Kalamata 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 kalamata 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 bâtard:

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

2. Take the top half of the dough and fold it down towards the bottom, about 1/2 of the way, pinching to seal the seams.

3. Next take the left side and fold it over towards the right about 1/2 the way and pinch to seal.

4. Then take the right side and fold it over to the left and pinch to seal.

5. Finally, take the top and roll it tightly down towards you.

6. Pinch together all of the seams.

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

– This is how to shape a boule.

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 a piece of parchment paper and sprinkle a heaping tablespoon of Semolina flour onto the parchment (this helps prevent burning the bottom). Flip your dough out of the banneton and onto the piece of parchment, so the top now becomes the bottom. Score once right down the middle and transfer it onto your bread pan. 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:

– I highly recommend the use of T85 flour, but you can 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.

– Recommended items can be found here!