Sunday, November 25, 2012

36 Hour Post Thanksgiving Sourdough Comfort Loaf


After an awesome expat Thanksgiving my wife has inexplicably left town to have a "weekend with her girlfriends" in "Barcelona" while the kids and I eat leftovers for two days. (She may in fact be hiding in a nearby hotel, taking a very long nap. I have no proof either way.) 

This may sound decadent of her, but she has been away from the kids literally two times ever. Once for a business trip and once for a funeral. Never for fun. And although I am pretty much a blubbering puddle of stupid without her, I thought it wise to acquiesce to her needs in this specific instance, hoping that it might be a good way to bank some points for future unspecified negotiations. ("Sweetheart, don't you think what our kitchen really needs is a six level steam injected bread oven?") 

So while she was ordering rioja and tapas from Alejandro, the handsome waiter who "doesn't speak english", I decided to lock the kids in their room with a stack of coloring books and half a leftover sweet potato pie distract myself by making bread. 



This loaf is a 10% rye sourdough boule made with a combination of techniques taken from David Snyder's San Joaquin Sourdough and txfarmer's 36 Hour Baguettes

Formula:
150g  active firm sourdough starter (1 part starter, 3 parts water, 5 parts bread flour)
450g bread flour
50g whole rye flour
360g water
11g salt

Method:
1. Mix the flours and water to a shaggy mass and let rest for 12 hours. At the same time refresh your starter.
2. Mix the now active starter and salt into the dough using the "fold in the bowl" method. 
3. Wait 30 minutes then do to more fold in a bowls at 30 minute intervals.
4. Do two "stretch and folds" on a bench or in your hands at 30 minute intervals.
5. Let the dough rest at room temp until it has gained about a third in size, about one more hour.
6. Put in the fridge for 18 to 24 hours (I did about 22 hours).
7. Turn the dough out onto a lightly flour surface and pre shape into a round.
8. After one hour, shape into a boule and place seam side up in a floured banneton for about 45 minutes or until it passes the poke test. Preheat a cast iron pot in a preheated oven at 480 for 30 minutes.
9. Tuen the dough out onto a strip of parchment paper, score and place in cast iron pot with the lid for 30 minutes.
10. Remove the lid and bake for another 10 minutes or it has an internal temperature of 210 fahrenheit.
11. Turn the oven off, use the parchment paper to remove the boule from the pot and place directly on a rack in the oven with the door ajar for another 15 minutes. 
12. Cool completely before slicing.


It was very tasty and made great leftover sandwiches. I'm sure my wife will be super jealous and wish she had never left for the weekend to have "fun" with her "friends".

Submitted to YeastSpotting 



3 comments:

  1. ps, ryan, i have some formulae for whole spelt loaves on the blog (not many posts behind this one actually). have a look!

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  2. Just finished eating about 1/4 of this loaf. As a "semi-retirement" project, I have been making sourdough bread almost daily for about 18 months. This is now my favorite, and it will be my new go to recipe. Thank you so much!

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