Boule
After the semi-failed poolish attempt, I decided to follow the recipe (well, mostly). Since one of Brian’s commenters (Joseph) typed it up, here it is:
INGREDIENTS POOLISH
150g or roughly 1 cup of flour
150g or roughly 2/3cup of water (room temp)
1 small pinch yeast
Let the poolish ripen on the counter 4-24 hours, preferably at least 16.
INGREDIANTS DOUGH
280g or 1 1/4 cup of water (98f)
2g or 1/2 tsp yeast
all of the poolish
350g or 2 1/4 c. all purpose flour
50g or roughly 1/3 c. whole wheat flour
10g or roughly 1.5 tsp kosher salt
Mix all together with a big spoon until you can’t use the spoon anymore then wet your hands and squeeze the dough through your hands for about 2 minutes moving the bowl round and round as you go. All you are doing is combining the ingredients. The dough strength will come later in the folding process. Keep your hands wet. When finished cover with a plastic wrap and let it stand for 30 minutes.
Wet your hands now for the tuck and fold. Reach in and pull the dough over itself. Pull it up until it is about to break. Do these nine or ten times. Then do the slap and fold six or seven times You are trying to make the dough into a nice tight round ball. After another 30 minutes repeat the folding as mentioned above. This will make the dough nice and strong.
Wrap the bowl in plastic and leave to ferment for one more hour. After that hour the dough should look bubbly and alive and really buoyant.
(This is the “Big Dog”) Now shape the loaf by pulling and tucking three or four times. Then create tension by rotating and pulling the loaf across the board. Then grab opposing sides and do a criss-cross tuck repeating three or four times then flip it over. Then create tension again by pulling and turning the dough across the board.
Leave on the counter in a large bowel lined with a floured kitchen cloth for 30-50 minutes to rise.
Bake on method 3 below (if you want the “Big Dog”). Or 1 or 2 if you want to divide the dough.
BAKING TIMES/ TEMPS
METHOD 1: 525 the whole time for 14-18 minutes (spray loaf for steam)
METHOD 2- Preheat Dutch Oven at 500 for 30-40 minutes, bake at 500 covered for 12min and 485 uncovered for additional 8-12 depending on oven and desired colour.
METHOD 3: Preheat Dutch Oven at 485-500 for 30-40 minutes, bake at 485 covered for 18 minutes, and 485 uncovered for additional 25-30 depending on oven and desired colour.
This is the first recipe that I’ve used my new scale for. I found out that it will not weigh 2 grams. Good thing I’ve got another, much lower capacity, scale that does grams (I am from Colorado). I have a cheap Dutch oven – it’s not rated for over 400 degrees. So, I went with method 1, ever so slightly modified.
First, the poolish. Following instructions, rather than ripping some ingredients out of a recipe, it doubled in size overnight. Also, countertop, not refrigerator.
This is very sticky dough. It didn’t want to form rectangles, so I almost made baguettes. But they started spreading. I didn’t want flatbread. So, I followed the forming instructions for the Dutch oven version. That seemed to hold together.
I let them rest/rise for about 30 minutes, then scored them – using the 45 degrees from normal (the loaf is curved) technique. I exclaimed in shock when I turned on the oven light to check on them. I’ve never had bread rise this much in the oven.
My oven maxes out at 500. So does the new one, although it also has a fan, which Bosch claim adds 25 degrees. I put an ice sphere in the bottom of the oven to add steam (I always do that when making bread). After 15 minutes, I think the crust looks a bit over-done, not to say burnt.
They should be cool enough to cut, now. I’ll be right back…
It’s a bit chewy and the crust is not crunchy. Perhaps it should have stayed in the oven a bit longer, after all. It tastes great! The poolish definitely makes a difference, although it is fairly subtle.
I made it with bread flour after all the YouTube comments about it not forming up with all purpose flour. I had no whole wheat flour, so I just used 400 grams of bread flour. That might explain the chewiness. I bought the bread flour for this recipe, but I tried it in my regular sandwich bread (which this definitely is not with all those holes) recipe, too. That turned out amazing, too. I think I’m a bread flour convert.
Marked Up 