Double-Fed Sweet Spelt Levain. My first good bread to welcome the sweet and good year of 2013

Starting a new year with a great bread :)

Happy new year, may 2013 bring good health, and happiness to us!

Cheers,
~ Dewi ~

Crusty, nutty, moist and chewy crumbs, is my kind of bread.

The book, written by Ken Forkish was a wonderful gift from my husband. And this bread I baked was my first adaptation of his Double-Fed Sweet Levain Bread. All bread recipes in this book bake in 2 (two) 4 quarts size Dutch oven pots with lids, which can be bake at the same time side by side in a standard size oven. But, If you only have one 4 qt Dutch oven pot, you can bake the bread one at a time, but keeping the other dough refrigerated until the first bread is done. Then return the pot to back into the oven to preheat it for at least 10 minutes, before loading the second dough. If you don't have a 4 qt size Dutch oven, but have a 5 qt size, you can also use it to bake this bread. The only different is that your bread will be wider and not as tall because it has less vertical pressure as the loaves get their oven spring. To prove him right, just take a look at my bread pictures. I used a 5 qt size Dutch oven pot. As a result my bread were wider and not as tall. Having said that, you don't need to go out shopping for different size pots, just use the one that you already have, your bread is still going to be very delicious.

The Dutch oven pot can be made of cast iron, earthenware, or even glassware. I have tried to use both earthenware and cast iron, with great success, but not the one made of glass. So I can not comment on that.

Please note that in the book, the original recipe for  the final dough ingredients, use the help of additional instant dried yeast, which I did not use, as I wanted the bread to be a 100% levain bread. It also uses combination of 660 g of  white flour and 40 g whole wheat flour, instead of 400 g bread flour and 300 g spelt flour. Why I did it differently? First of all, it is why it is called adaptation (just in case you forget). Secondly, it was simply  my own personal taste. Yes, whole wheat is sweet, great, healthy, and all, but I must admit that I much prefer nuttier taste of spelt flour.

Lastly and most importantly, please be extra cautious to transfer the dough into the Dutch oven pot, as the pot will be extremely hot. Wear a good quality long oven mitt to prevent severe burn!

Double-fed Sweet Spelt levain Bread
recipe adapted from Ken Forkish's book,  Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast
makes 2

First levain feeding:
50 g mature, active levain
200 g white flour
50 g spelt flour
200 g water (95℉/35℃)

Mix all ingredients just enough to blend them, cover, ferment at room temperature for 3 hours.

Second levain feeding:
250 g levain from the first feeding (above)
400 g white flour
100 g spelt flour
400 g water (95℉/35℃)

Mix all ingredients just enough to blend them, cover, ferment at room temperature for 4 to 5 hours.

Final dough:
400 g bread flour (or, use regular white/all-purposed flour as this book suggested)
300 g spelt flour
540 g water (95℉/35℃)
20 g fine sea salt
540 g levain

Mix by hand, bread flour, and spelt flour in a large mixing bowl. Add water, mix until well incorporated. Cover the bowl, autolyse (let it rest) for 20 to 30 minutes.

Remove the cover from the bowl, sprinkle sea salt on top. Add 540 grams levain into the bowl. Mix by hand until the ingredients are fully integrated. Transfer the dough into a large container with lid. Cover with its own lid, let the dough rest for 1 hour. After the dough has rested for an hour, start series of folds every 30 minutes for 4 times. After the forth (last) fold, give the dough another rest (don't forget to cover the container) at room temperature for 2 hours. By the end of resting period, the dough should be double from its original volume. 

Prepare 2 proofing basket and dust generously with flour. Place them close by. 

Turn the dough out onto lightly floured kitchen counter top. Divide the dough into 2 equal portions. Shape each dough into medium tight boule (ball), place each in proofing basket with seam side down. Place each basket in food save plastic bag, or, you can also wrap the basket with cling plastic wrap, and  tie with kitchen string. Refrigerate 12 to 14 hours.

45 minutes prior to bake the bread, place two (4-quarts) Dutch oven pots inside the oven (read my note above about Dutch oven pot), preheat oven to 475℉/245℃. 

lightly dust kitchen counter top with flour, and invert the dough directly on top.

Remove the pots from the oven, remove the lids. Placing oven mitts on top of the hot lid, just incase if you absentminded, so you don't accidentally grab the hot lid with your bare hand. 

Since this recipe in this book doesn't require scoring for the bread, what you will get is the rustic and more organic look of the bread. So, after you invert the dough onto counter top, gently grab the dough with both hand, turn it over so that what was the top side is now the bottom side, and the bottom side, which will be rough looking with slightly crack here and there (not smooth) will be the one facing up. Gently take the dough with both hand, and carefully and cautiously place it inside the dutch oven with top rough side facing up. Cover the pot with its lid, bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the lids, continue to bake (uncover) for 20 to 25 minutes by which time, the crust will be dark brown. 

Carefully remove pots from the oven. Remove the bread one at a time by tilting the pot to turn the loaf out. Repeat in the same manner with the other loaf. Cool loaves at least 20 minutes in a wire rack before slicing. 

For YeastSpotting :)