Red Fife Sourdough Bread Recipes

WHOLE GRAIN SOURDOUGH BREAD WITH RED FIFE FLOUR

Steps:

• Mix starter and water with a fork until distributed. Add flours. Mix with fork until dry, then finish incorporating flours with hands until no flour streaks remain.
• Let rest, covered with a damp cloth, for 45 minutes. This is the autolyse stage.
• When autolyse is complete, add salt and squeeze liberally into dough. Mix dough with your hands for 3 minutes, kneading and really working the salt into the dough. Then perform your first set of stretch and folds. Let rest for 30 minutes, and repeat set of stretch and folds. Do this 2 more times, for a total of 4 sets of stretch and folds.
• When that is finished, let dough rest, cover bowl with a damp cloth and let dough rise until just about doubled, but not quite. You will see some small bubbles around the edges of the top of the dough, and it will be a bit domed, and tiny bubbles all throughout the inside of the dough when you look at the sides of the bowl. This is when bulk fermentation is complete. With my house at 70 degrees F, this took about 4 hours from the last set of stretch and folds.
• Gently move dough onto a lightly floured surface. Let rest for 15 minutes, covered. Then shape your bread and use a bench scraper to put dough into banneton, seam side up. and put into a banneton. (You can use an oval or round banneton.)
• Cover with a plastic bag, and refrigerate for 8-12 hours. The longer it stays in the refrigerator, the more tang (sour) you will get from the loaf.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F, with your dutch oven in it. When oven is preheat, remove dough from refrigerator and score according to your preference. Bake for 20 minutes with lid on, then remove lid and turn heat down to 425 degrees F and bake for additional 20-25 minutes, until crust is golden brown.
• Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. Let rest for one hour before slicing.

RED FIFE SOURDOUGH BREAD

Steps:

• Mix the flour and water. Cover to autolyse for 1-2 hours.
• Add the leaven 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 six stretch and folds every 20-30 minutes.
• 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 and starter strength. My all red fife fermented 9.5 hours at about 75 F, and my 40% red fife fermented 9 hours at about 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 and 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 1-3 hours at room temperature, or 6-10 hours in the refrigerator. My all whole grain red fife dough proofed in the refrigerator for 7 hours, as the dough was wet and I wanted it to stiffen up. I proofed the 40% whole grain red fife dough for 3 hours at room temperature, which is longer than I normally would let it go, but I felt had ended the bulk fermentation a little early, so I wanted to give it more time on the final proof.
• Thirty minutes before the end of the proofing stage, preheat your oven to 500 F with the baking vessel inside. (Follow the temperature limits of your baker, and see note below).
• 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.
• Note
• I have also baked a nice crusty loaf of all whole grain red fife sourdough with similar flour and water proportions at 450 F for 35 minutes lid on, and 450 F for 10 additional minutes lid off.