Sourdough (tropical)
A variation on the sourdough for a hot kitchen (~30 °C), using plain AP flour and regular whole wheat flour. Fermentation runs about two to two and a half times faster than in a cool kitchen, so the levain is faster, the autolysis and bulk are shorter, and everything is made with cold water. The overnight rest in the fridge provides most of the flavour.
The recipe below makes a single loaf of about 1.14 kg of dough, at roughly 73% hydration (counting the water and flour in the starter and levain).
Aim for a dough temperature of about 26 °C after mixing; use fridge-cold water to get there. Judge the bulk by the dough, not the clock.
- 14:30 prepare the levain
- 17:15 start autolysis
- 18:00 mix the levain and the salt into the dough
- 18:30 fold one
- 19:00 fold two
- 19:30 fold three
- 20:15 fold four
- 21:00 pre-shape
- 21:20 shape
- 21:45 refrigerate
The whole thing will be ready for baking from about 07:30 on day two, and keeps in the fridge until about 14:00.
For the levain (1:2:2):
- 30 g starter
- 30 g AP flour
- 30 g whole wheat flour
- 60 g cold water
This makes about 150 g of levain, all of which goes into the dough. Keep the starter in the fridge and take it out only to build the levain.
For the dough:
- 540 g AP flour
- 35 g whole wheat flour
- 380 g cold water (~10 °C)
- 20 g cold water (~10 °C)
- 13 g fine (sea) salt
- all of the levain
The numbered steps below correspond to the schedule above.
- Prepare the levain by mixing all the ingredients together in a bowl. Use an elastic band around your pot to remember the baseline. It should be doubled and domed in about 3.5 hours; don’t wait past the peak.
- Start the autolysis. Mix the flours and the 380 g of water until all the flour is wet and you have something of a shaggy dough. Cover with a moist towel and let it rest for 45 minutes.
- When the levain is ready, spread it over the dough. Wet your fingers and gently press it in by poking holes, then fold the dough over itself until it is incorporated. Dissolve the salt in the 20 g of water, pour it over the dough, and use the slap and fold technique for 4 to 5 minutes until smooth. Check that the dough is at about 26 °C.
- Fold one; do two coil folds. Wet your hands and lift the dough out of the bowl, drape it back over itself. Turn it 90º and repeat. Let it rest for 30 minutes.
- Fold two; repeat as in fold one. Rest for 30 minutes.
- Fold three; repeat as in fold one. Rest for 45 minutes.
- Fold four; repeat as in fold one. This is the last fold. Rest until the bulk is done: about 50 to 75% growth, a domed top, bubbles at the edges. Check from 20:45; this is usually about 2.5 to 3 hours after mixing.
- Lift the dough out of the bowl onto the countertop and pre-shape. Let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Shape the dough.
- Put it into a banneton, wrap it loosely in a plastic bag (not touching the dough), and refrigerate immediately for 10 to 16 hours.
Then, on day two:
- Preheat the oven to 250 °C, with the dutch oven inside, for at least 20 minutes. In this heat, bake early in the morning.
- Take out the dutch oven, sprinkle flour on the part where you will bake the bread.
- Flop the dough directly from the banneton into the dutch oven; skip any parchment paper.
- Sprinkle with white flour and score the dough.
- Close the dutch oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
- Take off the lid and lower the temperature to 220 °C.
- Bake for 15 more minutes, until the colour is as you desire.
Let the bread cool on a rack for 2 hours before cutting.
- If the dough feels too slack at 30 °C, hold back 20 to 30 g of the 380 g of water and add it during the first fold.
- If the dough overproofs in the fridge or turns too sour, reduce the levain to about 120 g (scale its ingredients down accordingly).
- If you only have the smaller 110 g levain (22 g starter, 22 g AP, 22 g whole wheat, 44 g water), use 520 g AP flour and 365 g of the cold water in the dough.