Einkorn Sourdough Boule
Recipes
How to Master & Shape a Sourdough Boule with Einkorn Flour
Ingredients
Levain- 2 tablespoons (30 g) Einkorn Sourdough Starter (can be cold right out of the refrigerator or you can use starter that has been refreshed and left to rise for at least 6 hours)
- ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon (130 g) warm water, at 100°F
- 1 cup (120 g) jovial All-Purpose Einkorn Flour or 1¼ cups (120 g) jovial Whole Wheat Einkorn flour
- 1 batch Sourdough Levain or Yeast Levain
- 1⅓ cups (315 g) warm water, at 100°F”
- 5 cups (600 ) All-Purpose Einkorn Flour plus more for dusting
- 1½ teaspoons fine sea salt
Instructions
- Make the levain: In glass container that you can seal tightly or in a medium bowl, mix the starter and water together with a fork, pressing on the starter until it dissolves. Add the flour and mix until the flour is dissolved. Seal tightly or cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise in a dark place for 6 to 10 hours.
- Make the dough: Transfer the levain to a large bowl. Add the water and mix with a stiff spatula or Einkorn Kneading tool to break up the levain.
- Add the flour and sprinkle the salt on top. Mix for less than a minute until you have a wet, sticky dough and the flour is mostly absorbed. Cover the bowl with a plate and let stand for 15 minutes.
- Turn the dough: Scrape around the edges of the bowl to loosen the dough. Lightly flour a work surface and transfer the dough to it. Turn the dough by stretching the dough into a square, then folding in each corner to the center. Fold in half, then transfer back to the bowl and cover the bowl with a plate. Let rest for 15 minutes. Turn two more times, letting the dough rest for 15 minutes after the second turn.
- Transfer the dough back to the bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for 3 to 5 hours, or until it has risen by 30%.
- Shape the loaf: transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Pull up the corners of the dough at 1-inch intervals and press them tightly into the center to make a 6-inch round. Turn the dough over so the seam side is on the counter. Cup the dough with both hands and rotate in a circular motion between your hands until you have a tight round loaf. Dust the top of the loaf generously with flour.
- Heavily dust an 8½-inch unlined banneton basket with flour and invert the loaf into it. Cover with a linen couche or plastic wrap and let proof at room temperature for 60 to 90 minutes. Alternatively, you can proof the loaf in a colander, lined with a linen couche, dusted with flour.
- Place a Dutch oven (5 Quart minimum) with the lid on in the oven. Preheat the oven to 500°F for 1 hour.
- Remove the pot from the oven and take off the lid. Invert the loaf and place it in the pot seam side down. Shake to center it. Slash the top of the loaf. Cover and place in the oven.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 450°F and bake for 40 minutes. At this point, you can remove the pot from the oven and take off the lid. If you like your loaf darker, return the uncovered pot to the oven for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Carefully transfer the loaf to a wire rack and let it cool for at least 2 hours before slicing. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days, in an open plastic bag after the first day, or freeze for up to a month, then defrost at room temperature.
Tips
Also view our previous lessons in Mastering Einkorn Sourdough Baking: Lesson 1: Einkorn Sourdough Starter and Lesson 2: Einkorn Sourdough Levain.
2) why not overnight fermentation in fridge ?
3) what is the hydration? I usually do 84% but I see your dough is much more dry . I have to do the S&F in the bowl, while I see you can do it on the table . I read that to achieve larger crumbs the hydration had to be higher . Can this be applied to einkorn ? I hate to waste flour ( can’t find it now ) so I want to make sure I get a good result . Thank you for answering my questions, blessing !
- I'm at high altitude (7500'). No adjustments to the proportions was needed. The long rise and proof in the basket will be closer to the shorter time (~3 hours and 1 hour).
- If using a new banneton basket, you will need to initially condition it (the internet has guides). If you just dust with flour... you're gonna have a bad time, and a sticky mess that refuses to come out of the basket.
- Be patient and use the full 2 hours of cooling. I've been able to cheat with normal sourdough and cut into it early. This with be very sticky/ spongy if you cut into it too early.
- The recipe is quite tolerant to additions, especially since the Einkorn sourdough is not overly sour. A few suggestions: 1/2 cup Parmesan with 1/2 cup kalamata olives. 3/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes (washed of the oil) with 3/4 cup fontina cheese. The only "failure" Ive had was adding pesto, since so much additional olive oil in the pesto changed the texture of the bread. Any suggestions, Jovial?
I have tried making this bread two times now and love the taste. However, my crumb turns out dense each time. My sourdough starter is 3 months old and was fed 6 hours before using. I let the bread rise 5 hours plus 60 min final rise. Do you know what causes the crumb to be dense? My oven was at 500 and very hot.
Please let me know, thank you.
*full disclosure: I’m new to baking bread. I have made a few loads with AP flour that came out great and I’d love to perfect one using einkorn.
And you said you travel with your starter. Do you keep it in a cooler of some sort? If not, how long can it travel before it goes bad? Going on a six hour plane flight as well as travel time to and from airport.
Thank you!
Viktoria
Levain does not have to be in a dark place-but can be! Preheat the DO for at least 30 minutes.
Strong refreshed starter can travel at room temperature for 24 hours or so before needing another refresh, but if you have to go longer, try to keep it cool and just be prepared to refresh ASAP and you may need a few refreshes to make it really strong again.
I also have pink Himalayan salt and fine iodized sea salt (that I rarely use) on hand.
I was also thinking about making individual soup bowl boules (for our very cold, wet and dreary spring).
Any experience or thoughts on what the temp and baking time would be?