Franconia Crusty Boule

3 rye sponges, one wheat sponge, and a rye soaker - and then the final dough.

Franconia Crusty Boule from "The Rye Baker" - formula

Franconia Crusty Boule - Photos

Note that in the formula under Final Dough the text says 400g medium rye; in the overall percentages at the end it says 400g dark rye. I used dark rye, because I had bought a lot of dark rye before I knew that most recipes used medium rye. And my biome team likes the very high fiber of dark/whole rye, and who's going to argue with a trillion bacteria.

As promised in the book, the bread is dense and moist. My palate isn't good enough to detect the effect of 3 rye sponges plus a rye soaker and a wheat sponge, but the bread spice is subtle and tasty. I proofed the dough about 50 minutes and then put it in the fridge overnight. Next time, I would go the full 60 - 70 minutes and wait for prominent cracks before retarding; it looks a little underproofed (tighter crumb at the bottom than the top).