CHAPTER 10
PURE LEVAIN DOUGHS
OVERNIGHT COUNTRY BLONDE
OVERNIGHT COUNTRY BROWN
PAIN AU BACON

Overnight Country Blonde

OVERNIGHT COUNTRY BLONDE
This is a pure levain dough that gets no help from store-bought yeast. It makes beautiful, natural levain bread with just a bit of tang to it. Using a small amount of levain, the long overnight bulk fermentation allows the dough to become nice and gassy by morning, tripling in volume. The shaped loaves are then proofed for about four hours. The aroma and flavor of this bread will directly reflect the character of your levain, with the flavors improving and the acidity mellowing for a couple of days after baking.
At Ken’s Artisan Bakery we make a slightly different version of this dough. It begins with a levain feeding at 3:30 a.m., so I didn’t include that version here, for obvious reasons. However, this would be a great dough to use to make a scaled-down version of my 3-kilo boule, as described at 1.8 kilos (4 pounds) total, the amount of dough in this recipe will just barely fit on a standard baking stone for a home oven.
Be sure to bake this bread completely, letting it remain in the oven until it is as dark as possible shy of burning. If you want an even chewier crust, leave the loaves in the oven with the door partly open for a few minutes after turning off the oven.
Once you’ve perfected this bread, I encourage you to mix it up and try different blends of flours in your final dough mix; just make sure the total amount of fresh flour is 880 grams to complement the 120 grams of flour in the levain. Another option is to fold in about 225 grams of olives, nuts, or other ingredients, as in the recipe for Pain au Bacon.
THIS RECIPE MAKES 2 LOAVES, EACH ABOUT 1½ POUNDS, OR 1 BIG LOAF (SEE THE VARIATION).
BULK FERMENTATION: 12 to 15 hours
PROOF TIME: About 4 hours
SAMPLE SCHEDULE: Feed the levain at 9 a.m., mix the final dough at 5 p.m., shape into loaves at 8 a.m. the next morning, and bake at noon.
Levain
INGREDIENT QUANTITY  
Mature, active levain 100 g ⅓ cup + 1½ tbsp
White flour 400 g 3 cups + 2 tbsp
Whole wheat flour 100 g ¾ cup + ½ tbsp
Water 400 g, 85ºF to 90ºF (29ºC to 32ºC) 1¾ cups
Final Dough Baker’s Formula
INGREDIENT FINAL DOUGH MIX QUANTITY   QUANTITY IN LEVAIN TOTAL RECIPE QUANTITY BAKER’S PERCENTAGE
White flour 804 g 6¼ cups 96 g 900 g 90%
Whole wheat flour 26 g 3 tbsp 24 g 50 g 5%
Rye flour 50 g ⅓ cup + 1 tbsp 0 50 g 5%
Water 684 g, 90ºF to 95ºF (32ºC to 35ºC) Scant 3 cups 96 g 780 g 78%
Fine sea salt 22 g 1 tbsp + 1 tsp 0 22 g 2.2%
Levain 216 g** ¾ cup + 1 tbsp     12%*

* The baker’s percentage for levain is the amount of flour in the levain expressed as a percentage of the total flour in the recipe.

