I've been making sourdough bread on and off for many years, using a starter I got from Boulette's Larder. I've been fairly successful using it with various permutations of no-knead bread (Mark Bittman - recipe, Cooks Illustrated). However, my absolute favorite bread is from Tartine Bakery. I got the original Tartine cookbook
, which is wonderful, but the bread recipe was conspicuously absent. When I heard that Chad Robertson was coming out with a book dedicated to Tartine's bread
, I preordered it, devoured it as soon as it arrived, and have been making 2 loaves of bread every weekend since then. As I've tweaked the recipe a bit, I wanted to document my current best effort.
Leaven
125 g water
50 g mature starter
50 g AP or bread flour
50 g white whole wheat flour (I use Trader Joe's or King Arthur but any whole wheat flour is fine)
Mix ingredients in bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and leave overnight on counter. The leaven should be nicely bubbly (it will even float).
Bread
750 g water (@ 80 degrees F) (about 3 1/2 cups)
200 g leaven
425 g AP flour
425 g bread flour (KA, Stone-Buhr)
150 g white whole wheat flour (Trader Joe's or King Arthur)
50 g rye flour
25 g Bob's Red Mill flaxseed meal
25 g milled flaxseed
(from Costco)
50 g water
20 g salt
2 medium-size skillets (I use cast-iron size 5 and 6)
5-7 quart enameled cast-iron dutch oven (I use a Le Crueset knock-off)
Instructions
Mix the 750 grams of water and leaven in very large bowl, squeezing by hand to break up clumps. Save remaining leaven with old starter.
Combine flours and flaxseed in medium bowl and mix with large balloon wisk.
Add flour mixture to water and leaven, mixing until all of the flour is moistened.
Let sit for 30 minutes for autolyse. In the mean time, combine the last bit of water with the salt.
After the flour has hydrated, add the water and salt at once and squeeze with hands to combine and ensure that the water and salt are fully mixed in.
Turn oven on for 1 minute to warm to about 80 degrees to aid proofing.
Cover the bowl and transfer to slightly warm oven for initial bulk fermentation. Every 30 minutes, remove the bowl, grab one side of the dough, stretch up and then fold over the remaining dough. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat three more times. Cover and return to the oven. Continue this process for about 4 hours until the dough is soft, light, and bubbly.
Dump the dough out on counter or marble slab using a bowl scraper, then sprinkle flour on the dough mound. Using dough scraper, divide in half. Flip each portion of dough over and bring the sides together so all of the sticky dough is inside and the outside is covered with flour. Using the dough scraper and hands, form each portion into a taut ball and leave for 30 minutes for the bench rest.
For the final shaping, flip the first dough ball over, grab the bottom by the corners, stretch toward you, and fold over the middle third. Then grab each side and pull outward, stretching until taut. Fold right side over then left side over the middle. Finally, pull the side furthest away up and fold over then without letting go, use thumbs to fold bottom up and over, making a nice, tight ball. Use dough scraper to shape the ball and further tighten it. Repeat with second ball.
Line two medium-size cast iron saute pans with plastic wrap. Set the first ball top-side down in one of the pans. Cover with another piece of plastic wrap. Repeat with the second ball. Place both pans in the refrigerator for 8-20 hours.
The next day, take one of the pans out of the fridge and set on counter. Put 5-7 quart enameled dutch oven with lid in oven and heat to 500 degrees. After about 25 minutes, remove the plastic wrap from the top of the dough. Take a large sheet of parchment paper (about 16 inches square) and place on top of dough. With one hand on top of the parchment paper, carefully invert the pan and gently slide the dough to the counter. Pull off the other sheet of plastic wrap. With a razor blade or lame cut a pattern (X or square) into the top of the dough. Carefully remove the hot pot from the oven and set the top aside. Grab two corners of the parchment paper with each hand and carefully lower into the hot pot. If you have a water spritzer, give a quick squeeze over the dough and then cover the pot and carefully return the dutch oven to the oven. Immediately turn the oven down to 425 and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the top and bake for another 25 minutes.
When done, gently invert the bread from the pot onto a wire rack, remove the parchment paper and then turn top-side up to cool. Now cover the enameled cast-iron dutch oven, place back in the oven, returning the oven to 500 degrees and bring out the second cast-iron skillet and repeat (you should be able to reuse the parchment paper). Of course, if you have two dutch ovens you can bake both loaves at the same time. Let each loaf cool about 2 hours before slicing (if you can!).
