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Traditional Whole Grain Miche
I love Eric’s Traditional Whole Grain Sourdough recipe, and I wanted to make an all whole grain version of it. His Poilâne Bakery-inspired version has some white bread flour in it, and I was curious how using only fresh-milled whole grain flour might change the flavor and texture.
I found this whole grain version to be even more intense in flavor and slightly more sour than Eric’s soft and delicious bread. The slow, cool hands-off fermentation of this dough keeps the texture soft and the crumb open. The slices pictured below are of an 800g dough weight loaf and a 1.6kg miche. You might notice that the miche’s crumb is slightly tighter due to the higher dough weight and the slower speed that oven heat reaches the center of the large dough.
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Crumb of 800g dough-weight bread
Crumb of the 1.6kg dough-weight miche
The wheat varieties in the recipe are also crucial to the delicious outcome: a strong aromatic red wheat (red fife in this case), nutty spelt, and earthy rye.
Three wheats; the large preferment just mixed, and after 11 hours.
The best part of this recipe (besides the flavor) is that it’s a three-day bread with only about a half-hour of active prep work: measure, mill, mix, pre-shape, shape, and score. Refrigeration gives you both flexibility and gluten development.
Mixing the final dough; the start of the bulk fermentation; the end of the bulk after 24 hours in the refrigerator
Note that if your refrigerator runs warmer than most or if you use just-milled warm flour, your fermentation may be a little faster. Consider using cold water and check on your dough once in a while.
The start and end of the final proof, about 2 hours in a warm kitchen
Compared with Eric’s recipe, I also increased the total dough size so you can halve the recipe for a fairly standard 800g dough-weight loaf.
An 800g dough proofing in a standard-size banneton at the start of the final proof; scored and ready to bake
You can also make the miche, which is an impressive 1.6kg. You can proof it in your mixing bowl, lined with a tea towel; and bake it on a stone with a steam system or using this Spun Iron Cloche, a 9-quart dutch oven, or an XL Romertopf. Instructions for the various baking options are in the recipe below.
Proofed miche ready to load into the oven; mug of boiling water; baking stone and an aluminum pan with a pinhole underneath for steam
Disclosure: Since I use 100g of all purpose flour starter to seed the preferment, my loaf is 95% whole grain and 5% refined flour. If you use a whole grain starter with this recipe, it would be 100% whole grain.
The volume measurements in this recipe are converted from grams and are approximations. For video instructions that can be applied to this recipe as well, see Eric’s original Traditional Whole Grain Sourdough.
Traditional Whole Grain Miche
This bread is a home-milled whole grain version of Eric's flavorful and soft Traditional Whole Grain Sourdough, beloved by many since 2007 and a tribute to the famous miche bread of the Poilâne Bakery in Paris. It's incredibly flavorful due to a large preferment, long fermentation, and trio of wheat varieties. It also resists staling because the shape means there's plenty of soft interior and because rye flour is part of the mix.
Ingredients
Preferment
Final Dough
Baker's Percentages: Final Dough (910g total flour, 700g total water)
Instructions
Evening Day 1
Morning Day 2
Morning Day 3*
Late Morning Day 3
Miche baked on a stone
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Traditional Whole Grain Miche