Castelvetrano Olive Loaf

Step 1. (Wednesday, 9:00am)

Feed your starter. 4 hours before you plan on mixing, give that starter a little snack.

Step 2. (Wednesday, 12:30pm)

Autolyse. 30 minutes before you plan on mixing, combine flour and water, and mix gently with your hands. This hydrates the flour and makes the dough taste infinitely better.

Step 3. (Wednesday, 1:00pm)

Combine. Mix together (by hand!) autolysed flour and water, sourdough starter, and salt (+ the extra 10g water), for 5 minutes. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes.

Step 4. (Wednesday, 1:30pm-3:00pm)

Stretch and fold. Do your first stretch and fold 30 minutes after you covered it. Repeat stretch and folds every 30 minutes (4 times total), until you get a good “windowpane” when you stretch it. This is crucial for having a solid dough. I usually add in the castelvetrano olives in this step, right before stretch and fold #3. You can do it earlier if you prefer, but I just find it easier to work the dough by adding them later.

Step 5. (Wednesday, 3:30pm)

Bulk Ferment. Shape the dough into a large round. Pinch the bottom so there aren’t any gaps, cover, and let sit for about 20 minutes.

Step 6. (Wednesday, 3:50pm)

Shape. At this point, I like to keep this simple and not overwork the dough. That way all of the gases aren’t expelled. Since we’re making a boule:

1. Stretch the dough on your working surface into a rectangle and work clockwise.

2. Take the corners of the dough and fold them inwards to the center, pinching and pressing as you bring them in.

3. Then take the new corners that were created and pinch those into the center as well.

4. Pinch all the seams together so that there aren’t any gaps.

5. Coat the entire loaf in some rice flour and place your dough into a banneton, seam side down.

– This is how to shape a bâtard.

Step 7. (Wednesday, 3:55pm – Friday, 9:00am, 2 days later)

Proof. Cover the banneton with a linen liner, slip it into an oven bag and seal the opening with a chip clip (putting it into a sealed bag prevents moisture from escaping and from drying out your dough). Here’s where you can decide how long to let it proof for. The longer you proof it, the better it’ll taste. I find that a 40-42 hour proof is perfect, but you can opt for shorter or longer. It’s up to you!

Step 8. (Friday, 8:30am)

Preheat oven. 30 minutes before you plan on baking, set your oven to 500°F (260°C). Also, add your Challenger Bread Pan into the oven to heat up.

Step 9. (Friday, 9:00am)

Score and bake. Remove your dough from the refrigerator and take it out of the oven bag. Take two pieces of parchment paper, one on top of the other, and sprinkle a heaping tablespoon of Semolina flour onto the top layer of parchment. (Using two layers of parchment help keep the bread pan clean and also prevents the bottom from burning.) Flip your dough out of the banneton and onto the parchment paper, so that the top now becomes the bottom. Score a “+”, then transfer it onto your bread pan and add one ice cube underneath the parchment paper. Cover with the lid and place it into the oven for 25 minutes.

Step 10. (Friday, 9:25am)

Remove lid. After those 25 minutes are up, remove the lid and bake for another 5-8 minutes, or until the bread has a nice, dark color.

Step 11. (Friday, 9:31am)

Remove the bread pan from the oven and place the loaf onto a cooling rack for 45 minutes, untouched. I know it’s tempting to cut right in, but this cools down the bread!

Step 12. (Friday, 10:15am)

Bon Appétit!

Notes:

– Highly recommend the use of T85 flour, but you can also use bread flour instead. Just follow the same steps and ingredients.

– My starter is always made with T85 flour, but feel free to use bread flour if you prefer.

– You can adjust this however you’d like to accommodate your schedule. Either starting a little earlier or later, or bulk fermenting for longer totally works.

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