Multigrain Sourdough

Prep Time : 45 Minutes | Cook Time : 30 Minutes | Total Time : 18 hours | Difficulty : Sourdough

Hello my lovelies! This one has been in the works for a little while now. I promised it to quite a few people but hadn’t got around to posting it. Today we are levelling up our basic sourdough. Adding delicious and nutritious grains and seeds to our regular loaf. Most of the process is the same as my day to day 30% Whole Wheat Sourdough. We are adding a second overnight component to soak our grains. Making them soft and easy to eat. It also makes the goodness in them more available. This loaf is a little denser because it’s supporting the weight of the grains. Packed to the brim with goodness.

This recipe has a measure of “mixed kibbled grains, seeds and wholegrain oats”. I just use whatever I have on hand (which always includes oats, naturally) and add this and that until it makes up the weight required. “Kibbled” is important here. Kibbled grains have been broken up with a brief bit of chopping. You can buy grains already kibbled (Commonsense Organics here in NZ has both Rye and Barley) or if you have whole grains (maybe you have some on hand for grain salads) just give them a very quick blitz (a second or two) in the food processor to give them a rough chop. Depending what the combo of grains is you may need to add a little more water so keep an eye on the texture as the dough is mixing. To be honest if it’s a little drier or a little wetter it will still be delicious and we shouldn’t stress about things we don’t need to.

First up is making the pre-ferment and the soaker. In a large bowl mix the flour, water and starter for the preferment to a pasty goo. Cover and leave to one side.

Boil the jug. Measure your mixed kibbled grains into a bowl, add the malt syrup or honey and pour over the boiling water. Give it a stir to distribute the syrup and cover with a plate to keep the steam in. If you bowl has a lid of it’s own use that. Now go to bed.

In the morning the preferment will have risen up and when you look underneath there will be bubbles all through it.

And the grains in the soaker will have plumped up and absorbed a lot of the water.

You can mix by hand or in a mixer. Which ever way you go just mix the preferment, soaker and flour together and mix it to a dough. With a mixer let it run for 2-3 minutes, and by hand work the dough in the bowl by folding the edges into the middle for about 5 minutes. Cover the bowl and leave the dough to rest (autolyse) for 30 to 60 minutes.

After the resting time is up mix the water and salt together in a small bowl and add it to the dough. Knead to distribute it thoroughly. This gives you a few more minutes of kneading to round out the process.

Cover the bowl and leave it to ferment for 2 to 3 hours in a warm place. If you leave it for 3 because you got busy that’s fine. It will affect the final result a bit and you can experiment to see what you like over time. Err on the shorter side in warm weather.

After 2 hours is up you need to start stretching. This wakes the gluten back up and traps pockets of air in the dough so that when you bake the loaf. You need to do four sets of folds in all. Do them around 20 to 30 minutes apart. No one will die if you are distracted and one of them is a bit later. To do a set of folds moisten your hand and reach under the dough on the side of the bowl furthest from you. Pull a handful up and fold it down towards yourself onto the rest of the dough.

Rotate the bowl 90 degrees and repeat. Go all around the bowl doing four folds in all. Cover and leave for 20 minutes and then repeat until you’ve done four sets. Cover and leave the dough to rest for 30 minutes or so.

Put the oven on to 250C (485F). Put your clean cast iron casserole dish in the oven including the lid to heat up. If you have a cane or pressed conifer proving basket then dust this liberally with flour. Rub it it well so it coats the surface. If you don’t then dust a linen tea towel heavily with flour and lay it into a medium bowl.

To shape a loaf I like to dust the bench heavily with flour and then turn the dough out onto the flour. I then use my fingers to stretch the dough over the top and pinch it together. This will create a taught surface on the bottom of the dough which is also well floured. Shape the loaf to fit your basket or bowl. Don’t handle the dough more than you need to. We want to retain the air bubbles that are in there so they can expand into a lovely open crumb when we bake.

Lift it gently into the proving basket or bowl and lay it flour side down. You will be inverting this later so the smooth side that is on the bottom now will become the top later.

Cover and leave to rise for between 40 and 90 minutes. It shouldn’t fully double in size but will be about half as big again. You will get to know what this looks like with practice. I know that a loaf this size is ready to bake when it crests out of the basket I use by about 2 inches. How long this takes will depend on the weather.

Cut a piece of baking paper big enough that as several inches clearance in either side of your unbaked loaf. You need room for handles. Lay the paper over the top of your dough.

Support the dough with one hand and use the other to gently tip the basket/bowl over. Do this near the bench surface so the dough doesn’t fall.

You will feel the dough release from the surface of the basket/bowl. If it doesn’t just give it a few seconds to let go. Don’t pull on the basket or tea towel.

If you wish to slash your loaf you can. It helps control how the loaf will rise and adds some flair. We could all do with some flair. Use the very sharpest serrated knife you have or a razor blade with a sticking plaster on one side. I have tried all sorts of other craft knife and Stanley knife blades and they aren’t a patch on a razor blade. Please keep a dedicated container out of reach of small hands to store them in.

Right now we need to quickly do a thing. Put a wire rack on the bench next to the oven. Open the oven door and take out your pan and set it on the rack. Remove the lid and set that on the rack next to it. Quickly lift your loaf by the baking paper and lower it gently into the pan.

Put the lid back on and put it back in the oven and shut the door. Bake for 15 minutes with the lid on. Remove the lid and behold your beautiful well risen loaf.

Bake for a further 15 to 20 minutes with the lid off. I always go for the longer time to get a good dark crust. The malt syrup/honey we put in will help the crust develop as well.

Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. You should let the loaf cool completely before slicing. I know I know. Cooking is still happening in the middle of the hot loaf. Cutting it while it’s warm can squish the crumb and let excess moisture escape so the un-eaten part will be drier.

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