Country bread
A wheat loaf with 10% rye, built on fermented dough. After mixing, the dough rests 12 to 18 hours at 4 °C (40 °F) before it is shaped.
- Makes
- 1,927 g of dough
- Hydration
- 70% water as a share of the flour
Scale
g of dough
Pain de campagne
| Ingredient | Grams | Baker’s % |
|---|---|---|
| 900 g | 90% | |
| 100 g | 10% | |
| 660 g | 66% | |
| 7 g | 0.7% | |
| 20 g | 2% | |
| 200 g | 20% | |
| Total | 1,887 g |
Additional water (bassinage)
| Ingredient | Grams | % of flour |
|---|---|---|
| 40 g | 4% | |
| Total | 40 g |
Water temperature
The base temperature is 56 to 60 °C (197 to 204 °F): flour, room and water added together.
Method
Mix
- Set the water temperature from a base temperature of 56 to 60 °C (197 to 204 °F).
- Dissolve the yeast in the water, then add the flour, the fermented dough (pâte fermentée, dough kept back from an earlier mix) and the salt.
- Mix on low speed for 3 minutes, then on medium speed for 4 minutes.
- At the end of mixing, work in the additional water (bassinage: water held back from the start).
- The dough should come off the mixer at 24 °C (75 °F).
First proof
- Leave the dough at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Refrigerate it at 4 °C (40 °F) for 12 to 18 hours.
Shape
- For bâtards, scale the dough at 350 g each. No weight is given for the tabatière, auvergnat or couronne.
- Pre-shape each piece loosely into a round and let it rest for 45 minutes.
- Shape the loaves.
Second proof
- Proof for about 1 hour at 20 °C (68 °F).
Bake
- Dust the loaves with flour.
- Load them into a deck oven at 250 °C (475 °F).
- Bake for 30 minutes at 230 °C (450 °F) on falling heat.
For bakers in the US
- Unbleached bread flour (T65)
- French “tradition” flour, made with no additives; in the US, an unbleached all-purpose or bread flour of about 11.5% protein
- Medium rye flour (T130)
- French type 130 rye flour, a fairly dark, high-ash rye; in the US, a medium or dark rye flour
- Pâte fermentée (old dough)
- Fermented dough: dough kept back from an earlier batch
- Bassinage
- Water held back and added at the end of mixing
- Bâtard
- A short, oval loaf, between a boule and a baguette
- Tabatière
- A round loaf with a thin flap of dough folded over the top, like the lid of a snuff box
- Auvergnat
- A round loaf topped with a thin disc of dough (a cap)
- Couronne
- A ring-shaped loaf
- Falling heat
- The deck oven is not reheated during the bake, so the temperature drops