** If your kitchen is cooler than 70ºF (21ºC), increase the amount of levain, perhaps using 250 to 275 grams.

1a. Feed the levain About 24 hours after your previous feeding of the levain, discard all but 100 grams of levain, leaving the remainder in your 6-quart tub. Add 400 grams of white flour, 100 grams of whole wheat flour, and 400 grams of water at 85°F to 90°F (29°C to 32°C) and mix by hand just until incorporated. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 7 to 9 hours before mixing the final dough.
1b. Autolyse After 7 to 9 hours, mix the 804 grams of white flour, the 50 grams of rye flour, and the 26 grams of whole wheat flour by hand in a 12-quart round tub. Add the 684 grams of 90°F to 95°F (32°C to 35°C) water and mix by hand just until incorporated. Cover and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes.
2. Mix the final dough Sprinkle the 22 grams of salt evenly over the top of the dough.
Put a container with about a finger’s depth of warm water on your scale so you can easily remove the levain after it’s weighed. With wet hands, transfer 216 grams (or more if your kitchen is cool; see “Seasonal Variations”) of levain into the container.
Transfer the weighed levain to the 12-quart dough tub, minimizing the amount of water transferred with it. Mix by hand, wetting your working hand before mixing so the dough doesn’t stick to you. Use the pincer method alternating with folding the dough to fully integrate the ingredients. The target dough temperature at the end of the mix is 77°F to 78°F (25°C to 26°C).
3. Fold This dough needs three or four folds (see Step 3: Fold the Dough). Because overnight levain dough expands very slowly, it can be folded anytime that’s convenient before you go to bed, perhaps doing two or three folds during the first hour and the final fold whenever convenient that evening.
When the dough is nearly triple its original volume, or possibly a bit less in winter, 12 to 15 hours after mixing, it’s ready to be divided.
4. Divide With floured hands, gently ease the dough out of the tub and onto a lightly floured work surface. With your hands still floured, pick up the dough and ease it back down onto the work surface in a somewhat even shape. Use a bit of flour to dust the area in the middle where you’ll cut the dough, then cut it into 2 equal-size pieces with a dough knife or plastic dough scraper.
5. Shape the dough Dust 2 proofing baskets with flour. Shape each piece of dough into a medium-tight ball following these instructions. Place each seam side down in its proofing basket.
6. Proof Set the baskets side by side and cover with a kitchen towel, or place each basket in a nonperforated plastic bag. Proofing time should be about 4 hours, assuming a room temperature of about 70°F (21°C). Use the finger-dent test to determine when they are perfectly proofed and ready to bake.
7. Preheat At least 45 minutes prior to baking, put a rack in the middle of the oven and put 2 Dutch ovens on the rack with their lids on. Preheat the oven to 475°F (245°C).

If you only have 1 Dutch oven, put the second loaf into the refrigerator about 20 minutes before baking the first loaf and bake the loaves sequentially, giving the Dutch oven a 5-minute reheat after removing the first loaf.
8. Bake For the next step, please be careful not to let your hands, fingers, or forearms touch the extremely hot Dutch oven.
Invert the proofed loaf onto a lightly floured countertop, keeping in mind that the top of the loaf will be the side that was facing down while it was rising—the seam side.
Remove the preheated Dutch oven from your kitchen oven, remove the lid, and carefully place the loaf in the Dutch oven seam side up. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until medium dark brown to very dark brown all around the loaf. Check after 15 minutes of baking uncovered in case your oven runs hot.
Remove the Dutch oven and carefully tilt it to turn the loaf out. Let cool on a rack or set the loaf on its side so air can circulate around it. Let the loaf rest for at least 20 minutes before slicing.
The finger-dent test may indicate that the loaves are proofed after about 3¼ hours. At my house at 70ºF (21ºC), the window for compete proofing is between about 3½ and 4¼ hours. Initially, I found that the bread baked nicely after a 3-hour proof, but further test bakes had better flavor with a full 4-hour proof, and the loaves didn’t deflate.
VARIATION: THE 1.8-KILO BOULE
If you want to try making a smaller version of my 3-kilo boule, shape the entire amount of dough in this recipe (about 1.8 kilos) into a single round loaf using the same shaping technique used for the smaller round loaves throughout this book (see Step 5: Shape the Loaves). This 1.8-kilo loaf will be about the same size as a Poilâne miche.
Moderately flour a lint-free kitchen towel about 14 to 16 inches wide, or a couple of overlapped kitchen towels if needed. Place the dough seam side down on the towels, dust the top with flour, and cover by lifting the edges of the towel over the dough from opposite sides. The towel should completely overlap the dough without wrapping it too tightly; leave about 1 inch of slack on either side to allow the dough to expand. Proof at room temperature for 4½ to 5 hours.
At least 45 minutes prior to baking, put a rack in the middle of the oven and put a second rack below it, near the bottom of the oven. Put a pizza stone on the middle rack and preheat the oven to 500ºF (260ºC). Immerse a second pizza stone in hot water, also for 45 minutes; if it’s lying flat, turn it over after about 20 minutes. About 5 minutes before baking the loaf, put the wet pizza stone on the lowest oven rack to provide steam.
It isn’t necessary to score the loaf, but it is preferable, so if you have a scoring blade score a square around the perimeter of the loaf, with overlapping strokes. Use a floured pizza peel to load the big loaf onto the dry, preheated pizza stone, seam side up. After 5 minutes, lower the oven temperature to 475ºF (245ºC). Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, but check at the 30 minute mark in case your oven runs hot. (When you open the oven, be prepared for a blast of steam.) Your loaf is done when the crust is baked to a dark brown. Turn off the oven, open the door a few inches, and let the loaf sit in the oven for a few minutes to help set the crust. As usual, let the loaf cool, either on a rack or propped on its side, before slicing.

