Overnight 40% Whole Wheat Bread

The following recipe is based on a recipe found in "FLOUR WATER SALT YEAST, The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza" by Ken Forkish.*

This recipe is the simplest bread recipe in my blog, but also the longest. I have posted Pain de Mie before... which is bread as basic as whole wheat bread, but there are more kneading and shaping. On the other hand, overnight whole wheat bread recipe skips the kneading step, and instead let the time develop enough gluten to volume up the bread. Whole wheat bread has nutty and also earthy flavor... but probably tough texture. 40% whole wheat bread (compared to 70%+ whole wheat bread) keeps the flavor but has still very smooth texture.

To create moist inside with crust outside, you will need a dutch oven. To mimic the professional baker's oven which has a stone bottom and low ceiling to retain the temperature and moisture, dutch oven is the best pan for home bakers. The pan can be reheated to very hot temperature, and it will keep the temperature even when the cold dough hits the pan. The only drawback is that dutch oven is also very heavy. You need to pay extra attention when handling the heated dutch oven.


Overnight 40% Whole Wheat Bread

YIELD: a loaf of 9" diameter bread / COOKING TIME: 20 hrs.* (ACTIVE COOKING TIME: 1 hr.)

* Although overall cooking time is very long, the actual active cooking time is only one hour. Most of the 20 hours is for bulk fermentation, overnight proofing, and baking.


INGREDIENTS

+ 300g all-purpose white flour
+ 200g whole wheat flour
+ 400g warm water (90-95°F or 32-35°C)
+ 10g salt
+ 1.5g instant dry yeast



The book in the picture is where I found my recipe for this posting.


PROCEDURES

1. Hand mix 300g all-purpose white flour and 200g whole wheat flour.




2. Pour 400g warm water (90-95°F or 32-35°C) over the mix, and mix with a dough scrapper. Of course, you can mix water with your hands, but the will stick to your fingers... very sticky! I'd like to recommend using a scrapper or a spatula for this step. After the dough is formed (no more flour visible), let it rest for 20 minutes covered with a cloth. This step is called "AUTOLYSE" where you hydrate the flour and also activate the enzyme in the flour.




3. After the 20 minute-resting, sprinkle 10g salt and 1.5g instant dry yeast evenly over the top of the dough.




4. Now, "MIXING." Wet your hand lightly, and then fold the dough to cover salt and yeast. By wetting your hand, you can prevent the dough from sticking to your hand. You can mix your dough in anyway, but I found the method called "Pincer Method" very easy and also efficient. With your thumb and forefinger, grip and squeeze the dough as shown below in the picture. Mix the dough until the salt and yeast is fully incorporated. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes, covered with a cloth.




5. The next step is "FOLDING." This step strengthens the gluten structure and let the dough rise evenly. Place your wet hand underneath the dough and grab about one-quarter of the dough. Stretch the dough you grabbed and fold it over the rest of the dough. Repeat this folding with remaining quarters of dough. When you are done, that is your first folding. You will need to fold three more times for the next two hours, every thirty minutes. Between the folding, make sure cover your dough with a cloth.




6. When you are done with folding, cover the dough with a cloth and let it rise (bulk fermentation) until it triples in volume. It took about three hours for me when the room temperature is about 77°F (25°C). If your room temperature is higher, the bulk fermentation will be completed faster, in less than three hours.




7. The next step is "SHAPING." Dust the countertop with enough flour and place the dough. Lightly dust the top of the dough as well. Then, flatten the dough slightly, and fold the each edge of the dough to the center. Flip the dough so the seam-side is in the bottom, and shape the dough into a ball shape.




8. "PROOFING." Dust a proofing basket with enough whole wheat flour, and gently move your dough into the basket (seam-side down). Place the basket in a plastic bag, and refrigerate the dough overnight, about 12-14 hours.




9. It is finally time to "BAKE"! At least 45 minutes prior to baking, place a dutch oven in your oven and preheat it to 475°F (245°C). Take out the dutch oven, and invert proofed loaf into the dutch oven from the proofing basket so that the seam-side is up now. You don't need to score the loaf with a knife because the seam will open during the baking, letting the bread gain good volume.

!!! The heavy dutch oven is extremely hot, so you need to pay extra attention when handling it. Please use thick, DRY kitchen towel or baking mitts (baking mitts are better). Never touch the hot dutch oven with your bare hands nor wet towels. Wet towel will make steam as soon as it touches dutch oven, and burn your hands !!!




10. Cover the dutch oven with the lid and bake the bread in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, take out the dutch oven and uncover it. As you see from the left side of the picture below, the bread is par baked - has good volume but the outside is still pale. Bake the bread again without cover for 20 minutes. Ta-da! The bread is ready!




11. Let the bread cool at least 30 minutes (I waited for an hour) before cutting. Cool the bread over wired rack so the air can circulate around the bread.




If you have any left over, wrap it tightly and freeze it. Next time, just take out the bread an hour before and let it defrost at room temperature. You can toast it after it is defrosted.

Enjoy~!