Poilane Style 100% Whole Wheat Sourdough from BBA

After reading Reinhart's various and sundry compliments of the Poilane style, I thought it would be interesting to give it a try.

I made half of a batch ... I may post a crumb shot later today. The flavor is nice, but the crumb is very tight. You might see in the pic that there was some oven spring but not all that much ... I'm sure some of that is because WW is less extensible than breads based on white flours, but I'm fairly certain that some of it has to do with hydration.

The starter was made at the mass and hydration specified, it fermented overnight at ~66F then went into the fridge for 10 hours, then went into the final dough. The final dough fermented at 80F for about 3 hours and then went into the fridge for about 21 hours. I split the dough in half and preshaped 2 balls which proofed for about an hour at 80F. I then shaped 2 batards, seam-side up, which proofed overnight at ~66F. They definitely increased in volume which was nice to see. I flipped them, scored, and baked with steam on a stone at 525F for ~15 minutes, then baked until brown at 485F (~20 minutes). Final internal temp was measured with a meat thermometer at ~210F.

If I decide to try this recipe again I will go with a higher hydration. The flavor is an interesting mix of WW, nuttiness, and sour ... although the WW flavor is a bit much. Might be good to add in ~20% unbleached/white bread flour so as to back off on the heavy WW flavor. On the other hand making it with a higher hydration may also change the flavor profile...

Cheers-

Dave