Overnight Country Brown

OVERNIGHT COUNTRY BROWN
This recipe is modeled after the original Country Brown bread we made daily at Ken’s Artisan Bakery in the early days. This is a good example of how to make a long-fermented pure levain dough that has mellow flavors and a gentle tang (rather than being sour) and a very pleasant, rustic look and taste. The chew of the crust from this loaf is particularly satisfying, and the way the crust flavors permeate into the crumb is soulful—provided you bake the bread until you get dark chestnut colors all over.
If you want to have a go at making a bread that is similar in size, color, and style to pain Poilâne, try using the entire 1.8 kilos of dough to make a single, large boule, following the instructions in the Overnight Country Blonde variation.
THIS RECIPE MAKES 2 LOAVES, EACH ABOUT 1½ POUNDS, OR 1 BIG LOAF (SEE THE VARIATION).
BULK FERMENTATION: 12 to 15 hours
PROOF TIME: About 4 hours
SAMPLE SCHEDULE: Feed the levain at 9 a.m., mix the final dough at 5 p.m., shape into loaves at 8 a.m. the next morning, and bake at noon.
Levain
INGREDIENT QUANTITY  
Mature, active levain 100 g ⅓ cup + 1½ tbsp
White flour 400 g 3 cups + 2 tbsp
Whole wheat flour 100 g ¾ cup + ½ tbsp
Water 400 g, 85ºF to 90ºF (29ºC to 32ºC) 1¾ cups
Final Dough Baker’s Formula
INGREDIENT FINAL DOUGH MIX QUANTITY   QUANTITY IN LEVAIN TOTAL RECIPE QUANTITY BAKER’S PERCENTAGE
White flour 604 g 4⅔ cups 96 g 700 g 70%
Whole wheat flour 276 g 2 cups + 2 tbsp 24 g 300 g 30%
Water 684 g, 90ºF to 95ºF (32ºC to 35ºC) Scant 3 cups 96 g 780 g 78%
Fine sea salt 22 g 1 tbsp + 1 tsp 0 22 g 2.2%
Levain 216 g** ¾ cup + 1 tbsp     12%*

* The baker’s percentage for levain is the amount of flour in the levain expressed as a percentage of the total flour in the recipe.

** If your kitchen is cooler than 70ºF (21ºC), increase the amount of levain, perhaps using 250 to 275 grams.

1a. Feed the levain About 24 hours after your previous feeding of the levain, discard all but 100 grams of levain, leaving the remainder in your 6-quart tub. Add 400 grams of white flour, 100 grams of whole wheat flour, and 400 grams of water at 85°F to 90°F (29°C to 32°C) and mix by hand just until incorporated. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 7 to 9 hours before mixing the final dough.
1b. Autolyse After 7 to 9 hours, mix the 604 grams of white flour and the 276 grams of whole wheat flour by hand in a 12-quart round tub. Add 684 grams of 90°F to 95°F (32°C to 35°C) water and mix by hand just until incorporated. Cover and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes.
2. Mix the final dough Sprinkle the 22 grams of salt evenly over the top of the dough.
Put a container with about a finger’s depth of warm water on your scale so you can easily remove the levain after it’s weighed. With wet hands, transfer 216 grams (or more if your kitchen is cool; see “Seasonal Variations”) of levain into the container.
Transfer the weighed levain to the 12-quart dough tub, minimizing the amount of water transferred with it. Mix by hand, wetting your working hand before mixing so the dough doesn’t stick to you. Use the pincer method alternating with folding the dough to fully integrate the ingredients. The target dough temperature at the end of the mix is 77°F to 78°F (25°C to 26°C).
3. Fold This dough needs three or four folds (see Step 3: Fold the Dough). Because overnight levain dough expands very slowly, it can be folded anytime that’s convenient before you go to bed, perhaps two or three folds during the first hour and the final fold whenever convenient that evening.
When the dough is nearly triple in size, or possibly a bit less in winter, 12 to 15 hours after mixing, it’s ready to be divided.
4. Divide With floured hands, gently ease the dough out of the tub and onto a lightly floured work surface. With your hands still floured, pick up the dough and ease it back down onto the work surface in a somewhat even shape. Use a bit of flour to dust the area in the middle where you’ll cut the dough, then cut it into 2 equal-size pieces with a dough knife or plastic dough scraper.
5. Shape Dust 2 proofing baskets with flour. Shape each piece of dough into a medium-tight ball following these instructions. Place each seam side down in its proofing basket.
6. Proof Set the baskets side by side and cover with a kitchen towel, or place each basket in a nonperforated plastic bag. Proofing time should be about 4 hours, assuming a room temperature of about 70°F (21°C). Use the finger-dent test to see determine when they are perfectly proofed and ready to bake.
7. Preheat At least 45 minutes prior to baking, put a rack in the middle of the oven and put 2 Dutch ovens on the rack with their lids on. Preheat the oven to 475°F (245°C).
If you only have 1 Dutch oven, put the second loaf into the refrigerator about 20 minutes before baking the first loaf and bake the loaves sequentially, giving the Dutch oven a 5-minute reheat after removing the first loaf.
8. Bake For the next step, please be careful not to let your hands, fingers, or forearms touch the extremely hot Dutch oven.
Invert the proofed loaf onto a lightly floured countertop, keeping in mind that the top of the loaf will be the side that was facing down while it was rising—the seam side.
Remove the preheated Dutch oven from your kitchen oven, remove the lid, and carefully place the loaf in the Dutch oven seam side up. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until medium dark brown to very dark brown all around the loaf. Check after 15 minutes of baking uncovered in case your oven runs hot.
Remove the Dutch oven and carefully tilt it to turn the loaf out. Let cool on a rack or set the loaf on its side so air can circulate around it. Let the loaf rest for at least 20 minutes before slicing.

