Project Description

Old friend, talented chef, baker, blogger, and writer – Francis-Olive – puts Community Grains flour to the test with this great sourdough hearth bread recipe. She was generous enough to allow us to repost it here, but you should definitely check out her full post (with lots more gorgeous pics!) and BOTH of her blogs: Farm to Table Geek and Tartine Bread Experiment.

Francis-Olive’s Hard Red Winter Wheat Boule

Makes one loaf.

Ingredients

• 40g starter
• 100g Community Grains Hard Red Winter Wheat Flour
• 100g water

For the dough:

• 240g levain
• 500g Community Grains Hard Red Winter Wheat Flour
• 400g water
• 15g vital wheat gluten
• 12g salt
• 25g extra virgin olive oil

Baking Instructions

The day before:

1. Make the levain: Stir ingredients together in a medium bowl and let sit for 6 hours.
2. Make the dough: In a large bowl, whisk the flour and vital wheat gluten together. Set aside. Dissolve the levain in 375g of the water. Add the flour/vital wheat gluten to the melted levain and mix until you arrive at a cohesive mass. Autolyse for 1 hour.
3. After the autolyse, add the salt and the remaining 25g of water. Squish and knead until all of the salt and water is incorporated. Add the olive oil and do the same squish-knead until it’s fully incorporated.
4. Bulk Fermentation: For the next two hours, ferment at cool room temperature, performing a series of turns every half-hour.
5. After the 2-hour ferment with turns, pop the dough in the fridge and ferment unmolested for another 2 hours.
6. Bench, shape, proof: After the 4-hour bulk fermentation is complete, turn the dough out onto a workspace that has been liberally dusted with organic brown rice flour, form into a loose round and rest 10 minutes.

7. After 10 minutes, form into a tight boule, then pop into a bowl lined with a linen that has been liberally dusted with brown rice flour. Ferment in the fridge for 15 hours.

Baking Day

1. One hour before you plan to bake the boule, preheat the oven installed with a baking stone and both portions of your cast iron combo cooker.
2. After an hour, unearth your dough, score, and slide into the shallow end of the comb cooker. Pop the lid on, slide into the oven, turn it down to 475ºF and steam for 30 minutes.
3. After the 30-minute steam, remove the lid, marvel at your beauty, turn the oven down to 450ºF and bake until chestnut brown.
4. Be sure to rest the loaf for at least 2 hours before slicing.