Pain Poilane Au Levain Naturel (Poilane's Natural Sourdough)

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NOTES : This is the recipe that Paris's most famous baker, Lionel Poilane, created for the French housewife.

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  • 1

Ingredients

  • Yield: 1 loaf
  • Sourdough starter (ingredients used over 4 days of proofing)
  • 1 C Water; room temp
  • 2 C BREAD flour
  • Final Loaf
  • 3 C Water; room temp
  • 1 TBS Fine sea salt
  • 7 C BREAD flour; (7-8 cups)

Preparation

Step 1

Days 1-4: Prepare the starter.
In small bowl, combine 1/4 cup water and 1/2 cup flour.
Form into soft dough.
Knead into smooth ball(sticky and soft).
Return to bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
Set aside at room temp for 24hours.
The starter should rise slightly.
Repeat this process for 3 more days, adding 1/4 C water & 1/2 C flour.
Each day the starter should rise slightly and become more acidic.

Day 5: Make the bread.
Transfer the starter to the mixing bowl.
Add the three cups of water and the 1 TBS of salt.
Using a whisk, stir for about 1 minute, to thoroughly dissolve the starter.
Add the flour, a bit at a time, stirring well (use flat beater in stand mixer).
After you have added 7 cups of flour, the dough should be firm enough to knead.
Use dough hook to knead for 10 minutes, adding the remaining 1 cup of flour, until the dough is nicely elastic and soft, but still firm enough to hold itself.

Reserve one cup of starter.

Shape the remaining dough into a tight ball.
Place in a large floured cloth, in a round 10" shallow basket.
Place the dough top side down (smooth side).
Loosely fold the cloth over the dough.
Set aside at room temp for a minimum of 6 hours, up to 12 hours(can even go longer).
The dough will rise very slowly, but should double in size.

40 minutes before placing in oven, preheat to 500F.

Lightly flour a pizza peel, invert the loaf onto the peel, and
slash the top of the bread several times (about 1/4" deep), so
that it can expand evenly during baking. Quickly place the bread on the stone. Spray the oven when bread is placed in oven, and again three more times during the next 6 minutes. The bread will reach its full height in the first 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, reduce the heat to 425F; and continue baking until the crust is a deep golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped, an additional 20-25 minutes (total time 40-45min).

Do not slice the bread for at least 1 hour, for it will continue to bake as it rests. For best results, store the bread in a paper or cloth bag once it is thorughly cooled. Plastic will tend to soften the dense crust you worked so hard to create. The bread should remain fresh for 3-4days.

NOTE: After you have made your first loaf and saved the starter, begin at step 2 for subsequent loaves. Proceed through the rest of the recipe, always remembering to save about 1 cup of the starter. The starter may be stored in a a covered plastic container or bowl with a damp cloth for 1-2 days., or
in fridge for up to 1 week. Reactivate the starter every week
by adding 1/4 cup water and 1/2 cup bread flour. Do not use more than 1 cup of starter per loaf. The starter may be frozen in the freezer; but it will take a long time to reactivate.

Do not be fearful of baking in a very hot oven; for it's that
initial high heat that helps the bread rise during the first 15
minutes.

Once you become comfortable with the process of sourdough bread, you can improvise, adding whole grains, a bit of whole wheat flour, other ground grains, and flour, including rye, semolina, or cornmeal. Just be sure not to overdo it, or your starter will become heavy and less active. And no matter how many times you make sourdough bread, remember that no two loaves are ever exactly alike; that's part of their eternal charm.

Zelt note: I have substituted some flour in the dough. Instead of the seven cups of bread flour, I used three. In addition, I used three cups of WHITE whole wheat flour and one cup of rye flour.
The finished product is more substantive and hearty. As for the
white wheat flour, I find it sweeter and not bitter as is the
regular whole wheat flour. By the way, if I understand correctly, the white wheat flour that I use has a protein percentage of 14%.

NOTES : This is the recipe that Paris's most famous baker, Lionel Poilane, created for the French housewife, and the closest I've come to re-creating his superb and popular loaf at home. I also call it "patience bread" because it takes almost a week to make the first batch of this natural, slightly sour loaf.

Recipe by: Recreated by Patricia Wells

Posted to MC-Recipe Digest V1 #17 by "Alan Zelt"

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