Several months ago I finally bought the Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart. To my delight, every recipe begs to be made, but none more than the enormous loaf that graces the cover of the book, a Poilane-Style Miche. When my turn came to host a bread for the Bread Baking Babes, I immediately chose it. Then, as I read the recipe, I wondered what I had gotten myself into? The recipe is huge and detailed. As well, it requires making your own wild starter. No convenient packages of yeast from the grocery store need apply.
This is the way people made bread through out history, by capturing wild yeast, indigenous to their own area, into their own unique self-made starter. Nursed along, fed, and cherished, many of those starters became family heirlooms and were passed down through generations of bakers who created bread for their families. So, here's your chance to gift your son or daughter with the family sourdough starter at their high school graduation, rather than some mundane choice like a new car.
I was faced with creating my own wild yeast starter. I would need to make something called a seed culture to go into something else called a barm. And there was that recipe to wade through! I was a bit overwhelmed. I'd never made my own wild yeast starter. To my relief, it was all quite simple and easy to make. It's broken down into steps, that are done over time. You make the seed culture, which takes minimal effort over 4 days. Then the seed culture goes into the barm, which again requires little effort. (OK, there's also a thing called a firm starter, but I don't want to scare people off.) Finally, you use the barm to make the bread, which is a standard, flour, water, knead, proof, and bake kind of affair. The result is a magnificent loaf of whole wheat bread, with a thick, chewy crust and mild sourdough tang. The bread was not only delicious, it was very filling. While I can inhale a whole loaf of ciabatta, this bread is so substantial, it satisfied me readily. And it was easy to make, (but I think I said that already).
I began by making my seed culture, which acted exactly the reverse of what the recipe said it would do. It was supposed to rise very slowly at the beginning, then poof up nicely on the final and fourth day. Instead, mine rose dramatically on the first and second day, with only a modest rise on the third and fourth day. Other Baking Babes had varying experiences. So, if you do this, just be aware that your seed culture may have a mind of it's own. It also likes a warm place to rise.
The barm, born of the seed culture, flour, and water. A daughter, so to speak.
The barm is then used with whole wheat flour and water to make the firm starter. Once it rises for about 6 hours, it goes into the fridge overnight. An hour before you make the final dough, the starter is cut into pieces, to be mixed into the bread dough.
The bread dough, incorporating the firm starter, is kneaded, allowed to rise, then shaped into a round boule, placed into a bowl lined with a napkin, where it rises again.
My favorite moment: turning it out of the bowl onto the peel, and cutting a pound sign on top.
Voila! Out of the oven, all crusty and magnificent.
By the way, just to keep things interesting our Resident Bread Goddess, Mary aka Breadchick, also offered her own starter for us to use. His name is Bob, by the way. And then she showed us how to "wild" him up for this recipe. So, I'm sure you will learn about Wild Bob when you go to her site. And this shows a great starter is a great starter, no matter what it's called. And they can be used in many different recipes.
Please take time to go look at the efforts of our other members of the Bread Baking Babes this month. Notitie Von Lien (Lien), My Kitchen In Half-Cups (Tanna), Bake My Day (Karen), Cookie Baker Lynn (Lynn),I like To Cook (Sara) , A Fridge Full Of Food..And Nothing To Eat (Glenna), Lucullian Delights (Ilva), Grain Doe (Gorel), The Sour Dough (Mary aka Breadchick)
Babes on hiatus this month: Living On Bread And Water (Monique), Thyme For Cooking (Katie)
RED ALERT!! RED ALERT!! If you would like to join us being a Bread Baking Buddy here’s how!!!
You
have 14 days from our posting date to bake the bread and post about it
on your blog with a link to the Kitchen of the Month’s (that's me) post about the
bread. That would mean that your post date would be June 2. E-mail the Kitchen of the Month (that's me) with your name and a link to
your post OR leave a comment on the Kitchen of the Month’s blog (that's me!)that
you have baked the bread and a link back to your post. My e-mail address is upsiefan (AT) yahoo (DOT) com. I'll be waiting for those e-mails!
