Loaf of bread with 60 hours of dough ripening

Recipe:

For 1 bread of app. 1.5 kg

Ingredients:

1 gr fresh yeast

25 gr salt

460 gr whole wheat flour (approximately German wheat flour type 1050)

600 gr bread flour (approximately German wheat flour type 812)

Preparation:

Put all the ingredients into the kitchen machine and knead it for about 15 - 20 minutes at medium speed.

Then put the dough into a bowl, cover it with a kitchen towel and let it rest for about one hour. Note: This hour is very important in order to activate the yeast.

Next stretch and fold the dough for the first time. Pull it up from each side of the bowl and put it back into the middle. By stretching and folding the dough takes up new oxygen, the yeast can better develop and the gluten is activated. Then cover the dough again and put it into the refrigerator for another 55 hours. 

During this time stretch and fold the dough 1 - 3 times a day. This procedure has to be spread across the day, as it may fit into your daily routine. It is important that the dough can rest in between at least 3 - 4 hours. 

Then turn the dough upside down (the flat part is now up), put both hands around it as if lifting up a vase and turn it on the surface using mild pressure until it is closed below. Note: Use little or no flour in order to close the sphere of dough well.

Then sprinkle the dough and the surface of the table with some flour. Cover it again with the kitchen towel and let it rest for two more hours. Then sprinkle the surface of the dough well and turn the dough in a little flour to prevent it sticking to the surface.

The press a rounded stick crosswise well deeply into the dough. Hint: press really deep into the dough, almost cutting through, otherwise this cross may disappear until after the baking.

The carefully place it onto a baking tray covered with baking paper cover it again with the kitchen towel and let it rest for 2-3 more hours at room temperature.

Hint: By stretching and folding the dough it reaches firmness, a dry structure and inner tension. This is mainly important for nice crust.

The tray with the finished dough is put on the middle rail of the oven, preheated to 230 °C, and the oven is well sprayed with water. Like that you reach the necessary steam. Immediately close the door of the oven and bake the bread for 30 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 210° C to finish baking after a further 30 minutes. Immediately after the baking put the bread onto a grid for cooling down.

In a textile bag or a bread box it will keep well for about 5 days and sealed in plastic about 2 months in the deep freezer.

Size of the bread:

Basically all my recipes for small breads (buns) can be used for baking larger breads and vice versa.  The baking temperatures need not be changed, only the baking times. The table below gives you only an indication, since every oven bakes a bit differently:

As a rule of thumb take this:

Knocking the bread on the lower side has to give a hollow sound in order to indicate finished baking. If you hear a blunt sound, it will need another 5-10 minutes.

If you wish to use other types of flour than those mentioned in the recipes please note my contribution to the types of flours.