Sourdough #26 -Aged Cheese and Jalepeno

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. ☺

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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

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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.

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