My #26 Sourdough is going to be a mixture of a Leicester 6 months old aged cheese added with some spicy note and Manchego (sheep's milk cheese) with Jalapeño.
If you landed on this page first for my sourdough adventure, you may find that there is not a lot of information here to help with if this is your first time making sourdough. You may want to go to "Sourdough #5: Olive Sourdough" for more information on it. But if you are a sourdough fanatic like myself, thank you for joining me in making my sourdough #23.
This post is written in the assumption that you are familiar with working with sourdough and simply want to be part of this bake. ☺
Let's Begin
Yield: 1 x 700 g loaf
Levain
60 g Active Starter
60 g Water 24°C
10 g Spelt Flour
50 g Bakers Flour
Note: Before preparing Levain, ensure that you feed your starter on a 1:2:3 ratio (Starter : Water : Flour) twice a day and 3 days prior to your official bake. This will ensure that your Starter is highly active when you use them in your Levain and ultimately in the Final Dough. This is especially important if your Starter has been sitting dormant in the fridge for a period of time.
Final Dough
300 g White Baker's Flour (Manitoba -14.5% Protein)
20 g Whole Wheat Baker's Flour
265 g Water at 24°C
7 g Fine Salt
80 g Peaked Levain
Estimated 78% Hydration
9 am Prepare Levain
Add all the ingredients together to prepare the Levain, ensuring that they are well mixed through. Transfer into a clean jar then press them down to the base with a spoon or a spatula. Cover with the lid without sealing it tight. Place a marker to mark the initial level of the Levain to monitor the progress.
The Levain at this stage is maintained at 24°C. The estimated time that the Levain will be ready to use in the Final Dough is approximately 5 to 6 hours depending on the ambient of your kitchen environment and how active your Levain is.
Note: Do not at any point try to place the Levain at a warm place as you want to maintain a steady growth of the natural leaven for optimal taste profile.
An hour prior to the Levain being estimated to be ready, start the autolyzing process below.
To know if the Levain is ready, it should triple in volume and looks light at airy.
1 pm Autolyze
An hour prior to the Levain being ready, start the autolyzing process by mixing in the flour in the Final Dough Recipe with the water until just combined. At this point, the dough will feel slack and that is completely normal. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and leave to rest until the Levain is ready
Note: It is possible that the Levain would not be ready after an hour from when the autolyzing process has been performed. Do not be tempted to proceed to the next step if the Levain is not ready. The autolysed flour can be left at this state for a period of 12 hours or more, so there is no need to rush the process, simply just let the autolyzed dough sit until the Levain is ready. 😄
3 pm Add Levain
Add in the required amount of Levain into the autolyzed dough and mix until well combined. You can either do this with a dough whisk or with your hands lightly wet with some water.
Scrape the bowl down, cover and leave to rest for 30 minutes.
3:30 pm Add Salt
After the 30 minutes rest from when the Levain has been added, the dough would start to develop some elasticity and strength. This is the benefit of doing the autolyze as it allows the gluten to align and strengthen without the need for kneading.
Sprinkle the salt on top of the dough. Dap you hands with some water then spread the salt to help them dissolve. Mix the salt by pinching the salt into the dough. You can dap your hands with more water to prevent them sticking too much but be careful not to incorporate too much water into the dough than necessary.
Scrape the bowl, cover and leave to rest for another 30 minutes.
4pm Lamination and Inclusions
Lightly damp the work surface with some water wide enough area to stretch the dough to prevent the dough from sticking to the surface. (Be careful not to saturate the work surface and this can cause the dough to slide too much and make it really hard to stretch out).
Gently stretch the dough from the centre outwards to a rectangle ensuring that they are as even in thickness as possible.
At this point, it does not matter how wide the rectangle is. You just want to stretch it out enough to scatter the inclusions. I go by the length of shoulder and the width approximately 80% of the length.
Scatter the cubed cheeses and jalapenos.
Starting from the top shorter end width-wise, fold over so that the end meets the centre. Fold the opposite side over to cover the top. You will now have something like a flat strip. Now, fold the left/right end of the strip to the centre, then fold the opposite end over to completely cover the top.
Transfer the dough into a lightly greased container. Cover loosely with a lid and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
Note: By doing the lamination, you will notice the dough is building up some structure as the dough feels tight and not slack.
4:30 pm First Coil Fold
Perform the first stretch and fold by lifting the dough from the centre with both your hands. the two ends will start to drop down. Tuck the both ends under to tighten the dough. Turn the dough 90degrees and repeat the process one more time with the other two ends treating the dough like it is a square.
Cover the dough and rest for 30 minutes.
5 pm Second Coil Fold
Perform the second coil fold
Cover the dough and rest for 30 minutes.
5:30pm Third Coil Fold
Perform the third coil fold
Cover the dough and rest for 30 minutes.
6pm Fourth Coil Fold
Perform the second coil fold.
This time, 90 minutes untouched.
7:30pm Final Shape
Lightly dust the top of the dough with some flour then gently tilt the container over the shape the dough as shown in the video. Place the dough into a generously dusted banneton basket then cover the top loosely with plastic. Leave the dough at room temperature for 1 hour.
Note: Depending on the ambient of your kitchen. If it is particularly humid and warm, you can place the sourdough straight into the fridge to retard.
8:30pm Retard
Place the covered shaped sourdough into the fridge and leave to cold ferment overnight for at least 12 hours and up to 16 hours.
8 am the next day Pre heat the oven
The next morning, an hour prior to baking, pre heat the cast iron pot with its lid in the oven at 230°C.
9 am Scoring and Baking
When the oven is pre heated, remove the sourdough from the fridge and turn it over onto a parchment paper. Score the top then place it over to the cast iron pot. Holding the lid close to the pot, spray some water to create an initial steam then quickly close the lid tight.
Carefully place the cast iron pot back into the oven and bake with the lid for 20 minutes.
After the 20 minutes, remove the lid and bake for a further 30-35 minutes or until the desired crust colour is achieved.
Transfer the sourdough on to the wire rack to fully cool for at least 2 hours before cutting.
