pain de campagne - revisited- 2

I am not a purist, but still, I have always thought that pain de campagne should be 100% whole wheat, but somehow, I could not make a highly palatable pain de campagne from 100% whole wheat. There were American whole wheat breads with lots of sugar and fat.  There were German and Polish whole wheat breads well suited for a spread of herring or smoked meats with mustard. And, there were whole wheat pitas suited to support humus.  However, I wanted a bread made of 100% whole wheat, water, and salt, that was pleasant to just eat by itself, or with a glass of wine, or cup of tea.

One easy approach is a 24-hour retard. It works for sourdoughs, yeast, and breads in between. 

The method is easy. I mix fresh milled whole wheat flour, water, and a very small amount of yeast or sourdough or both to make a ~75% hydration dough, and let it  bulk ferment on the counter for a couple of hours. (If it is a yeast bread, then it gets 1/4 tsp of instant yeast per 300 grams of flour. And/or sourdough in proportion.)  After the first room temp bulk ferment, I mix in the salt at 2% bakers percentage, and the dough  gets 24- hours at 45F. During this retard, it gets 4 folds. Then, the dough gets shaped and proofed at room temperature.

Some have complained that my loaves were pale. Now, I put more sprouted wheat in the mix, and I start the bake at 400F convection. The combination yields a nice brown crust. 

It is such a nice bread for just eating that I have given away my bins of white bread flour.