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Breads and Bakes · Card BB01
Wheat-Stencil Scored Sourdough Boule
A naturally leavened round with a blistered, crackling crust, a glossy open crumb and a gentle tang from an overnight cold proof. A snowy flour dusting makes the wheat-stalk scoring pop in dark relief, so the loaf looks as good on the board as it tastes toasted under salted butter.
- Prep
- 19 hr
- Cook
- 45 min
- Total
- 19 hr 45 min
- Serves
- 12
- Level
- Hard
- Cuisine
- French
Method
Step 1: Whisk the starter into 350 g water until milky, then add the bread flour and whole wheat flour and mix by hand until no dry patches remain. Cover and rest 45 minutes; this autolyse lets the flour hydrate so gluten starts forming without any kneading.
Step 2: Sprinkle the salt and the extra 1 tbsp water over the dough and squeeze it through with wet fingers for 2 to 3 minutes until fully absorbed. Keep the dough covered somewhere around 75F.
Step 3: Over the next 2 hours, do 4 sets of stretch and folds every 30 minutes: lift one side of the dough, fold it over the middle, turn the bowl a quarter and repeat four times. Then leave it alone until it has grown by about 50 percent, looks domed and jiggles when the bowl is shaken, 2 to 3 hours more.
Step 4: Tip the dough onto an unfloured counter, round it loosely with a bench scraper and rest it uncovered 20 minutes. Lightly flour the top, flip it, fold the sides in and roll it toward you into a tight ball with plenty of surface tension.
Step 5: Dust a 9-inch round banneton or towel-lined bowl with rice flour and set the dough in seam side up. Cover and refrigerate 12 to 16 hours; the cold proof builds flavor and firms the dough so the pattern cuts cleanly.
Step 6: Put a lidded Dutch oven in the oven and heat to 500F for 45 minutes. Turn the cold dough onto a sheet of parchment, sift the all-purpose flour evenly over the top, and lay a wheat-stalk stencil on it first if you have one.
Step 7: Score with a razor held at a shallow angle: one long central cut about 1/2 inch deep for the stalk, then short angled cuts in pairs along both sides, like herringbone grains. Add one deeper curved cut on the side to act as the main expansion point.
Step 8: Lower the loaf on its parchment into the pot, cover and reduce the heat to 475F. Bake 20 minutes, remove the lid, drop to 450F and bake 20 to 25 minutes more until deep chestnut brown, the base sounds hollow when tapped and the center reads 205F.
Step 9: Cool on a rack for at least 2 hours before slicing, since the crumb is still setting and cutting early turns it gummy.
Kitchen note
The rice flour in the basket contains no gluten, so it cannot turn into glue against a wet dough the way wheat flour can, which keeps the loaf from tearing on release.
Easy swap
Fold 3/4 cup chopped dried figs and toasted walnuts into the dough during the third set of folds for a fruit-studded loaf like the one waiting in the background.
Filed nearby
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