Hamelman's Vermont Sourdough

Shavua tov! It's the start of another summer week in the Gush- hopefully it will be a meaningful (we observe the fast of the ninth of Av this week) and productive (I have a final this week!) one. This past weekend was spent in Bar Ilan with my friend Sara, who graciously hosted me. Sara is one of the few fortunate students in the area with air conditioner. Let me just say, the luxury of it can not be overstated. It is inconceivably hot and humid and sticky over there and the air conditioner was a saving grace. And it was so nice to be spending the weekend with a friend I rarely get to see. (Sara, if you're reading this, thanks again and take the hint!) Anyway, in terms of the blog, Shabbat means that I've tried some of the breads I made and baked some desserts as well, so lots of good posts coming up. I had these sourdoughs in the freezer and knowing how Sara enjoys my crusty breads, I brought them over. I'm learning that nothing beats fresh and that the freezer doesn't do the breads much good. The original crunch of the crust is pretty much irretrievable. In any case, the flavor on them was sour, but not too sour at all and the crumb was creamy and even with a few large holes here and there. Nothing too glamorous. It tasted almost identical to the other Vermont Sourdough that I made a while back. The steaming went well; I heard some soft "singing" when they came out, which made me happy. I think that my slashing on these loaves were great and the oven spring was pretty impressive, too. I'm very pleased with the way they turned out overall. I used a mixer, now that I have one at my disposal!, and this bread could not have been easier to put together. This bread has been proudly Yeastspotted!

Vermont Sourdough

from Hamelman's Bread

Levain:

1 cup bread or all purpose flour

3/4 cup water

1 tbsp mature liquid culture

Final Dough:

5 1/2 cups bread flour

7/8 cup rye flour

1 7/8 cups water

1 tbsp salt

all of levain minus 2 tbsp

The night before baking, place the levain in a container. Pour the water over it and stir to loosen and dissolve it. Add the flour and stir until smooth. Cover and let sit over night.
The next day, place the levain and all of the dough ingredients into the bowl of a mixer.
Put the mixer on medium and mix until the dough comes together, about two minutes.
Allow the dough to ferment for two and half hours. Fold half way through.
Here's my folded dough.
Scale the dough into two portions. Round them and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Allow to proof for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Towards the end of proofing, preheat the oven to 460, preparing the oven for steam.
Slash the loaves.
Bake for forty minutes. Carefully remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!