Seeded sourdough bread
Equipment
- large mixing bowl
- dough whisk or spatula
- Banneton or bowl about 18 to 20 cm wide.
- Grignette/Lame or sharp knife
- Cloche if you have one. If not a then just use a baking tray. The baking instruction will differ
Ingredients
The Leaven
- 100 g sourdough starter preferably rye flour starter
- 25 g rye flour if unavailable, use all strong white
- 25 g strong white flour
- 50 ml lukewarm water
The Dough
- 275 ml lukewarm water
- 250 g strong white flour
- 150 g strong wholemeal flour
- 50 g mixed seeds: flax/linseed, sunflower, pumpkin
- 15 g olive/sunflower/rapeseed oil
- 10 g salt
- more rye flour for work surface and dusting
Instructions
Set the leaven
- The sourdough starter should be quite active. If it has been kept in the fridge, then when taken out, it should have been fed twice in the previous 24 hours
- Put the sourdough starter in the mixing bowl and add the 50ml water. Use a dough whisk (or forks) to mix the starter into the water.
- Add the rye and white flour and whisk again. Cover with a cloth and leave for 4 hours.
The Autolyse
- Add 250ml lukewarm water and olive oil to the leaven and mix the leaven with the dough whisk.
- Add the flour and seeds and then mix with dough whisk or spatula until the flour and water are combined. If not all the flour is combined or the dough is too dry then add a little of the extra water. Cover the bowl with a cloth and leave to rest for 1 hour.
Proofing
- Salt: Sprinkle the salt on the surface of the dough and with your hand wet with cold water, squeeze your hand through the dough 4 times. Leave covered for 1 hour.
- Stretch and fold: Again with wet hands, pull the dough from underneath, stretching and folding over the top. Turn the bowl 180º and repeat. Turn the bowl another quarter of a turn and repeat the stretching of the dough from underneath to top, and finally turn the bowl 180º and repeat. This tightens the dough and you will feel the dough become more difficult to stretch. You may choose to turn and stretch twice more depending on the feel of the dough. Leave covered for 1 hour.
- Repeat this stretching and folding each hour, 2 more times.
- Shaping: Empty the dough onto a floured surface. Rye flour is best for this. Shape the dough roughly into a ball. From the side furthest away from you, pull the bottom of the dough on to the top. Then from the nearest side to you, similarly pull the dough from the bottom to the top. Then do the same from the left and right.
- Turn the dough over and make sure the surface of the dough is thoroughly covered in rye flour. Turn back upright again with the joins on top and place the dough in a prepared banneton or bowl (lightly oiled and dusted with rye flour). Cover the banneton/bowl with a linen cloth or cotton cover and place in the fridge. It will rise slowly overnight.
Baking
- In the morning, take the dough out of the fridge and heat the oven to 220ºC
- In the instructions that follow, you need to use a sharp blade to make some slashes in the surface of the dough. This is not just for decoration. The slashes in the surface enable the bread to rise. Depending on how tight your dough is at this point, some shash patterns could weaken the strength of the shape. This would make the loaf spread (so appearing to rise less) during baking. It will still taste fine and it does not affect the texture. 3 parallel slashes would be a safe option.
Cloche
- Put the cloche inside the oven while it is heating up. Leave the cloche to heat up thoroughly - at least 20 minutes from when the oven has reached temperature
- Take the cloche out of the oven, remove the lid and tip the dough, by quickly turning the banneton/bowl up side down into the base of the cloche.
- Sprinke white flour over the surface of the dough and gently rub to smooth over. Use a lame to slash the desired pattern into the surface of the dough and replace the cloche lid and return to the oven.
- Bake for 35 minutes. Remove the lid of the cloche and bake for a further 5 minutes
Baking on a tray
- Put a baking dish full of water in the bottom of the oven while it is heating up.
- Tip the dough on to baking tray by quickly turning the banneton/bowl up side down.
- Sprinke white flour over the surface of the dough and gently rub to smooth over. Use a lame to slash the desired pattern into the surface of the dough and put the baking tray in the oven.
- Bake for 40 minutes at 220ºC.
Notes
Banneton or bowl?
A banneton should be well coated in rye flour on the inside. This is achieved by dampening the basket with a water spray, tipping in a small amount of flour and smoothing it all around the basket so that it sticks. Leave to dry and repeat the process over a few days. Once your banneton is conditioned in this way, do not wash it.
If you are using a bowl during the proofing stage, give the inside a very light coating of oil. Tip in a small amount of rye flour and rotate the bowl around until the inside is completely coated in flour. Instead you of oil and flour you could use a linen tea towel. Rub flour into the surface of the tea towel and use it to line the bowl. Do not use a cotton tea towel - only linen.
A banneton should be well coated in rye flour on the inside. This is achieved by dampening the basket with a water spray, tipping in a small amount of flour and smoothing it all around the basket so that it sticks. Leave to dry and repeat the process over a few days. Once your banneton is conditioned in this way, do not wash it.
If you are using a bowl during the proofing stage, give the inside a very light coating of oil. Tip in a small amount of rye flour and rotate the bowl around until the inside is completely coated in flour. Instead you of oil and flour you could use a linen tea towel. Rub flour into the surface of the tea towel and use it to line the bowl. Do not use a cotton tea towel - only linen.
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