Brown Soft Semolina Sourdough

We opened our last package of cheese, the most delicious cheese; Beemster cheese from the Netherlands. This mature cheese asks for dark brown bread.

Today I will bake Soft Semolina Sourdough, but this time a brown version. It’s a soft bread and very tasteful. I’m happy with the roasted malt I found. At first I used molasses, it gave the bread color but also the taste of sugar. Roasted malt gives the bread color and a nice flavor. Never use more than 5% otherwise the bread will not rise. We have a lot of rain these days and it's not rainy season yet. This was good for the garden en the water tanks. Often when we have heavy rain and hard wind the electricity goes down. Today was such a day. I wanted to make a small loaf and also like to knead the dough by hand.


This is what I used for 1 small loaf:
125 g flour
125 g semolina
10 g roasted malt
150 g water
6.5 g salt
75 g mature 100%-hydration sourdough starter
15 g olive oil

This is what I did:In a bowl, combine the flour, semolina, roasted malt, salt, starter, and most of the water. Knead until the ingredients are well incorporated. Adjust the water as needed to achieve a medium-soft dough consistency.

Continue kneading to a low-medium level of gluten development. Then add the olive oil and knead just until it is incorporated. I added the oil in little bits and kneaded until it was incorporated, before adding more.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled container. Cover and ferment for 4 hours, with folds after the first and second hours.

Turn the dough into a lightly floured counter. Pre shape it into a ball and let rest, covered, for 20 minutes.

Shape the dough into a batard. Place it in a floured banneton.Proof, covered, for 2.5 – 3 hours, until the indentation left by a fingertip springs back very slowly. I proofed it for 1,5 hours and placed the loaf in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.

The next morning, preheat the oven, with baking stone, to 245 C. You will also need steam during the initial phase of baking, so prepare for this now. I used the small flowerpot and placed this on the baking stone.

Just before baking, slash the loaves as you like. I slashed the loaf with two cuts along the axis.

Once the loaf is in the oven, reduce the temperature to 230 C. Bake for 8 minutes with steam, and another 25 minutes or so without steam. Then turn off the oven and leave the loaves in for another 10 minutes, with the door ajar.

Cool on a wire rack. It tasted delicious with the Beemster cheese. We have a piece of cheese left, so this week I will bake another brown bread. Probably I’ll bake a Brown Norwich Sourdough or maybe a Brown Tartine?

I was inspired by the Soft Semolina Sourdough I found at WildYeast
I will send this bread to Yeastspotting

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