Kitchen of the Month (did I mention that's me?) will do a round-up of our Bread Baking Buddies at the end of the week (June 6) and send you the hotly sought after BBB badge, designed by Lien, shortly after you notify us of baking the bread.
No blog, No problem - just e-mail the Kitchen of the
Month (How many times do I have to tell you it's me?) with a photo of the bread you baked, and you’ll be included in the
round-up.
Same recipe, different kitchens, using local flour and
sharing what we found. You can read all about our monthly recipe at the
Kitchen of the Month, our individual posts to be found at our
respective personal blogs.
Poilane-Style Miche Recipe
This is an iconic bread from the famed bakery of Lionel Poilane, perhaps the best baker in the world. This bread is produced in his small bakery, The Boulangerie Poilane, in the latin quarter of Paris.
(The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart)
Firm Starter
1 cup (7 ounces) Barm (See Below)
2 cups (9 ounces) sifted medium grind whole wheat flour
About 1/2 cup (4 ounces) water, at room temperature
Final Dough
7 cups (32 ounces) sifted medium grind whole wheat flour
3-1/4 teaspoons (.81 ounce) salt (or 2 Tablespoons sea or kosher salt)
2 to 2-3/4 cups (18 to 22 ounces) water, lukewarm (90 to 100 degrees F.)
Semolina flour for dusting
This recipe makes 1 very large miche (large round boule), or you can make several smaller boules.
(Make the firm starter, as follows, the day before making the bread)
1. Mix together the barm, flour, and enough water to form a firm ball In a 4-quart mixing bowl. Transfer the dough to a counter sprinkled with flour and knead for around 3 minutes, making sure the flour is fully hydrated. Place dough in an oiled bowl, rolling it around in the bowl until it's coated with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
2. Ferment the dough at room temperature until it doubles in size--about 4-6 hours. Refrigerate overnight. You now have your firm starter.
3. 1 hour before making the dough, remove the starter from the fridge and cut it into 12 smallish pieces. Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap and let sit for 1 hour to warm.
4. Unless you're lucky enough to have a Magic Mil, you must knead the dough by hand as the dough is too big for other machines. Put the sifted whole-wheat flour, salt, and starter pieces in a large bowl, add 2-1/4 cups of the water, then stir with a metal spoon, until the ingredients come together into a soft ball. Add more water and flour as neccesary.
5. Put the dough on a floured counter and knead the dough for 12 to 15 minutes Add the flour and water to make a supple, tacky but not sticky dough. Make sure all the ingredients are well incorporated. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
6. Let the dough ferment at room temperature for approximately 4 hours, or until the dough has nearly doubled in size.
7. Transfer the dough to the counter and gently form it into a large boule. Proof the dough in a banneton or prepare a proofing bowl large enough to hold the dough when it rises to nearly double in size. Place the dough, seam side up, in the banneton or bowl and mist the exposed part of the dough with spray oil. Cover with a cloth or plastic wrap.
8. Let the dough proof at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours. The dough should grow about 1-1/2 times in size. You can also retard it overnight in the refrigerator. But, if retarding the dough, make sure to remove the dough from the refrigerator 4 hours before you plan bake it.
9. Prepare your oven for hearth baking. Set an empty steam pan in place in the bottom rack of the oven. Preheat the oven to 500°F. Remove the cloth or plastic layer on top of the dough 10 minutes before baking.
10. Dust a peel or the back of a sheet pan generously with semolina flour or cornmeal. Gently and carefully turn the dough onto the peel or pan, and gently remove the cloth liner off the dough (if you used it). Score the top of the dough with a large pound sign. Slide the dough onto the baking stone (or bake directly on the sheet pan). Pour 2 cups hot water into the steam pan and close the door. Immediately lower the oven setting to 450°F. After 25 minutes of baking, turn the loaf 180 degrees and lower the oven setting to 425°F. Let the bread bake for another 30 to 40 minutes, until the dough registers 200P in the center. The bread should be very deeply browned. If the top begins to look too dark, drape it with a sheet of aluminum foil pressed on top. (I had to do that step, as my bread became quite dark). If the bottom gets too dark before the bread is done, put the bread on an inverted sheet pan, to protect the bottom.