Pain au Bacon

PAIN AU BACON
Earlier in the book I pointedly wrote about how the craft of an artisan baker is most evident when the ingredients are just flour, water, salt, and yeast. But man, this is great as an indulgence! I chose an overnight levain dough here because it has more acidity than the other doughs, which complements the fattiness of the bacon. Vitaly Paley, chef and owner of the Portland restaurant Paley’s Place, wishes I would make this bread for him every day. And after he suggested it for French toast, he recanted and said, “The bread is too precious to cook with. I just want to eat it!”
This bread is impressive eaten still warm from the oven or grilled. It soars when toasted and served with eggs and chilled cider or a glass of bubbly. It shines when made into warm, crisp croutons for use in a salad vinaigrette. It sings tenor high notes in a BLT sandwich with lemony mayonnaise and fresh ripe tomatoes. Toasted bacon bread squares with steelhead roe, anyone? Or how about served with a traditional Maryland oyster stew? If I was in Hawaii, I’d have it for breakfast with eggs and fresh papaya or passion fruit. Here in Oregon, it goes great with roasted pears. Maybe the ultimate Elvis sandwich would be this bacon bread with peanut butter and bananas. And more bacon.
This dough should have a slightly shorter overnight fermentation time than the other pure levain doughs in this book. The bacon fat makes the yeast extra happy, so the dough will develop more quickly.
THIS RECIPE MAKES 2 LOAVES, EACH ABOUT 1½ POUNDS.
BULK FERMENTATION: About 12 hours
PROOF TIME: 3½ to 4 hours
SAMPLE SCHEDULE: Feed the levain at 9 a.m., mix the final dough at 7 p.m., shape into loaves between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. the next morning, and bake at 11 a.m.
Levain
INGREDIENT QUANTITY  
Mature, active levain 100 g ⅓ cup + 1½ tbsp
White flour 400 g 3 cups + 2 tbsp
Whole wheat flour 100 g ¾ cup + ½ tbsp
Water 400 g, 85ºF to 90ºF (29ºC to 32ºC) 1¾ cups
Final Dough Baker’s Formula
INGREDIENT FINAL DOUGH MIX QUANTITY   QUANTITY IN LEVAIN TOTAL RECIPE QUANTITY BAKER’S PERCENTAGE
White flour 864 g 6¾ cups 96 g 960 g 96%
Whole wheat flour 16 g 2 tbsp 24 g 40 g 4%
Water 684 g, 90ºF to 95ºF (32ºC to 35ºC) Scant 3 cups 96 g 780 g 78%
Fine sea salt 20 g 1 tbsp + ¾ tsp 0 20 g 2%
Bacon Cooked crisp bacon (500 g uncooked), with 2 tbsp bacon fat Yield from 1 lb uncooked, with 2 tbsp bacon fat 0 500 g uncooked 50%
Levain 216 g** ¾ cup + 1 tbsp     12%*

* The baker’s percentage for levain is the amount of flour in the levain expressed as a percentage of the total flour in the recipe.

