Sourdough Bread

Servings 2 loaves

Ingredients

250 g Fed sourdough starter and ready to bake with after double in size - or equivalent starter for 500g total flour
375 g stone ground bread flour
125 g wholewheat stone ground flour
375 - 425 g water 310g and 115g 85% hydration
12 g salt
65 g pecan nuts you can toast them cool and chop or just use halves ready to go. Both work

Instructions

Feed starter in the morning. After 4 hours (winter) Rusticus , my sourdough starter is ready to mix. Rusticus grows faster in the Summer, it can take 2 hours for him to double in size.
250 g Fed sourdough starter and ready to bake with after double in size -
Cut starter into chunks and add water let it sit for 15 min. The starter should float in the water and you will know it's ready for the next step.
375 - 425 g water
Add flours and salt to a separate mixing bowl and whisk to ensure an even mix.
375 g stone ground bread flour, 125 g wholewheat stone ground flour, 12 g salt
After 15 minutes blits the water and sourdough together with a stick blender until frothy
Pour the sourdough water mix into the flour mix and using a wooden spoon or spurkle mix together.
Cover and leave on counter for 4-6 hours.
Then put in fridge overnight
The next morning tip dough onto floured work bench sprinkle with pecans and shape.
Place in bannetons ( I scaled my recipe to get two loaves here by 1.5)
Cover with a shower cap and leave for second proof.
When ready to bake put the oven on to 250℃ and place a dutch oven with lid on inside the oven to heat up.
After 45 min the oven should be at temperature. Have about 6 ice blocks at the ready. Turn the loaf out onto baking paper sprinkled with rice flour. Score the loaf and gently place into hot dutch oven. Add the ice blocks to the pot behind the paper place the lid on quickly to trap in the steam. Turn the oven down to 230℃ and bake for 30 minutes.
here I have scored to loaf
Remove the lid, this is what the loaf looks like after 30 minutes. If yours gets too brown turn your oven down to 220℃
Bake for a further 25 minutes or until the base sounds hollow when tapping on it.
Place on a wire rack to cool for 1 hour at least. This give the crumb time to settle. It's a very important part of the process and should be followed, which is very hard to do when the smell of fresh bread is wafting around your kitchen.

Notes

Hydration is a tricky thing when living in a very humid climate. East London reaches 94% humidity sometimes and this can play havoc with the results of my loaf in summer. Winter is definetly a more controlled climate but can also be tricky for proofing, which can take longer. If you are making this loaf then I assume you will be aware of these types of factors.

Course: bread