Sourdough Walnut Bread

Esther has been buying walnut bread for the past few weeks. And I have been trying to perfect a loaf of sourdough bread. So, instead of just baking a simple sourdough bread, I added walnuts to my loaf. The good thing about bread making is that the end product is edible even if the baking fails. :p

As usual, for the sourdough bread, we need to create a levain first which will be used to "lift" the final bread dough.

Levain
52g bread flour
20.5g water
22g active sourdough starter (100% hydration)

Active starter means after feeding, the starter will double or triple its size within 12 hours. It depends on the temperature you are keeping the starter in.

Start by dissolving the starter in water. Then add in the bread flour and mix until the flour is fully incorporated. I flattened it in a glass jar to monitor how much it rises overnight. Cover the opening of the jar with cling film.

Levain created

Notice the bubbles in the levain left overnight in room temperature

Final Dough
208g flour
23g whole wheat flour
165g water
5.5 salt
94.5g of levain created above
46g toasted walnut


Method
In a stand mixer, mix the flour and water at low speed until it forms a shaggy mass. Cover and autolyse for 60 minutes. During the wait, you can toast the walnut.

Shaggy mass of flour and water

Toast the walnut at 200C in a toaster for 10 minutes, stirring them regularly. Let them cool down before using.

Toasted walnuts, broken into smaller pieces

Add the salt and levain and mix at low speed for 2 minutes, then increase the speed to medium (Speed 2 in a KitchenAid) and mix for 10 minutes. Add flour and water as needed to adjust the hydration.

Add in the walnut and mix by hand. I tried using the stand mixer but it doesn't seem to be doing a good job at mixing the walnuts into the dough.

Transfer the dough into a oiled bowl and do a stretch and fold, then shaped into a ball to bulk ferment.

After the first stretch and fold

Do a stretch and fold every half hourly for 2 hours to develop the gluten during the bulk fermentation.

After the 2nd stretch and fold

Notice the dough getting tighter and less "relaxed". Compare the photo above and below.

After the 3rd stretch and fold

After the final stretch and fold, pre-shape the dough into a ball and rest for 15 minutes while you prepare the banneton. I floured the banneton with rice flour to prevent the dough from sticking during the proofing stage.

Dough resting

Shape the dough tighter into a boule and put it in a floured banneton. Let it proof. It is difficult to say how long you should proof for because it depends on the activity of your levain and also the surrounding temperature.

You can try using the "finger poke" test to see if the dough has proofed sufficiently. By poking at various places on the dough with your floured index finger to a depth of 1 cm, see how the dough behaves when you remove your finger. If the indentation disappears immediately, it is not proofed. If the indentation stays the same, it is over-proofed. What you are looking for is for the indentation to pop back half-way. This is the point where you can bake the bread. Don't worry about leaving dents on the dough. Once it is in the oven and expanding, the dents will disappear.

Dough proofing in a green plastic banneton

Bake the dough in a preheated oven at 240C for 30 to 40 mins. Use a thermometer to check the internal temperature. You are aiming for around 96C in the middle of the bread.

The final product

Crumb shot

Still trying to master my sourdough starter. Baking bread using sourdough is different from using commercial yeast. How fast the dough rises depends on the "mood" of the sourdough and nature of things.

Next bread might be baked using a kombucha starter instead of a rye sourdough. We shall see...