50/50 Fresh Milled, Long Ferment Sourdough Loaf

This is my favorite basic sourdough loaf.  It has the benefit and flavor boost of fresh milled whole wheat flour, but a little lighter and finer texture due to the addition of commercial bread flour.   While I try to eat as much 100% fresh milled as possible, this loaf is the best of both worlds.  The method is imperative since fresh milled flour requires a little longer to absorb liquid and begin to develop the gluten that's more difficult to do with fresh milled.  I'm going to list my typical timing, but obviously you can make this work to your schedule by noting the time difference between steps.  Day one is for doing the levain and autolyze (I'll explain this later) then mixing/soaking, bulk fermentation and forming.  On day two, you'll put your loaves in the refrigerator overnight to do the long fermentation phase, with the final bake taking place sometime in the afternoon/evening.  You could easily have bread for lunch or dinner.  This recipe makes two  900 gram loaves.

This recipe works well with ad-ins.  One of my favorite's is blueberries and lemon zest.  It's also outstanding with cubes of cheddar cheese and slices of jalapeno. Use your imagination!

**Please note that this recipe was formulated with the fresh milled flour portion being 100% hard white wheat berries.  I have made it with many different combinations of other wheat, so don't be afraid to come up with your own blend.  My favorite is 25% spelt,25% hard red wheat 50% hard white wheat. 

I'm going to list his recipe in reverse from the normal format, as it's imperative that you follow the method to get best results.  Please read through and plan your time accordingly.

Method:

Day One:

8:00 am:  Feed starter (also known as building your levain).  My starter is fed with hard red wheat exclusively, but any starter will do.  You'll need 104 grams for this recipe, so feed your starter accordingly to accommodate this amount.

8:30 am (or as soon as you finish feeding your starter): combine your FMF, Bread Flour and water (I like to make my water as hot as it will come out of the tap, I find that this helps the flour to absorb it a little faster and by the time you finish your dough it will have cooled sufficiently to make an accommodating environment for your starter.   Mix it well for about 3-4 minutes, you'll want to do this with your dough hook in place.  This helps start the gluten activation process a bit.  After 3-4 minutes, turn the mixer off and cover your bowl (preferably with plastic wrap) to prevent drying out.  Now you'll walk away for about three hours and just let it sit.  This will allow your flour to hydrate and your starter to rise.  Your starter will take anywhere from 2-4 hours to reach peak, depending on the temperature in your house.  You're looking to the starter to have doubled in size and for it to have a slightly rounded dome on top.

Noon (or as soon as yours starter has reached peak):  It's time to get kneading!  Uncover your flour mixture (autolyze) and add your starter (levain).  Knead these two for about 5 minutes on low speed to combine.  Add your salt and continue to knead until it passes the windowpane test . To do this, grab a little piece of your dough and stretch it gently until it forms a thin windowpane.  If your dough breaks before it gets thin, keep kneading.  If you've never done this, it would be worth your time to google the "windowpane test", or watch this video so you can see what it should generally look like.  Due to the nature of fresh milled flour, you will likely need to knead your dough for longer than you usually do to develop the gluten properly.  Depending on several factors (humidity, protein content in your wheat kernels etc) sometimes it will take longer than you're used to (I've kneaded for 15-20 minutes before) to get the gluten developed. 

12:30 pm (ish):  Once your dough can pass the window pane test, it's time for bulk fermentation.  You'll want to place your dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover it with plastic wrap until it's just shy of doubled in size.  This can take anywhere from 1.5-4 hours.  The key is to look for your dough to be slightly domed on top.   If it's flat to the edge of the container, let it go until it's domed in the center and very slightly pulling away from the edge of the bowl.

4:00 pm (ish):  Once your dough has reached peak, dump it gently onto your countertop.  Don't flour the surface, you want there to be some tension when you're forming your loaves.  If you've never done this, please watch this video, you'll thank yourself when you pull your perfect loaf out of the oven :-).  Place your formed loaf in a banneton, or towel lined and floured bowl.  Cover it with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge overnight.  Ideally 24 hours. 

Day Two (anytime that works for you):

The longer you let your dough ferment in the fridge, the better and tastier it gets, so don’t bake it until you need to.  In fact, you can let it stay in the fridge for two days if you want.  It will take about 45 minutes to bake each loaf, unless you happen to have two Dutch ovens so plan accordingly.  After you finish one loaf, you will want to let the dutch oven reheat in the oven for 15 minutes or so before doing your second loaf.  I have baked my loaves as early as 7 am on day two and they still tasted great, but I prefer to give it a full 24 hours or more in the fridge.

As early as 8:00 am or as late as you want…

Preheat the oven to 450* with a covered Dutch oven placed inside.  Let it preheat for a good 20 minutes in order to let the Dutch oven heat through. 

Remove your dough from the fridge and gently turn it out onto a sheet of parchment paper.  Score the top and place it in the Dutch oven along with several ice cubes.  Make sure to place the ice cubes between the parchment paper and the dutch oven.  Place the lid on the Dutch oven and close the oven door.  Immediately turn the oven off and set your timer for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes, turn the heat back on to 425 and set your timer for 20 minutes.  When the timer goes off again, remove the lid and bake uncovered for about 20 more minutes, or until a thermometer inserted reads 195* or higher.  Ideally you don't want it to get over 205*.

Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack, or on the stove top grate.  You want your bread to have some air around it while it cools.  Let cool for AT LEAST an hour before cutting into it.

Ingredients:

484 grams of bread flour

435 grams of fresh milled flour (see notes at the top regarding flour blend)

781 grams of hot water

19 grams of Salt

104 grams of Sourdough starter at peak (also known as levain)