Naturally Leavened Khorasan Sandwich Bread Recipes

NATURALLY LEAVENED EINKORN BREAD

Steps:

• If making the Enriched Variation, start by heating the milk in a saucepan or microwave until it is over 180F. This makes a protein in the milk less of an inhibitor to the yeast in your sourdough starter. Add the honey and water to the milk to cool it down, then proceed with the rest of the instructions below.
• Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl (a straight walled container is helpful but not necessary). The dough will be sticky. Cover and note the time and level of the dough.
• Regular Proof (Instructions for Further Proof are at the end)
• When the dough has grown by about 75% (usually 5-7 hours), scrape it out onto a floured surface and preshape it with a floured bench knife, by folding it into a ball, flipping it, and rounding it.
• Cover with a bowl and let it rest 15-20 minutes.
• Flour the top of the dough, then using your bench knife/dough scraper/spatula flip the dough, and shape it into a tube with the bench knife not your hands: folding the top down and the sides inward several times until the dough is all in the tube. Transfer it to a buttered/oiled loaf pan. Expect some dough on the hand not holding the bench knife--just add it to the loaf.
• Dipping a spatula into a bowl of water, smooth the surface of your dough in the loaf pan, edging a bit down the sides as well.
• Cover and let proof until it is about 3/4" from the top of the loaf pan, usually 1.5-2 hours at room temperatures around 68-70F, less time at warmer temps, and longer, possibly overnight, if you use the refrigerator.
• About 20 minutes before the final proof is complete, preheat your oven to 500F.
• Create a steam-trapping cover for your loaf pan by wrapping the base of the pan in a sheet of aluminum foil (to get a good dome and correct opening size). Then extract the foil from the pan and invert it over your loaf pan, sealing the edges.
• Lower the oven temperature to 450F and put the covered pan inside.
• Bake at 450F for 30 minutes with the cover on.
• Remove the cover and bake at 425F for another 20-30 minutes.
• The internal temperature should be over 205F to avoid a damp interior.
• When finished baking, immediately remove the bread from the loaf pan and let it cool on a rack.
• If possible, wait 8-12 hours before cutting to let the crumb set.
• Further Proof Variation
• At the bulk fermentation stage, let the dough more than double.
• Scrape it out of the bowl and directly into the buttered/oiled loaf pan.
• Smooth the surface with a wet spatula.
• Cover and let proof until the dough is only about 1 cm (3/8 inch) from the top of the loaf pan.
• Continue with the directions above (preheating oven and building an aluminum foil cover).

KHORASAN WHEAT SOURDOUGH BREAD

Steps:

• See the photo gallery and video below the recipe for target dough consistency and expansion.
• Starter Build, Mixing, and Bulk Fermentation
• The night before or early in the morning, build your 100g sourdough starter. For a night-before feed, use 10g sourdough starter with 45g water and 45g flour. For an early morning feed, use 30g starter with 35g water and 35g flour. Allow the starter to ripen until it is at least double in size.
• Mix the dough ingredients together in a large bowl and cover.
• After a 20-30 minute rest, stretch and fold the dough with damp fingertips (see video below). Cover, let the dough rest another 20-30 minutes, and repeat the stretching and folding. Cover and rest 20-30 minutes again, and then do a third round of stretching and folding.
• Let the dough bulk ferment until it has almost doubled in size. At warm temps (high 70s) my dough needed about 5 hours. Colder dough will need more time.
• Shaping and Final Proof
• Flour your work surface and scrape your dough out of the bowl. Pre-shape it into a ball, invert your bowl to cover it, and let it rest about 20 minutes. I decided to pre-shape this dough to strengthen the gluten a bit more.
• Shape the dough into a boule, batard, or oblong loaf to suit your proofing basket and baking vessel.
• Place the dough in your proofing basket seam-side up, cover, and let the dough rise again for about 30 minutes at room temperature and then refrigerate it overnight (8-16 hours). You can also leave the dough at room temperature for longer (1-2 hours) and bake it without the refrigeration stage.
• Baking
• Preheat your oven and baking vessel at 500F for 30 minutes.
• Flip the dough out of the proofing basket and onto a sheet of parchment paper or onto the base of your hot baking vessel. Score the dough, then cover and return the vessel to the oven.
• If your baking vessel is a ceramic cloche, bake at:
• 500°F for 20 minutes, lid on
• 450°F for 7 minutes, lid on
• 450°F for 10 minutes, lid off
• If your baking vessel is cast iron, lower the oven temperature 5 minutes earlier and at that time, also place a baking sheet under the cast iron on the same shelf.
• When baking is complete, the bread should have an internal temperature of at least 205F and it should sound hollow when you knock on the bottom of the loaf.

