Sourdough Country Loaf Practice: Lean Artisan Bread with Whole Wheat & Levain

🍞 Tools Needed: Banneton proofing baskets, bread lame (a double-edge razor blade works fine), Dutch oven, mixing bowl.

🍞 Ingredients: (makes 2 loaves)

Bob's Red Mill whole wheat flour 210g, Central Milling bread flour (0.6% ash content, 11.5% protein) 490g, water 475g + 50g, salt 15g, active levain 165g (built from 15g mother starter + 75g water + 75g whole wheat flour).

🍞 Instructions:

1️⃣ Build the levain the night before. Mix 15g of active sourdough starter + 75g water + 75g whole wheat flour and leave at room temperature overnight. By morning the surface should be bubbly and the volume doubled. You can also do a float test: drop a small spoonful into water, and if it floats, it is ready to use.

2️⃣ Combine all 700g of flour with 475g of water in a mixing bowl. Stir with chopsticks into shaggy flakes, knead briefly by hand into a ball, cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap, and let autolyse for 30-45 minutes.

3️⃣ After the autolyse, mix in the 165g of levain until thoroughly incorporated, then let rest for another 30 minutes. Meanwhile, dissolve the 15g of salt in the remaining 50g of water in a small bowl.

4️⃣ After 30 minutes, add the salt water and squeeze/fold it into the dough until completely absorbed. Let rest for 30 minutes.

5️⃣ Perform coil folds or stretch-and-folds every 30-45 minutes for a total of 5 sets (see my earlier post for folding photos). After the final fold, let the dough bulk-ferment undisturbed for 1 hour before shaping.

6️⃣ Lightly flour the work surface, divide the dough into 2 equal pieces, and pre-shape into tight rounds using a bench scraper. Let bench rest for 15 minutes, then perform the final shaping and place seam-side up into floured bannetons.

7️⃣ Final proof at room temperature for 4-6 hours, or cold-retard in the fridge overnight.

8️⃣ Preheat the oven to 250°C with the Dutch oven and lid inside. Right before baking, turn the loaf out of the banneton onto parchment paper, score the top with a lame, transfer into the hot Dutch oven, and cover with the lid. Bake covered for 20 minutes. Remove the lid, lower the oven temperature to 225°C, and bake for another 20 minutes.

9️⃣ Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

❤️ Baker's Notes:

1. The preheated Dutch oven is extremely hot, so wear heavy oven mitts and be very careful.

2. I did not take step-by-step photos of folding and shaping this time, but you can find them in my older sourdough notes.

3. Wet your hands with water before each stretch-and-fold so the wet dough will not stick to your fingers.

4. I have been practicing sourdough on and off for over three years, mostly learning from the book Tartine Bread. Even after plenty of flops along the way (and the occasional flop now!), I still love practicing every batch🤣.

5. This note records another practice session so I can keep improving and offer a reference for fellow sourdough bakers❤️.