** If your kitchen is cooler than 70ºF (21ºC), increase the amount of levain, perhaps using 250 to 275 grams.

1a. Feed the levain About 24 hours after your previous feeding of the levain, discard all but 100 grams of levain, leaving the remainder in your 6-quart tub. Add 400 grams of white flour, 100 grams of whole wheat flour, and 400 grams of water at 85°F to 90°F (29°C to 32°C) and mix by hand just until incorporated. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 9 to 10 hours before mixing the final dough.
1b. Cook the bacon At least 20 minutes before autolysing, sauté the 500 grams of bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towels and reserve 2 tablespoons of the rendered bacon fat. Let cool to room temperature, then crumble.
1c. Autolyse Between 9 and 10 hours after feeding the levain, mix the 864 grams of white flour and the 605 grams of whole wheat flour by hand in a 12-quart round tub. Add the 684 grams of 90°F to 95°F (32°C to 35°C) water and mix by hand just until incorporated. Cover and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes.
2. Mix the final dough Sprinkle the 20 grams of salt evenly over the top of the dough.
Put a container with about a finger’s depth of warm water on your scale so you can easily remove the levain after it’s weighed. With wet hands, transfer 216 grams (or more if your kitchen is cool; see “Seasonal Variations”) of levain into the container.
Transfer the weighed levain to the 12-quart dough tub, minimizing the amount of water transferred with it. Mix by hand, wetting your working hand before mixing so the dough doesn’t stick to you. Use the pincer method alternating with folding the dough to fully integrate the ingredients. The target dough temperature at the end of the mix is 77°F to 78°F (25°C to 26°C).
Let the dough rest for 10 minutes, then spread the 2 tablespoons of bacon fat over the top and sprinkle the crumbled bacon evenly over the top. Incorporate them into the dough, again using the pincer method alternating with folding until the bacon and fat are evenly distributed.
3. Fold This dough needs three or four folds (see Step 3: Fold the Dough). It’s easiest to apply the folds during the first 1½ to 2 hours after mixing the dough.
When the dough is about triple its original volume, or possibly a little less in winter, about 12 hours after mixing, it’s ready to be divided.
4. Divide With floured hands, gently ease the dough out of the tub and onto a lightly floured work surface. With your hands still floured, pick up the dough and ease it back down onto the work surface in a somewhat even shape. Use a bit of flour to dust the area in the middle where you’ll cut the dough, then cut it into 2 equal-size pieces with a dough knife or plastic dough scraper.
5. Shape Dust 2 proofing baskets with flour. Shape each piece of dough into a medium-tight ball following these instructions. Place each seam side down in its proofing basket.
6. Proof Set the baskets side by side and cover with a kitchen towel, or place each basket in a nonperforated plastic bag. Proofing time should be 3½ to 4 hours, assuming a room temperature of 70°F (21°C). Use the finger-dent test to see determine when they are perfectly proofed and ready to bake.
7. Preheat At least 45 minutes prior to baking, put a rack in the middle of the oven and put 2 Dutch ovens on the rack with their lids on. Preheat the oven to 475° (245°C)F.
If you only have 1 Dutch oven, put the second loaf into the refrigerator about 20 minutes before baking the first loaf and bake the loaves sequentially, giving the Dutch oven a 5-minute reheat after removing the first loaf.
8. Bake For the next step, please be careful not to let your hands, fingers, or forearms touch the extremely hot Dutch oven.
Invert the proofed loaf onto a lightly floured countertop, keeping in mind that the top of the loaf will be the side that was facing down while it was rising—the seam side.
Remove the preheated Dutch oven from your kitchen oven, remove the lid, and carefully place the loaf in the Dutch oven seam side up. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for 20 minutes, until at least medium dark brown all around the loaf and the bits of bacon studding the crust are completely crisped—maybe even a little charred.
Remove the Dutch oven and carefully tilt it to turn the loaf out. Let cool on a rack or set the loaf on its side so air can circulate around it. Let the loaf rest for at least 20 minutes before slicing, give a nod to Elvis, then enjoy.

White Flour Warm-Spot Levain.