White Levain Tomato Bread:
For two loafs
400g white wheat flour levain (50% flour, 50% water)
540g H2O
800g white wheat flour
21g sea salt (not iodized)
150g dried salted tomatos
Schedule
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Day 1: Wake up levain
- in the morning take the levain out of the fridge and feed it: one part levain, two parts water, two parts white wheat flour; ideally leave it in a room with about 21-22º C
- in the evening: feed levain again; make sure you have at least 80g levain at the end
Cover the levain (and later also the dough) while it rests.
You can of course skip day 1 if you have active levain outside your fridge that’s been fed. according to this schedule -
Day 2: Get the dough into the baskets
- in the morning: feed the levain; make sure you have at least 400g levain at the end
- about 7-8 hours later: autolyse
- mix the water at 32-35º C with 400g levain; stir with your finger until the levain ist mostly dissolved
- add 800g of white wheat flour; mix with your hands or a dough scrapper until the flour is fully absorbed
- sprinkle the 21g sea salt on top of the dough; don’t mix it in
- about 20-30 minutes later:
- mix the salt with the dough using the fold and pincer method
- optionally: add the dried salted tomatos and also fold them into the dough with the same method; next time I bake this bread I will first cut the dried tomato slices into smaller pieces so they’re more evenly spread in the bread
- in the next hour or two:
- add three folds to the dough; I ususally do the first one after 10 minutes or so, and the next one 20 minutes after the first one, and the last one another 20 minutes later
- you can also do the folds later, but make sure to leave the dough rest for at least the last hour before shaping it
- about 3-4 hours after mixing: shaping the loaves
- get the dough out of its container (I use a dough scrapper)
- divide it into two about equal pieces
- shape them into loaves and put them seal side down into proofing baskets
- cover the proofing baskets (I use plastic bags and wrap the opening of the bags underneath the basket)
- put the covered loaves into the fridge
-
Day 3: Bake!
- 45 minutes before baking put a Dutch oven into your oven and pre-heat to 245º C
- about 12-16 hours after shaping: bake
- put a baking sheet onto the kitchen counter
- take loaf #1 out of the fridge and empty it onto the baking sheet (tap the proofing basket such that the seal side is now at the top)
- take the Dutch oven out of the oven, lift loaf #1 with the baking sheet into the Dutch oven, put the lid on
- bake for 30 minutes with the lid on and about 20-30 minutes with the lid off depending on how dark you want your crust
- after you’re done baking, put the loaf onto baking tray, let it cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing
- do the same with loaf #2; maybe give the Dutch oven (with the lid) a re-heating boost by waiting 5 minutes before baking #2