11. Transfer the bread to a rack and let cool for at least 2 hours before slicing or serving. Store the bread in a brown paper bag. It should be good for 5 to 7 days.
THE BARM!! THE BARM!! (It's just a word for your starter)
Makes About 6 cups (2 1/2 pounds) barm
(16 ounces) unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
2 cups water, room temperature
1 cup seed culture (See below)
Mix flour, water, and seed culture together in a mixing bowl. The
remaining seed culture can be thrown away, or given to another person,
to make their own barm. Mix carefully, so that the seed culture and
flour are fully incorporated and the flour is hydrated. This should
produce a sticky, wet sponge. Put the sponge in a clean plastic,
glass, or ceramic container double the size of the barm. The barm is
very sticky, so you will want to wet your hands or the spoon that you
use transferring it to another container. Cover the container with a
lid or plastic wrap and ferment at room temperature for about 6 hours,
or until the barm is bubbly. Your plastic wrap or lid may swell quite a
bit. If so, release the gas by lifting the plastic wrap or lid.
Recover the container and refrigerate overnight. You can use the barm
the next day to make your bread recipe, which is exactly what I did. It's the easiest way to use the barm, in my opinion. It will remain strong for 3 days, ready to be used to make the bread. After the third day, you'll need
to refresh (feed) it, or if you use more than half of it during the
next 3 days, you'll need to refresh it as as specified below.
Refreshing (Feeding) The Barm
The typical way to refresh the barm is by doubling it. You can also quadruple it, if you wish. Doubling the barm at each feeding produces a very sour bread. But, if you prefer a less sour taste, you should quadruple or triple it.
Why do you need to refresh the barm? After 4 to 7 days, the acids and enzymes in a barm break down the gluten, turning your resiliant sponge into a protein-deprived, wimpy mess. To prevent this from happening, feed your barm 3 days or less before you plan to use it. In fact, the best time to feed it is the day before you make your bread. If you have a lot of barm but haven't fed it for a while, discard all but 1 cup and refresh it with 4 cups of flour and 2-1/2 to 3 cups water, stirring until all the flour is hydrated.
You don't have to discard any of your barm if you've been using and refreshing it regularly. BUT, always remember that you must, at a minimum, refresh your remaining barm, so that it is at least doubled. In that case, refresh it after you've given or thrown away some of the barm. And remember that you don't need to refresh it again for 3 days.
If you're not going to use the barm for a while, store it in the fridge or freezer in a tightly sealed container. For freezing, a zip lock freezer bag with the insides misted with spray oil (I use Pam) is ideal. Make sure to leave some room in the bag for gas expansion. It can be frozen for 6 months, then defrosted in the fridge 3 days before you need it. After it's thawed, toss off the barm except for 1/2 cup, which will then be refreshed. Refresh the next day so that you have about 4 to 6 cups of it. The next day, the barm will be ready to use.
You can refrigerate barm for 2 months in an airtight container, and then refresh it by discarding all but 1 cup and building up from there. The following day you will have a strong, potent barm. Of course, you still have 2 more days of dough building to accomplish, as described in the formulas.
Method of Refreshing
You can simply look at your barm and estimate whether you're doubling or tripling it. Or, If you want to be precise, weigh the barm you plan to refresh and figure the amount of flour and water it will take to double, triple, or quadruple the weight. The best fermentation temperature is room temperature.
For instance:
To Double 1 pound Barm. Add 8 ounces EACH of flour (I-3/4 cups) and water (I cup) to your barm. This will produce 2 pounds of barm, or doubled.
To quadruple 1 pound barm, Add 1-1/2 pounds flour (5-1/4 cups) and 1-1/2 cups water
When the starter is bubbly and foamy, you can use it immediately. Or put it in the fridge overnight. Then it's ready to use for the next stage.
THE SEED CULTURE!!! THE SEED CULTURE!!!
