The Fresh Loaf

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Big loaves of sourdough whole wheat

agres's picture
agres

Big loaves of sourdough whole wheat

I have not exhausted the concept of Pain de Campagne. In fact, it is becoming clear that I have not even started to explore the topic. The more I bake big loaves, the better I like them. This is slightly acid, balanced with some sweetness with a nice caramel note and wheat undertones.

This is a 3.3 lb. loaf that is mostly whole wheat with some sprouted rye and sprouted spelt (~5%??)

It was mixed in the 5 qt.  stand mixer that I bought in 1980.

300 grams of sourdough active starter in the kettle, with a good splash of water, mixed into a batter, and left covered for 2 hours.  Another splash of water, more flour, mixing and fermenting. The rest of the 700 ml of water, the rest of the kilo of flour, 20 grams of salt, mixed to a shaggy dough, let sit a couple of hours, then mixed to a smooth dough, and allowed to ferment at 65F for 6 hours.  Round up, bench rest, shape, and into a cloth lined colander set in the frig. overnight. It sat on the counter while the bake stone heated.  The loaf was glazed with egg white and water. A piece of parchment made transfer from the peel to the 400F bake stone easy. The bread went in 10 minutes after oven temp was 400F, so the stone was not fully heated. The last 15 minutes of baking were at 375F convection.  The loaf was cut after about half an hour on the cooling rack. The bread board is 7.5” wide.