Gérard Rubaud Pain au Levain
[1] Shiao-Ping's beautiful miches [1], based on MC's interviews with Gérard Rubaud [2], inspired me to attempt Rubaud's pain au levain myself.
Rubaud's bread is made with 3 very firm levain builds, the final being incorporated in his final dough. He uses a flour mix with 70% AP flour and the remaining 30% a mix of whole wheat, spelt and rye flours. Remarkably, he grinds the flours to feed his levain fresh for each build, and he uses the same flour proportions for each levain build as used in his final dough. Not having a grain mill, I used store-bought flours. I measured out each flour for each build. If I make this bread again, I would make one batch of mixed flour for all the builds and the final dough. This would save time and also be more precise, given the very small amounts of flour in the levain builds.
Note that MC's interviews also indicate Rubaud salts his levain builds at 1% of the flour weight, in order to control their speed of ripening. I did not do this.
My formula is taken from Shiao-Ping's calculations which were taken from MC's interviews. I divided her quantities in half and, rather than a miche, made two smaller (480 gm) bâtards. Rubaud mixes his dough by machine. Shiao-Ping mixed her dough entirely by hand. I started my mixing in a stand mixer, but continued developing the gluten by hand, as described below.
First build |
|
Ingredient |
Amount (gms) |
Ripe levain (stiff) |
3 |
AP flour |
5 |
Whole wheat flour |
1 |
Spelt flour |
0.5 |
Rye flour |
0.5 |
Water |
4 |
Total |
14 |
Second build |
|
Ingredient |
Amount (gms) |
Ripe levain (stiff) |
14 |
AP flour |
10.5 |
Whole wheat flour |
2.5 |
Spelt flour |
1.5 |
Rye flour |
0.5 |
Water |
8 |
Total |
37 |
Third build |
|
Ingredient |
Amount (gms) |
Ripe levain (stiff) |
37 |
AP flour |
35 |
Whole wheat flour |
9 |
Spelt flour |
4.5 |
Rye flour |
1.5 |
Water |
28 |
Total |
115 |
Notes for levain builds
-
The first levain was made with my usual firm sourdough starter which I feed 1:3:4 (starter:water:flour) with a flour mix of 70% AP, 20% Whole wheat and 10% Whole rye flours.
-
To mix each build, dissolve the firm starter in the water in a small bowl. (I use a small dough whisk.), then add the flours and mix thoroughly into a ball.
-
The first build was fermented for 10 hours, the second and third for about 8 hours each. This was in a cool kitchen, so your times my vary with the activity of your starter and the ambient temperature.
Final dough |
|
Ingredient |
Amount (gms) |
Ripe levain (stiff) |
115 |
AP flour |
322 |
Whole wheat flour |
82.5 |
Spelt flour |
41.5 |
Rye flour |
14 |
Water |
377 |
Salt |
10 |
Total |
962 |
Method
-
Mix the flours and the water. Cover and let it sit to autolyse for 20-60 minutes.
-
Divide the starter into about 6 pieces and add them to the autolyse. Sprinkle the salt over all and mix thoroughly.
-
In a stand mixer, mix with the dough hook on Speed 2 for about 10 minutes. There should be some gluten development, but the dough will be very gloppy. It will not clean the sides of the bowl.
-
Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl. Cover the bowl tightly.
-
After 20 minutes, stretch and fold in the bowl for 30 strokes. Cover the bowl tightly.
-
Repeat Step 5. twice more.
-
Transfer the dough to the board and stretch it to a large rectangle and fold it like an envelope. Replace it in the bowl and cover.
-
After 45 minutes, transfer the dough to a floured board and do another stretch and fold.
-
After another 45 minutes, transfer the dough to the board and divide it into two equal pieces.
-
Pre-shape each piece into a round and let them rest, covered, for 15 minutes.
-
Shape each piece into a bâtard.
-
Proof en couche until expanded by 50-75%.
-
One hour before baking, pre-heat the oven to 500ºF with a baking stone and steaming apparatus in place.
-
When the loaves are ready to bake, pre-steam the oven.
-
Transfer the loaves to a peel. Score them, and then transfer them to the baking stone.
-
Steam the oven again. Turn down the oven to 450ºF.
-
Bake for about 30 minutes, until the internal temperature of the loaves is at least 205ºF, the bottom gives a hollow sound when thumped and the crust is nicely browned.
-
Transfer the loaves to a cooling rack.
-
Cool completely before slicing.
Although I got good gluten development, the dough remained very loose. This was expected, given its high degree of hydration. However, I did not expect how the loaves stuck to the “well-floured” couch and transfer peel. The loaves deflated significantly in the process of transferring them to the Super Peel ™. The latter handled the loaves beautifully in transferring to the stone. No additional sticking.
There was very good oven spring, and the cuts on the loaf which didn't stick to the transfer peel as much opened up reasonably well, suggesting that the loaves were not as over-proofed as their deflation on transferring had suggested.
By time the bread had cooled, the crust was chewy with just a bit of crunch. (I did not follow my customary practice of drying the loaves in the cooling oven for a few minutes after they are fully baked.) The crumb was very well aerated. It had an aroma that seemed whole-wheaty, yet different. The flavor was excellent – complex and wheaty with some sweetness and more sourdough tang than I expected.
Wonderful bread. I want to make it again, but next time I'll flour the couche more heavily.
David