First Day:
1 cup (4.25 ounces) dark rye or coarse whole rye (pumpernickel grind) flour
3/4 cup (6 ounces) water at room temperature
Second Day:
1 cup (4.5 ounces) unbleached high gluten or bread flour
1/2 cup (4 ounces) water, room temperature
Third Day:
1 cup (4.5 ounces) unbleached high gluten or bread flour
1/2 cup (4 ounces) water, room temperature
Fourth Day:
1 cup (4.5 ounces) unbleached high gluten or bread flour
1/2 cup (4 ounces) water, room temperature
First Day: Mix flour and water together until they form a stiff ball of dough. The dough may seem too stiff, but that's OK, as long as it's completely hydrated. Put the dough into a 4 cup container and put tape on the outside of the container, marking the top of the dough. Cover container with plastic wrap, and leave at room temperature for 24 hours.
Second Day : The dough may or may not have risen much. There seemed to be some differences among the different members of the group, which lent to the general element of suspense. Combine the Day 1 sponge with the Day 2 ingredients, mixing until all the ingredients are well combined. The dough should be wetter and softer than the Day 1 sponge. Return it to the container, pressing it down and marking the top of the dough with a piece of tape on the outside of the container. Cover with plastic and ferment for 24 hours. It may develop an unpleasant odor, which is OK and rather dramatic. It will calm down and smell fine by day 4. It may bubble up very high, or at a more modest rate. Apparently, the seed culture has a mind of it's own. Temperature in your house will affect it, as a warmer house produces a livelier fermentation.
Third Day: Check to see if there has been a rise in the dough. There will probably be some fermentation, but it may or may not be a lot--maybe a 50% rise. Regardless, discard 1/2 of the starter (or give it to someone else), and mix this remaining half with the Day 3 ingredients, just like you did on Day 2. The dough will be wetter. Return to the container, pressing down to the same height as on Day 2. Retape the container, marking the top of the dough, cover and ferment for 24 hours.
Fourth Day: The sponge may have doubled or more. If it hasn't doubled, let it ferment for about 12-24 hours more. If that's not necessary, proceed as on Day 3, discarding half of the starter and mixing remaining half with the new ingredients, returning to the container as before. Cover and ferment until it doubles in size. This may take from 4 to 24 hours. It's perfectly alright if it triples in size. The starter will be much softer, like a sponge, and may fall if you move the measuring cup. That's a fine sign that the seed culture is ready to be turned into barm or mother starter
Great explanatory post Sher, I certainly couldn't do it better! Thanks again for making me bake this bread!
Posted by: ilva | May 19, 2008 at 01:08 AM
Great job & beautiful bread, Sher!! A hell of a lenghtly recipe to tackle this time. I learned a lot this month. Thanks for leading me through the wild woods of barm/culture/starters.
Posted by: Lien | May 19, 2008 at 02:01 AM
Sher this is a beautiful presentation of a fabulous bread. Great introduction! Bread continues to fascinate me and each one teaches me something new!
It's pretty neat to look at my loaf next to the book cover!
Thanks much for this one.
Posted by: MyKitchenInHalfCups | May 19, 2008 at 02:27 AM
What a beautiful loaf of bread Sher! Thanks for choosing this one, ever since I had the book I was circling these recipes but was too scared to attempt.
Great writing as well!
Posted by: Baking Soda | May 19, 2008 at 03:45 AM
Wow you did a great job! I'm worried about mine turning out of the bowl properly...it might stick to the napkin! Anyway, I'll give it a go!
Posted by: Andrea | May 19, 2008 at 05:45 AM
Oh my, this is so beyond my level of bread making ability, but it looks wonderful. I think this is such a fun event. Love the way you babes (and I do mean babes) have organized it.
Posted by: Kalyn | May 19, 2008 at 05:52 AM
Wonderful job on this bread. It looks just delicious! I am excited to give it a try!
Posted by: Gretchen Noelle | May 19, 2008 at 05:57 AM
I just pimped up my own starter!
Your bread looks great!
