Miche

 

Miche: https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/21644/miche-hit

Levain:

93.7 g bread flour

93.9 g water

50 g liquid starter

 

Final Dough:

586 g bread flour

398 g water

18 g wheat germ toasted

15 g salt

234 g levain

Procedure

0.      Dissolve the starter in the water and mix in the flour. Desired Dough Temperature: 78ºF. Ferment for 8-12 hours.

1.      Dissolve the levain in the water. Add the other ingredients and mix thoroughly by hand. DDT: 75-78ºF.

2.      Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly oiled bowl.

3.      Ferment for 3-4 hours with 4 folds at 50-minute intervals. (I did this by the “stretch and fold in the bowl” technique.)

4.      Transfer the dough to a lightly floured board. Pre-shape as a tight boule.

5.      Cover and let rest for 20-30 minutes to relax the gluten.

6.      Shape as a tight boule and place, seam side up, in a floured banneton.

7.      Cover with plastic and retard overnight in refrigerator.

8.      Remove the boule from the refrigerator and allow to warm and complete proofing for 1-3 hours. (Watch the dough, not the     clock!)

9.        45-60 minutes before baking, pre-heat the oven to 500ºF with baking stone and steaming apparatus in place.

10.      When the loaf is proofed, transfer the boule to a peel. Slash the boule as desired, and transfer it to the baking stone. Steam the oven and reduce the temperature to 450ºF.

11.      Bake for 20 minutes, then remove any water remaining in your steaming apparatus.

12.      Continue baking for another 40-50 minutes. (If you have a convection oven, switch to “Convection Bake” and reduce the oven temperature to 420ºF at this point.)

13.      Remove the boule to a cooling rack, and cool thoroughly before slicing.

 

Notes on procedure

·             Traditionally, we were told, this bread is scored in a diamond pattern, but any scoring pattern that pleases you is fine. Just be aware that the diamond pattern tends to yield a        flatter profile loaf than a simple square or cross.

·             This bread benefits from a very bold bake. The crust should be quite dark. It may look almost burned, but the flavor and crunchiness that is desired requires this.

·             This type of bread often improves in flavor very substantially 24 hours after baking.