Durum and Wheat Sourdough Bread - The Real Essential Process of Making a Great Bread is Easy
Delicious, amazing bread lasting for a week or even more. Bread belong to the most ancient rustic traditions. For ages wheat and other grains have made our survival easier since the age of agriculture. Specially during covid time bread has become receipts have become very popular in the internet, but maybe some made it seem a bit more complicated than it really is to make one at home that will give great pleasure. In this one the dough is made with wheat and durum flour.
Actually Durum is also a type of wheat, known as hard wheat - Triticum Durum. In facts, durum and hard wheat are the same thing, as opposed to common, or tender wheat - Triticum Aestivum.
Ingredients
- 2 abundant tablespoons of sourdough.
- 300 grams semolina durum flour.
- 200 grams wheat all purpose flour.
- 300-330 mL of water.
- 10 grams of salt.
To make sourdough, in case you don't have one, all you need to do is mix some flour and some water on a glass, and add a teaspoon of honey; it really does not matter if you make it more liquid or less liquid, so I suggest maybe something in between. Don't close the lid hermetically so the wild yeasts in the air will find their way inside the glass, and leave it for a day or two in some room, until you see it has doubled in side, which means you harvested wild yeasts and successfully made sourdough. The reason of adding honey is that those yeasts like it the most compared to sugar or just dough, so this will make it a bit faster, while if you add a teaspoon of sugar it would be a bit slower, and even more if it's just plain dough.
You can do this bread using all durum or all wheat, depending on your preferences - durum tends to give lower loafs and smaller air pockets, more similar to spelt actually. I personally think that the taste of durum is exceptional; I think it's the tastiest of all grains, and I also prefer loafs that are not very high, so the perfect solution is to mix a bit of both but I use more durum than wheat most of the times.
Please feel free to use the below program I've made to check the amount of flour and water you need based on the final bread mass you want and the hydration percentage.
Keep in mind that for each 250 grams of flour you need an abundant table spoon of sourdough, and at least 5 grams of salt.
Preparation
Mix the flours with the salt, the water and the sourdough for about five - ten minutes to form a dough, then cover it and let it rise for 8 - 12 hours. It's practical to do it overnight so the next day it's proofed.
Once it is proofed, spread some flour on a surface to prevent sticking, and stretch the dough as much as you can along the surface without worrying if it breaks a bit - this is a simple way to help it make a good gluten structure - then shrink it forming the dough shape; for a round bread it will be resembling a sphere. Let it proof for another two hours on a surface where you spread flour after covering it.
Remember to preheat the oven meanwhile to have it ready on its highest temperature within the two hours when the bread is proofing. You can bake it directly on the oven or in a pot, as I did this time using my cast iron pot; if you use the pot preheat it as well in the oven.
Baking
Put the bread in the pot or directly in the oven and bake it for at least 40 minutes. Additionally, I suggest to bake it for 10 more minutes without lid to make the crust darker if you use the pot. Once done the bread is ready to enjoy! The most simple way for me is with some olive oil made by my uncle each year with some salt and oregano picked with my father in the mountains, or simply with butter and salt.
Thanks for reading and wish you to enjoy your own break for a very long time!
Cast Iron Multifunctional Pot
This double layer pot is great just by the fast that the closing lid is also a pan! Very comfortable, features two handles and perfect compatility with usage on fire as well.
Get it for: $28.00. Available also in Europe. To check it click on the link: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_oC75ZOZ.