Country-Style French Bread with Old Dough Addition

OK so I decided to try this recipe from The Village Baker, which was the real reason I made plain ol' baguettes the other day. It calls for either whole wheat or rye flour or both in the recipe, but I had some KA organic whole wheat lying around so I just used that.

So I first got the yeast going and then I cut my piece of old dough up into little chunks.

I mixed the two together and then added the flour and put it on the mixer. After a 20 minute autolyse I added the salt and mixed it for about 8 minutes, then I rolled it out and folded it on the bench for a while followed by an hour first rising, then a punch, then another hour. Here it is after the second rising.

Then I flattened out all of the air and shaped it into a boule!

I have no round baskets, so I improvised as I do so often when baking at home. This is just a small mixing bowl with dinner napkin liner.

After two hours of proof time we were finally ready to go!

In my ongoing quest to keep my crappy oven hot, I preheated the big pot that I use as a cover along with the oven. I kept it pegged at 550 degrees for an hour before I put the bread in. This is a very hot oven temperature to be working with in a conventional kitchen, if you try these methods, please be careful! I quickly off loaded the boule onto the stone and then gently put the cover on. Then I closed the oven quickly, turned it down to 450; after ten minutes I removed the cover and finished it off.

Once it was at the desired color I shut the oven off and let the boule sit in there for five minutes to crisp up a bit.

And now for the glamour shots. The taste was just lovely, overall I am quite happy with my two day adventure!

I guess I'll make some sourdough next!

Happy Baking!!!