Cranberry Pecan Artisan Sourdough Bread

Step 1

Make levain by mixing together ripe sourdough starter, flour and water. Set aside for 3-4 hours at 78 degrees F.

Step 2

Fermentolyse: Once the levain is ripe, mix 100 grams of ripe levain with 350 grams water and 500 grams flour. Let sit for 30 minutes.

Step 3

Mixing: Add the reserved 25 grams of water and salt to the dough. Use your hands to squeeze the dough between your fingers and incorporate the salt and water. Pinch chunks of dough and reincorporate them together gently. Pick up one side of the dough and fold it over on itself. The dough will be sticky. Wet your hands as needed and continue to work with the dough until it is smooth and all the water and salt is incorporated. Transfer the dough to a plastic container or a glass bowl if desired.

Step 4

Bulk Fermentation: A total of 3.5 hoursPerform 3 sets of "stretch and folds."

Step 5

To “stretch and fold,” wet your hand (so it doesn’t stick to the dough). Reach down to the bottom of the bowl of dough and pull the dough up and over the top of the dough. Turn the bowl 1/4 turn and repeat the stretch and fold. Turn another quarter turn and repeat. Perform one more 1/4 turn with stretching and folding the dough. Cover and set aside.

Step 6

Repeat the stretch and folds every 30 minutes for the first 2 hours until you have completed three sets.

Step 7

After your third set of stretch and folds, it's time to add the inclusions.

Step 8

Lamination: On a clean counter top, stretch the dough as thin as you can without tearing it. See post for pictures and description. When the dough is fully stretched, sprinkle 3/4 of the chopped pecans and craisins over the dough. Fold the dough up and sprinkle the rest of the pecans and craisins as you fold the dough up into a little package. See post for pictures.

Step 9

Finish the last 1.5 hours of bulk fermentation with the dough covered at 78 degrees F.

Step 10

Pre-Shape: Tip the bowl upside down, allowing the dough to fall onto a clean counter surface. Be gentle to avoid cutting and degassing the dough as much as possible. Wet your hands and the bench knife. Push the bench knife under the dough while using your free hand to tuck the dough under itself. Repeat this process going around in a circle until you have a tight ball of dough.

Step 11

Bench Rest: Let the dough rest uncovered for about 30 minutes at room temperature. The dough will flatten a bit during this period of time.

Step 12

Prepare a bowl: Prepare a banneton or small bowl. Place a kitchen towel or hair net in the bowl and liberally flour.

Step 13

Shaping: After the dough has rested for about 30 minutes, it is time to shape the bread into a round. Sprinkle flour on top of the dough. Using the bench knife, lift the dough up off the counter and place it on top of the countertop - floured side down. This ensures that the flour is staying mainly on the outside of the dough. Going around in a circle, pull the dough sideways towards you and then fold up to the top of the round. Move 90 degrees and repeat the same process, pulling the dough sideways and then folding up to the top. As you continue this process around the dough, increase the tension as you pull. Gather the bread into a circle and use a bench knife to lift the bread and place into your lined bowl.

Step 14

Cold Fermentation: Cover the dough and store in the refrigerator overnight or for up to 18-20 hours. Alternatively you can let your dough rise outside the fridge for another 3-4 hours and then bake your loaf the same day.

Step 15

Pre-heat the Oven: Put a dutch oven (top and all) into the oven and preheat to 500 degrees. Allow the dutch oven to heat for about 30 minutes at 500 degrees.

Step 16

Once preheated for 30 minutes, pull the loaf out of the refrigerator. Remove the plastic wrap (this is easy to do straight out of the refrigerator if the dough is chilled –not easy if the dough warms up) and place a piece of parchment paper on top of the bread dough. Flip the dough over so that the dough is now sitting on the parchment paper. Take off the bowl/banneton and kitchen towel.

Step 17

Scoring: Smooth the flour over the top of the dough (add a little extra for more contrast if desired). Use a very sharp knife or bread lame to score the dough.

Step 18

Bake: Carefully remove the dutch oven from the 500 degree oven with hot pads. Take the top off and place your bread into the dutch oven (including parchment paper – this helps with the transfer). Be very careful not to touch the sides of the dutch oven. Put your hot pads back on before you pick up the lid of the dutch oven and place it on top of the bread. Put the whole dutch oven back into your oven. Lower the temperature to 450 degrees and bake for 25 minutes. Once 25 minutes are up, take the top off the dutch oven and continue baking for 20 minutes until the bread is a crackly deep brown.

Step 19

Let cool and enjoy!