Fired Loaves with a 30 Hour Ferment

A few readers will now think- has this guy gone crazy? He can’t really be posting a bread like this on the blog?!

You may be right and I certainly wouldn’t sell such a loaf, but as I took the bread out of the oven I knew immediately that I would definitely post it on the blog! Why does everything have to always look perfect and delicious when taste is the main goal anyway? Perhaps my first attempts at baking in the wood oven have scarred Michael.

Since it is a long fermentation period, I intentionally avoided using both pre-dough and sourdough! With such long fermentation times, I usually reduce the preliminary stages to a minimum or do without them completely. I much prefer to play with different types of flour here and try to test the limits of aroma formation without pre-dough.

For this experiment you can use up all of your left over flour in the dough. I would recommend the dough hydration (TA) be between 165 and 180 depending on the flour type.

  • Austrian & German flours (W550/700): TA 165
  • Italian Tipo (0/00): TA 170
  • Durum flour: TA 173
  • Ruchmehl: TA 180
  • Wholegrain flour (finely ground): TA 175

CONCLUSION: For me this loaf is the best accompaniment to a barbeque party (only among friends due to the crust color)! Simple production, incredible taste and the time management cannot be beat.

Recipe

Total recipe

700gWheat flour Type 550/70070%
300gSemolina flour30%
700gWater 10°C70%
23gSalt2,3%
5gYeast0,5%

Production

  • Slowly mix the flour and water for 2 minutes.
  • Then cover and allow to autolyse for 45 minutes.
  • After the autolyse, add the salt and yeast and mix for 10 minutes on slow. Once it has released from the side of the bowl, continue mixing on fast for 2 minutes.
  • After making the dough, place it in an oiled dough tub.
  • Fold after 45 and 90 minutes.
  • Once the dough has increased in volume for 30-35%, place it in the refrigerator. There the dough will ferment at 4°C and develop flavor.
  • To work up, remove the dough tub from the refrigerator and allow it to acclimate for about an hour at room temperature. At the same time, preheat the oven to 250°C.
  • Then turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and separate it into elongated loaves. Don’t work the separated pieces much more- we are going for rustic!!
  • Once 3/4 proofed, slide the loaves into the oven with ample steam.
  • Reduce the baking temperature to 230°C after 10 minutes and bake until they are well browned.
  • Minimum baking time of 30 minutes.