Description
A large French-style loaf with a deeply colored crust thanks to the bold bake and added dark stout beer and whole grain flours. The flavor is intense, rich, and with a hint of chocolate—this is one for the holidays!
Ingredients
Levain
- 71g whole wheat flour
- 71g water
- 36g ripe sourdough starter
Tangzhong
- 79g whole rye flour
- 197g stout beer
Autolyse
- 542g medium-protein white bread flour
- 293g whole wheat flour
- 569g water
- All of the tangzhong
Main dough
- 118g water
- 20g fine sea salt
- 179g ripe levain
Instructions
- Prepare the levain — 9:00 a.m.
Mix the levain in your favorite jar and leave them covered at a warm temperature, 74-76°F (23-24°C), to ripen for 5 hours. - Prepare the tangzhong — 9:10 a.m.
Add the tangzhong ingredients to a medium saucepan set over medium-low heat. Cook, whisking continuously, until the mixture thickens and becomes a paste, 5 to 8 minutes. The beer will initially begin to foam, so keep an eye out that it does not spill over the pan. Whisk vigorously to break up any flour clumps, and continue to whisk well to avoid burning. Remove the pan from the heat and spread the tangzhong on a small plate to cool. Set aside. - Autolyse — 1:00 p.m.
Warm or cool the autolyse water so that the temperature of the mixed dough meets the final dough temperature of 78°F (26°C) for this recipe. Place the autolyse ingredients and the tangzhong in a large bowl. Use wet hands to mix until no dry bits remain. Cover the bowl and place it near your levain for 1 hour. - Mix — 2:00 p.m.
Add salt and levain to the autolysed dough, moistening with a splash of water. Mix thoroughly with wet hands or dough whisk, then knead for about 5 minutes using slap and fold technique or bowl folds until dough becomes smoother. Rest covered for 10 minutes. If dough feels dry and shaggy, mix in remaining water – if very wet, skip this. Knead again for 3-5 minutes until cohesive, then transfer to bulk fermentation container and cover. - Bulk Fermentation — 2:15 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.
Bulk ferment for about 3.5 hours at 74-76°F (23-24°C), performing 4 sets of stretches and folds at 30-minute intervals. For each set, grab the dough from each of 4 sides, stretching and folding over the center, rotating the bowl 90° between each fold. Cover between sets. After the final set, let dough rest covered until bulk fermentation completes. - Shape — 5:45 p.m.
After 3.5 hours, when dough is puffy with bubbles at edges, gently turn it onto a floured surface. For a single large loaf, skip preshaping but ensure sufficient tension when shaping into a boule. Transfer seam-side up to a heavily floured 10″ proofing basket. - Proof — 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. (next day)
Cover the basket with a large, reusable plastic bag and seal it shut. Place the basket in the refrigerator to proof overnight. - Bake — 9:00 a.m.
For this large miche, bake on a baking surface with steam or use a Brød and Taylor Baking Shell. Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C) for 30 minutes with baking surface in bottom third. Turn dough onto parchment-lined peel, score, and slide onto hot surface. Bake covered/with steam for 20 minutes, then uncovered for 45 minutes more until internal temperature reaches 204°F (95°C) and crust is dark, crunchy, and sounds hollow. Cool at least 3-4 hours, preferably overnight, before slicing.
Notes
If you’re preparing this for Thanksgiving or other large gathering, plan to bake it the day before the big meal to give it time to fully cool before cutting (and one less thing to worry about!).
Instead of baking one single large loaf, you can divide the dough in half to make two smaller boules. In this case, reduce the baking time by 10 minutes.
If you don’t have whole rye flour, swap it out for more whole wheat.
Instead of stout, use another malty beer like a porter, or for a real hoppy kick, go for a hazy IPA.
If you don’t want to use beer, leave it out and replace it with equal-weight water and cook the rye in this instead.