Dark Khorasan Wheat Sourdough Bread
I've always wanted to explore the topic of flavour in bread. You don't need spices or other additives. You can conjure up great flavours with flour, water and salt. This recipe is about the Maillard reaction. This is basically toasting the bread. This produces great flavours such as coffee, caramel or chocolate.
It takes a bit of effort to darken wheat bread like this, but it's really worth it! It's a completely different game!
| Ingredient | Weight | % |
|---|---|---|
| Wheat Flour | 80g | 100 |
| Water | 80g | 100 |
| Active Sourdough Starter | 10g | 13 |
Levain
- Fermentation Time: Overnight at room temperature
The evening before, mix wheat flour, water, and active sourdough starter. Let it ferment overnight at room temperature.
| Ingredient | Weight | % |
|---|---|---|
| Wheat Flour | 640g | 100 |
| Khorasan Wheat Flour | 160g | 25 |
| Water | 600g | 94 |
| Levain | 170g | 27 |
Main Dough
- Mixing Time: 10 minutes
The next day, mix the levain with the wheat flour, khorasan wheat, and 600g of water. Use ice cubes if using a mixer to control the temperature, and hold back some water for later.
| Ingredient | Weight |
|---|---|
| Salt | 16g |
Add Salt and Remaining Water
- Mixing Time: 5 minutes at max speed
Add the salt and the remaining water in small portions. Mix for 5 minutes at maximum speed until the window pane test passes.
Bulk Fermentation
- Fermentation Time: 6-8 hours with coil folds every 30 minutes for the first 2 hours.
Transfer the dough to a greased container and perform a set of coil folds every 30 minutes for the first two hours. Bulk ferment for about 4-6 hours afterwards.
Shaping
- After Pre-Shaping: Rest 20 minutes, than final shaping
Divide the dough into two balls and shape them with tension using a dough scraper. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes before placing them into proofing baskets.
Cold Proof
- Refrigeration Time: Overnight
Place the shaped dough into proofing baskets and let them cold proof in the fridge overnight.
Baking
- Preheat Temperature: 250°C/482°F
- Baking Time: 10 minutes at 250°C / 482°F with steam, then 35-40 minutes at 230°C/446°F
Preheat the oven. As you see in my video I'm using 2 pizza steels. There is one where the bread goes on and another one that will help to trap some steam. You can also use an upside down baking tray. I've placed another baking tray on the bottom of the oven. To create steam, put boiling water on top.
Score the loaves and place them onto a pizza steel.
Add steam and bake for 10 minutes at 250°C/482°F. Then remove the second pizza steel trapping the steam and bake for another 35-40 minutes at 230°C/446°F.
Let the bread cool down before enjoying!
