country brown sourdough
a staple, versatile loaf with a long ferment and high hydration for a tangy, custardy, and light crumb.
formula
levain build
- 15 g levain
- 15 g king arthur whole wheat flour
- 60 g king arthur all purpose flour
- 60 g water @ 85-90°F
dough formula
- 280 g king arthur all purpose flour
- 120 g whole wheat flour of choice
- 320 g water @ 90-95°F
- 10 g sea salt
- 100 g levain
method
7 am: feed levain
- refresh your starter using levain build formula, and stiff starter method.
1 pm: autolyse
- in a large bowl, mix all flours together. slowly add the water, mixing with a rubber spatula, making sure to incorporate the water into the flour well, stopping when all the flour is hydrated. let sit, covered, for 60 minutes.
2 pm: bulk fermentation
- sprinkle salt evenly over autolysed dough. incorporate gently by folding dough over a 2-3 times. then, measure out ripe starter, and add to bowl. mix, alternating between slap & fold and rubaud method, for about 6-7 minutes.
- this dough needs 4-5 sets of coil folds, spaced 45 min apart, at the beginning.
- let dough rise at room temp until doubles and appears gaseous, about 8.5 hours in the springtime.
10:30 pm: shape
- i like to shape these like a boule.
- on a generously floured surface, gently guide dough onto the table. first fold the dough on itself: top, left, right, bottom, like you're folding up paper. then, finish with a few stretch and folds around to create a circular, dome shape.
- flip dough over, seam side down on an unfloured surface, and gently tug to seal.
10:35 pm: proof
- generously flour an unlined bannetone (for the swirl aesthetic). flip the dough over with a bench knife, and gently transfer the dough, seasm side up, into the bannetone.
- place bannetone inside of a plastic bag to cover, and place in fridge overnight for 12 hours.
[next morning] 10 am: preheat
- place dutch oven with lid on into the oven. pre-heat oven to 495°F for an hour.
10:55 am: score
- dough is proofed when it passes the finger dent test. remove bannetone from fridge.
- very slowly, flip dough out of bannetone onto a cut piece of parchment paper.
- i like to score this with a box. two light parallel cuts horizontally, followed by two light parallel cuts vertically.
11 am: bake
- transfer scored dough to dutch oven. decrease temperature to 485°F. with the lid on, bake for 30 minutes. then, decrease to 475°F and take the lid off. bake for another 12 - 15 minutes, or whenever the crust turns the color you like it (i go for a pretty deep brown).
2 pm: slice & enjoy
- let this loaf cool on a wire rack (or something else that allows the air to circulate) for at least 2 hours before slicing.