NATURALLY LEAVENED KHORASAN SANDWICH BREAD

Steps:

• See the photo gallery and video below the recipe for target dough consistency and expansion.
• Starter Build
• The night before or early in the morning, build your 150g sourdough starter. For a night-before feed, use 20g sourdough starter with 65g water and 65g flour. For an early morning feed, use 50g starter with 50g water and 50g flour. Allow the starter to ripen until it is at least double in size.
• Mixing and Bulk Fermentation
• Scald the milk by warming it to 180°F. You may want to start with 400g milk because of evaporation.
• Add the honey, oil, and salt to the hot milk and let the mixture cool down to less than 115°F.
• Combine the flour, ripe sourdough starter, and liquid mixture in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly and cover.
• After a 20-30 minute rest, stretch and fold the dough with damp fingertips (see video below). Cover, let the dough rest another 20-30 minutes, and repeat the stretching and folding. Do the rest, and stretching and folding a third time.
• Let the dough bulk ferment until it has almost doubled in size. At warm ambient temps (high 70s) and the dough already warm from the milk, this took about 5 hours. Colder dough will need more time.
• Shaping and Final Proof
• Flour your work surface and scrape your dough out of the bowl.
• Shape the dough by stretching it into a rectangle, roll that up into a tube, flatten the tube a bit, and re-roll the dough into a tube again, making sure it is not quite as long as your pan.
• Place the dough in a lightly oiled loaf pan with the seam side down. I use a medium USA Pan, which is 9x5x2.75 inches.
• Cover and let the dough rise again for 1-3 hours at room temperature. My dough proofed for about 2 hours. The dough is ready to bake when it has doubled in size or its highest part crests over the lip of the pan. You can also refrigerate the dough overnight but first let it rise almost completely at room temperature, or plan for it to expand more the next morning at room temperature.
• Baking
• Put one of your oven racks on the second-from-the-bottom position and preheat your oven to 375F for about 15 minutes.
• Brush the top of the dough with milk and place it in the oven.
• Bake for 50-60 minutes, turning the pan halfway if the bread is browning unevenly. To firm up the bottom and sides of the loaf, take the bread out of the pan for the last 5-10 minutes of the bake.
• When baking is complete, the bread should have an internal temperature of about 200F.
• Brush the still-warm crust with butter or oil to keep it soft.
• Ideally, the bread should cool for about 2 hours before slicing.

KAMUT® (KHORASAN) SOURDOUGH BREAD

Steps:

• Mix the flour and water. Cover to autolyse for 1-2 hours.
• Add the starter and salt to the dough, pinching and kneading to incorporate the additions. Cover and let rest for 30-40 minutes.
• After the rest, begin a series of stretching and folding every 20-30 minutes. I did six stretch and folds for the all-Kamut and the 40%, and four for the 20% Kamut.
• Cover and let bulk ferment for a total of 6-12 hours from when you added the leaven. The time will depend on your room temperature. (My all-Kamut fermented 9.5 hours at 75 F. The 40% fermented 11 hours, 3 hours at 76 F and 8 hours at 64 F. The 20% fermented 10 hours at 72 F.)
• Scrape the dough onto a well floured surface. Dust the top of the dough with flour and stretch/press it into a rectangular shape. Fold it in thirds and then in half as per this video.
• Cover and let the dough rest for 15-20 minutes while you prep a basket/tea towel with all-purpose flour, rice flour, or bran flakes.
• Flip the dough and shape it into a boule or batard, depending on your baking vessel. Lay it in your basket seam side up for smooth scoring, or seam side down for a rustic look.
• Let the dough proof 60-90 minutes at room temperature, or 6-10 hours in the refrigerator. I proofed the whole grain loaf in the refrigerator for 7 hours, as the dough was very sticky and difficult to handle. The 40% and 20% doughs proofed at room temperature for 75 and 90 minutes, respectively.
• Thirty minutes before the end of the proofing stage, preheat your oven to 500 F with the baking vessel inside.
• Flour your hand and flip the dough out of the basket. Gently place it in the hot baking vessel. Score the top, cover, and bake:
• 500 F for 30 minutes lid on
• 450 F for 10 minutes lid off
• Or until the internal temperature is over 205 F.