Posted by: Ulrike | May 19, 2008 at 07:19 AM
Wow-what a ton of work, but the payoff looks amazing. Well done!
Posted by: Kristi | May 19, 2008 at 09:26 AM
Your bread looks picture perfect. Good job! I really like your step by step pictures. It makes the process much easier to understand when you can see what's involved.
Posted by: Lynn | May 19, 2008 at 11:38 AM
WOW!
You make it all sound so simple....
And it looks so fantastic...
My starter (DamnIt) is still snug in the fridge... There's hope!
Posted by: katie | May 19, 2008 at 12:30 PM
Nice looking bread! And it sounds like it is fun to make.
Posted by: Kevin | May 19, 2008 at 12:50 PM
I could seriously settle down with a nice, thick slice of that, and a thin schmear of fresh butter. Yum!
Posted by: shelley | May 19, 2008 at 01:59 PM
Sher--It's so gorgeous! I love how dark and dense your loaf looks. I could eat the whole thing! Or not. Like you said, it is kind of cool how one slice of this bread is so rich and complex it's very filling and satisfying!
Thanks again for choosing this one!
Posted by: Glenna | May 19, 2008 at 08:16 PM
Beautiful loaf! Looks just like what I've seen in the bakery.
Posted by: Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) | May 19, 2008 at 08:38 PM
Barm!!! Barm!!! Totally magnificent!
You just show the best part of artisanship of bread making... speechless! I've tried making wild starter once, failed... but now what hold me back is my oven (convection) which I think is bad in bread baking.
Posted by: gattina | May 19, 2008 at 08:38 PM
Beautiful!
Posted by: DaviMack | May 20, 2008 at 01:13 AM
Great Poilâne !! And I've seen them !
One day 'll bake one but I'm still fighting with that very long recipe and time to do it . But you did ! Great job .
Posted by: Monique | May 20, 2008 at 01:41 PM
Uhm that was me, speaking there, the baddest BBBat the moment on the very outside of the classroom
Posted by: Monique | May 20, 2008 at 01:44 PM
ohmigosh! did I get that right you are the host? *giggle*
I am not sure my bread baking ability will be enough to make this bread but I sure have to give it a try. If - well IF - I succeed I'll be more than happy to let you know...
scritches to little devil Laura and hugs to you!
Posted by: Astrid | May 20, 2008 at 01:45 PM
Ah my most beloved Sher! Your bread is as perfect as your recipe was this month. I loved the whole wheat version of the starter and the firm starter that resulted is in my fridge now waiting to be used again. Not only did you create a wonderfully warm and loving kitchen for us all to gather in this month but you produced the loveliest of loaves. Well done!!
Posted by: breadchick | May 20, 2008 at 06:25 PM
Well, I must say that I'm very tired right now because I've just finished reading your wonderful, long, exquisitely written, long, very informative, and long (but I know that's because of the recipe)post and have decided that I may never make this beautiful loaf of bread. I will, however, return to your post again and again to experience that vicarious bread-making thrill all over my body.
What an endeavor! Kudos to you!
Posted by: Christine | May 20, 2008 at 08:26 PM
Done!
http://ostwestwind.twoday.net/stories/4940554/
Posted by: Ulrike | May 21, 2008 at 06:15 AM
Strange. I was certain I had commented on this to congratulate you for baking this bread. Well done!
Posted by: Elizabeth | May 21, 2008 at 09:21 AM
Looks like I still have time to make it for this month. Is there a "bread baking boys" badge? :)
Posted by: Jude | May 28, 2008 at 12:15 PM
babes and hot food.........yum yu,,,m. keep it coming.
Posted by: nick | August 13, 2008 at 11:00 AM
I know I'm a bit behind the eight ball, but I only began making my starter on Sep 8th. Believe it or not my first loaf was the Poilane Miche and it turned out FABULOUSLY!! In fact I'm eating it for breakfast as we speak. Thanks so much for your great instruction, I'm offically hooked!
Posted by: Karen | September 25, 2008 at 01:42 PM
Great article.
Posted by: Bread Making Machines | August 06, 2010 at 04:41 PM