Check out this great video about Tartine Bread.
Tartine Bread from 4SP Films on Vimeo.
, which is wonderful, but the bread recipe was conspicuously absent. When I heard that Chad Robertson was coming out with a book dedicated to Tartine's bread, I preordered it, devoured it as soon as it arrived, and have been making 2 loaves of bread every weekend since then. As I've tweaked the recipe a bit, I wanted to document my current best effort.
Leaven
125 g water
50 g mature starter
50 g AP or bread flour
50 g white whole wheat flour (I use Trader Joe's or King Arthur but any whole wheat flour is fine)
Mix ingredients in bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and leave overnight on counter. The leaven should be nicely bubbly (it will even float).
Bread
750 g water (@ 80 degrees F) (about 3 1/2 cups)
200 g leaven
425 g AP flour
425 g bread flour (KA, Stone-Buhr)
150 g white whole wheat flour (Trader Joe's or King Arthur)
50 g rye flour
25 g Bob's Red Mill flaxseed meal
25 g milled flaxseed
(from Costco)50 g water
20 g salt
2 medium-size skillets (I use cast-iron size 5 and 6)
5-7 quart enameled cast-iron dutch oven (I use a Le Crueset knock-off)
Instructions
Mix the 750 grams of water and leaven in very large bowl, squeezing by hand to break up clumps. Save remaining leaven with old starter.
Combine flours and flaxseed in medium bowl and mix with large balloon wisk.
Add flour mixture to water and leaven, mixing until all of the flour is moistened.
Let sit for 30 minutes for autolyse. In the mean time, combine the last bit of water with the salt.
After the flour has hydrated, add the water and salt at once and squeeze with hands to combine and ensure that the water and salt are fully mixed in.
Turn oven on for 1 minute to warm to about 80 degrees to aid proofing.
Cover the bowl and transfer to slightly warm oven for initial bulk fermentation. Every 30 minutes, remove the bowl, grab one side of the dough, stretch up and then fold over the remaining dough. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat three more times. Cover and return to the oven. Continue this process for about 4 hours until the dough is soft, light, and bubbly.
Dump the dough out on counter or marble slab using a bowl scraper, then sprinkle flour on the dough mound. Using dough scraper, divide in half. Flip each portion of dough over and bring the sides together so all of the sticky dough is inside and the outside is covered with flour. Using the dough scraper and hands, form each portion into a taut ball and leave for 30 minutes for the bench rest.
For the final shaping, flip the first dough ball over, grab the bottom by the corners, stretch toward you, and fold over the middle third. Then grab each side and pull outward, stretching until taut. Fold right side over then left side over the middle. Finally, pull the side furthest away up and fold over then without letting go, use thumbs to fold bottom up and over, making a nice, tight ball. Use dough scraper to shape the ball and further tighten it. Repeat with second ball.
Line two medium-size cast iron saute pans with plastic wrap. Set the first ball top-side down in one of the pans. Cover with another piece of plastic wrap. Repeat with the second ball. Place both pans in the refrigerator for 8-20 hours.
The next day, take one of the pans out of the fridge and set on counter. Put 5-7 quart enameled dutch oven with lid in oven and heat to 500 degrees. After about 25 minutes, remove the plastic wrap from the top of the dough. Take a large sheet of parchment paper (about 16 inches square) and place on top of dough. With one hand on top of the parchment paper, carefully invert the pan and gently slide the dough to the counter. Pull off the other sheet of plastic wrap. With a razor blade or lame cut a pattern (X or square) into the top of the dough. Carefully remove the hot pot from the oven and set the top aside. Grab two corners of the parchment paper with each hand and carefully lower into the hot pot. If you have a water spritzer, give a quick squeeze over the dough and then cover the pot and carefully return the dutch oven to the oven. Immediately turn the oven down to 425 and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the top and bake for another 25 minutes.
When done, gently invert the bread from the pot onto a wire rack, remove the parchment paper and then turn top-side up to cool. Now cover the enameled cast-iron dutch oven, place back in the oven, returning the oven to 500 degrees and bring out the second cast-iron skillet and repeat (you should be able to reuse the parchment paper). Of course, if you have two dutch ovens you can bake both loaves at the same time. Let each loaf cool about 2 hours before slicing (if you can!).
Check out this great video about Tartine Bread.
Tartine Bread from 4SP Films on Vimeo.
, cut in half. For each half, flip the dough over and fold to seal the unfloured surface inside. Roll and stretch to make a taught, round ball.