12 hour cold ferment miche
Just finished baking this miche. This dough is a foray into working with high hydration. After kneading, the dough was still a tad bit sticky, but I decided not to do stretch and folds since I was planning on long, cold fermentation. Used low percentage of yeast because of fermentation time, as well.
It's just out of the oven, so I don't have a crumb shot yet. But I figured I would share the initial results and recipe. Worst part of making a miche is waiting hours before cutting into it.
Formula:
250g KA whole wheat 25%
375g KA bread flour 37.5%
375g KA AP flour 37.5%
780g water 78%
25g salt 2.5%
5g SAF Instant yeast 0.5%
Method:
Mix flour and water
30 minute autolyse
Knead for 15-20 minutes (French slap and fold; dough slightly underdeveloped)
Bulk ferment in fridge for 12 hours
Bench rest at room temperature for 45 minutes
Preheat oven to 500F
Shape and proof for 45 minutes
Bake @ 450F on stone with inverted Dutch Oven as cloche for 20 minutes
Remove cloche and continue bake for 35 minutes
Comments
I like the 25% whole wheat in it too. I'm guessing the crumb will be pretty nice as well. Will have to give the no S&F's a go after the slap and folds. I always do 2-3 of them it seems to incorporate the add ins.; But maybe i will just use the last minute of slap and folds to do that.
Happy baking.
Thanks so much for the comment and kind words. I was really pleased with the results!
I appreciate the encouragement.
So, having finally cut the loaf open and tried it, I am pretty happy with the outcome. The crust has a rich flavor, to be expected from a longer bake. The crumb is soft, light and has a creamy aftertaste. There are some nice air bubbles and good gluten development. The loaf could stand to bake a little longer as the crumb has a slight feeling of moisture to it, without being gummy or wet.
Cracking_Scaled.jpg
Just out of the oven, I got some nice singing with loud crackling and such. A while later, the bottom portion of the crust had some really nice cracks all the way around.
Crumb_1_Scaled.jpg
Full crumb shot.
Crumb_2_Scaled.jpg
Crumb detail.
Since this was a yeast bread and not levain, it has all the texture and characteristics of a good sourdough, but still lacks a bit in flavor. I am currently working on building up a starter from scratch, and will soon be back into making SD, which I haven't done in some time. Hopefully, I will get some nicely flavored breads from that.
That said, I would definitely make this bread again. It's a great simple, honest bread, and I am really happy with the outcome.