art. It is simply best to watch a few demo videos about how to shape this moist sourdough. Instead of reinventing the wheel and making my own videos, I recommend reading and watching Maurizio Leo’s extensive demo of the process at https://www.theperfectloaf.com/guides/shaping-a-boule/
• Gently flip each dough over into a banneton seam-side up.
• Stitch up any gaps left between seams to create a smooth, airtight surface.
• COLD FERMENTATION
• Cover each banneton loosely with a shower cap or other cover to prevent the dough from drying.
• Be done for the day in the late afternoon or early evening.
• Day 2 – Bake Day
  PREHEAT KITCHEN OVEN
• Start preheating the kitchen oven early in the morning. Make sure that the two cast iron Dutch ovens are inside. Preheating the Dutch ovens is crucial for achieving a proper rise and crisp crust. It may take up to an hour to get the cast iron hot enough.
  
  If you have an electric oven, you may open bake the bread on baking steel or cordierite stone instead.
• RETRIEVE BANNETONS, RELEASE AND SCORE LOAVES
• Remove the bannetons from the fridge and tip them over to allow the proofed loaves to drop onto a silicone sling (or precut heavy-duty parchment paper).
• Dust the top of the loaves with a bit of flour.
• Score the loaves’ tops with a lame or sharp knife at a 30° angle to the surface at a 1/4 to a 1/2 inch depth. This scoring might feel like hurting the raw loaves and they may flatten a bit.
• BAKE LOAVES
• Carefully place each silicone sling carrying a dough into an uncovered Dutch oven.
• Cover each Dutch oven with its lid and place them back into the hot kitchen oven.
  
  Please keep in mind that a kitchen oven’s temperature knobs and gauges are not necessarily all that reliable and that loaves can be smaller or larger, and adjust temperatures and baking times accordingly.
• Bake for up to ~10 minutes at 500°F.
• After 10 minutes, reduce oven heat to ~475°F and keep baking the loaves for about ~15 to 20 minutes.
• After all 25 minutes or so of baking, carefully remove lids from both Dutch ovens. Continue baking loaves for another 15 minutes at 450°F or until a desired browning is reached.
  
  Baking the loaves to at least 190°F internal temperature will make for a moist but fully baked bread, while baking to a more traditional 210°F will make for a little drier bread. Loaves baked to these temperatures are safe to consume as all starter microbes will have sacrificed their lives and died.
• After baking the loaves, remove them from their Dutch ovens and place them on a cooling rack. Loaves will be very hot and still setting on the inside. Let the loaves rest on a cooling rack for 2 or more hours to reach at least ambient temperatures before slicing.
• LET LOAVES COOL BEFORE SLICING