Olive and Fig 9 Sprouted Grain Sourdough

Lucy was going to  come up with a sprouted ciabatta sandwich thins this week but after a shopping trip to Sprouts where she got some dried figs and olives, that ciabatta went in the trash like a stinky pair of old slippers.

She thought she would hit most of the taste buds with this one; something salty, something sour, something sweet all rolled into one flavorful taste bag.  At least that was the plan but sometimes Lucy’s plans can go awry like a cart with a wheel gone missing.

She has been stuck on the long retarded rye starter, double low extraction fed levains, short slap and fold sessions, long 21 hour bulk retards and short final proof method for the past few bakes too. 

This time the rye starter had spent 13 weeks in the fridge and one 3 stage levain was much larger than the other and was fed the 23% extraction of the sprouted 9 grains and the much smaller one was fed the 23% extraction of whole wheat.

After 21 hours of bulk retard.

The two levains were mixed together before the 3rd feeding so they could get to know each other.   If you want to increase the sour of your bread this is the one thong you can easily do to make the LAB crank out the acid .  The combined levain was retarded for 12 hours in the fridge.

Pre-shaped as a boule.

We did a 1 hour autolyse of the dough flour and water with the salt sprinkled on top.  Once the levain was mixed in with a spoon, we did 30 slap and folds 4 times on 30 minute intervals. The figs were cut in quarters, re-hydrated and the excess water squeezed put.  The Kalamata olives were cut in half and the large green ones cut in quarters.

Shaped as a squat batard, fully proofed, slashed and ready for the Mega Steam.

The figs and olives went in with the first of 2 sets of stretch and folds from the compass points.  The stretch and folds were done on 45 minute intervals.  Once all the folding was done the dough was shaped into a boule , placed in a oiled SS bowl and bulk retarded for 21 hours.

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Once it came out of the fridge the next day it was gently pre-shaped into a boule and left to warm up on the counter for 1 hour.  The dough was then gently final shaped into a squat batard and placed into a rice floured basket seam side up for 45 minutes of final proof before being un-molded, slashed and peeled onto the bottom stone for 15 minutes of  Mega Steam..

We turned the oven down to 425 F an continued to bake for another 20 minutes until the bread thumped done on the bottom and was removed to the cooling rack.

The bread bloomed and sprang well under steam, blistered and browned up nicely once it came out.  Can’t wait to taste this one to see if it tastes as good as it looks but we will have to wait for lunch for that. This bread is very tasty.and just as complex. .One bite is salty olive the next is sweet fig followed by one that has both and then one that has neither where the sour and sprouted grains really shine.  it made a fine sandwich for lunch and will be great for toast too,  We like this one very much but look forward to a ciabatta sandwich thin sometime in our future,

 The Monsoon has arrived for some fine sunsets again!  Don;t forget that salad with those ribs