Another pic of my first real success with the new method. Fresh ground Whole Wheat and Rye starter married with Pain a l'ancienne techniques to make a wonderful and unique loaf.
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Levain a l'ancienne...
I would be curious to try this. Can you post the the reciepe and methond you used.
That's a great looking crust. How was your crumb?
double wicked
looking loaf of bread! Well Done.
Very nice bake. I too would be interested in the formula.
John
Lovely! the formula pls. :)
-Khalid
Beautiful! Another request for the formula, please! :D
....also, it'd help if you didn't give the same title (Subject) to multiple blog entries.... Sorry for so demanding, but your loaves are worth it! :D
I just logged in for the first time since posting. Silly me, I didn't think anyone would really post to my little blog. Guess I was wrong. I'm honored :) I'll write another post when I can that explains the overall method. It is really quite simple - and that's what I was going for. Exceedingly low maintenance, incredible results. The best loaves I've made have invariably come from a whole hearted cold-mix straight into the fridge approach, the trick is just combining a levain with the other technique. Anyway - I'll write more on it in a couple days. Thanks again. I've marveled at your various loaves with envy - I'm thrilled to make a small contribution to the lexicon :)
The basics:
100% flour:
– (70% white hard spring wheat, 20% fresh ground whole hard spring wheat, 10% fresh ground whole rye)
82% water: (this includes the leaven which gets added later and is kept at 100% hydration)
2.1% salt:
2% diastatic malt:
16% leaven: (fed and kept at 100% hydration)
– (80% fresh ground Whole Wheat and 20% Fresh ground Rye) for all refreshments
Day 1
8:00 a.m.: All ingredients except the leaven are roughly mixed with cold water, and immediately put into the fridge. Note that I do not work to build the structure and develop the gluten at this stage. I just almost slop it together and get it into the fridge.
(Note that, of course, the fresh ground whole wheat starter is tended and fed throughout the day to achieve a nice ripe state by 11 p.m. At that point, the starter is given its final refreshment using only 8% starter to new food to keep it young and punchy for the morning.)
Day 2
8:00 a.m.: The dough is pulled from the fridge and allowed to warm for an hour.
9:00 a.m.: Mix in the leaven.
Bulk fermentation: 4 hours roughly
Here - I do a simple series of stretch and folds every 30 minutes for the first 2 1/2 hours to really build the structure - (it takes about 60 seconds each time). The last 90 minutes I give it one turn after 45 minutes, then do a light pre-shaping after 30 minutes, bench it for 15, then do the final shaping.
Proofing: about 4 hours
- proof in your favorite banneton or however you like it
- score
Baking: about an hour for this 600g loaf
– Bake in a pre-heated cloche at 500 degrees for 50 minutes
– Take off the lid, lower to 460, and finish baking that beauty for as long as it takes - get the loaf to 212 :)
Cool... and enjoy.