Instructions
Ingredients:
For the Overnight Starter:
- 1 cup (8 ounces) warm water, 75°F to 80°F
- ⅛ teaspoon instant yeast
- 1 ½ cups (7.5 ounces) bread flour
- 1/3 cup (2.5 ounces) stone ground rye flour
For the Dough:
- 1 ½ cups (12 ounces) warm water, 75°F to 80°F
- ½ teaspoon instant yeast
- 2 ½ cups (11 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (4 ounces) whole wheat flour
- ¾ teaspoon salt
Instructions:
- To make the Overnight Starter: Dissolve the yeast in the water. Stir in the flours using a rubber spatula or your hand and a dough scraper to make soft dough.
- Cover tightly and place the starter in a draft-free place for 10 to 16 hours.
- To make the Dough: Pour the water into a large wide bowl. You’ll mix and knead the dough in this bowl. Add the overnight starter and the yeast. Let is soften for a minute or two. Add the flours and salt.
- Using a rubber spatula or a plastic dough scraper, stir the water into the flour.
- Scrape the edge of the bowl and stir until all of the flour is moistened. Keep scraping and folding the dough over onto itself for 3 to 4 minutes until you have a moist, sticky mass. Let the dough sit for 5 to 10 minutes. As the dough sits, the starches in the flour will absorb some of the water in the dough.
- Generously flour a work surface or large silicone baking mat. Scrape the sticky dough onto the floured surface, then sprinkle it with some flour. With floured fingertips and a dough scraper, scrape the dough into a round shape. Lift up the dough with one hand, stretch it then fold it over itself. Keep lifting and folding for 4 to 5 minutes. The dough will start to come alive under your hands but it will still be very sticky. Resist the urge to add too much flour.
- Gather the dough up into a loose ball. Place it in a bowl or plastic container. Cover and let the dough ferment and rise until double in bulk, for 2 ½ to 3 hours.
- Scrape the dough out onto a well floured work surface or large silicone baking mat. With floured hands, gather the dough into a round shape by tucking in the dough on each side. Then place your hands under the top edge of the rough ball of dough. Pull it towards you, dragging the dough along the work surface to stretch it tightly.
- Generously flour a cloth-lined banneton. Or line a 12-inch bowl with a clean linen towel. Flour the towel generously. Slide your hands under the formed dough and plop it into the banneton or cloth-lined-bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel and let the dough proof until it has gained 50% in volume. It will be soft but still spring back slowly when pressed with your finger. This may take from 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how warm your kitchen is.
- Thirty minutes before baking, put the oven rack on the second shelf from the bottom of the oven and place a baking stone on the rack. Place a small pan for water on the floor of the oven and preheat it to 475°F.
- Uncover the loaf and invert it onto a peel or the back of a baking sheet that has been sprinkled generously with rice flour. If it seems to stick to the cloth in the banneton or bowl, use your fingers to pry the dough gently from the basket. Don’t worry if you slightly dent the loaf. Unless the surface is torn, most dents will disappear once the bread is baked.
- Make 4 slashes across the top of the loaf, 2 horizontal and 2 vertical, to form a large square in the center. Dust lightly with flour if you like.
- Pour about ½ cup of boiling water into the pan in the oven then slide the loaf directly onto the baking stone. Bake for 20 minutes. Then rotate the bread so that it bakes evenly for another 35 to 40 minutes. Bake until the crust is a deep, dark brown and the bread makes a nice hollow sound when tapped on the bottom, for about 55 minutes to an hour. Or, insert an instant-read thermometer into the bread, and if the internal temperature is 205°F to 210°F the bread is done.
- Remove the bread from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool completely before cutting.
Recipe by Priscilla of Priscilla Martel
