Pain de Campagne - pate fermentee

Method

• Remove the pate fermentee from the refrigerator 1 hour before making the dough.
• Cut it into about 10 small pieces with a pastry scraper or serrated knife.
• Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let sit for 1 hour to take off the chill.
• Stir together the flours, salt, yeast and pate fermentee pieces in a 4-quart mixing bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer).
• Add the water, stirring until everything comes together and makes a coarse ball (or mix on low speed with the paddle attachment).
• Add a few drops of additional water, if needed, to gather any loose flour into the ball.
• The dough should be soft and pliable.
• Sprinkle flour on the counter, transfer the dough to the counter, and begin to knead (or mix on medium speed with the dough hook).
• Knead for 8 to 10 minutes (6 minutes by machine), sprinkling in bread flour if needed to make a soft, pliable dough.
• It should be tacky but not sticky.
• The dough should pass the windowpane test (page 58) and register 77 to 81F.
• 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.
• Ferment at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.
• If the dough doubles in size more quickly, knead lightly to degas it and let it rise again, covered, until it doubles from original size.
• Sprinkle a small amount of flour on the counter and gently remove the dough from the bowl, being careful to degas it as little as possible.
• Divide the dough into 3 or more pieces by cutting it with a pastry scraper or a serrated knife, again trying to avoid degassing any more than necessary.
• Shape the dough as shown on pages 7279, depending on what shape you desire (baguette, batard, couronne, epi, fendu, or auvergnat).
• Line 2 sheet pans with baking parchment and sprinkle with semolina flour or cornmeal and transfer the dough to the pans (or use the couche method described on page 38).
• Mist the dough with spray oil and loosely cover with plastic wrap, a food-grade plastic bag, or a towel.
• Proof for about 1 hour, or until the pieces are approximately 1 1/2 times their original size.
• Prepare the oven for hearth baking as described on pages 9194, making sure to have an empty steam pan in place.
• Preheat the oven to 500F.
• If you are making epis, you can make the scissors cuts shown on page 76.
• Epis can be baked directly on the sheet pans.
• For other shapes, generously dust a peel or the back of a sheet pan with semolina flour or cornmeal and very gently transfer the dough pieces to the peel or pan.
• Slide the dough onto the baking stone (or bake directly on the sheet pan).
• Pour 1 cup hot water into the steam pan and close the door.
• After 30 seconds, spray the oven walls with water and close the door.
• Repeat twice more at 30-second intervals.
• After the final spray, lower the oven setting to 450F and continue baking for 10 minutes.
• Check the loaves and, if necessary, rotate them 180 degrees for even baking.
• Continue to bake for 10 to 15 more minutes for baguettes and fendus, less for rolls.
• They should be a rich golden brown all around and register 200 to 205F in the center of the loaf.
• The bread should sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.
• Transfer the bread to a cooling rack (off the sheet pan if used).
• Allow the bread to cool for at least 40 minutes before slicing or serving.
• Lean, standard dough; indirect method; commercial yeast
• Day 1: 1 1/4 hours pate fermentee
• Day 2: 1 hour to de-chill pate fermentee; 12 to 15 minutes mixing; 3 1/2 hours fermentation, shaping, and proofing; 25 to 35 minutes baking
• The amount of whole grain used in this dough may vary from region to region, but typically it amounts to somewhere between 10 and 20 percent of the total flour.
• Feel free to adjust the relationship of white to whole grain as you play with this formula.
• As with the baguette, this formula utilizes a full batch of dough as the pre-ferment for the final dough, effectively doubling the amount.
• Because the bakers formula is based on the relationship of each ingredient (in this case, pate fermentee) to total flour weight, the percentage of pre-ferment amounts to 168 percent against the combined weight of bread flour and whole-wheat or rye flour.
• It is this huge amount of pre-ferment that makes the bread perform so well in a home kitchen.
• Pain de Campagne %
• Pate fermentee: 168.4%
• Bread flour: 84.2%
• Whole-wheat flour: 15.8%
• Salt: 2%
• Instant yeast: 1.2%
• Water: 63.2%
• Total: 334.8%