Dutch Sourdough Brown Bread with Oats

"Breads from all over the world" is what Susanna from Mehlstaubundofenduft likes to see. She is the host for Bread Baking Day 73.

I'm born in the Netherlands and moved to Thailand almost 10 years ago. I started to bake our own bread because Thailand has no original bread culture. Of course you can buy bread everywhere in the world, but all we could find here was white fabric baked bread. Nowadays you can find very nice baked artisan bread in Chiang Mai and Bangkok, and probably in other places too. But in our small village in the North of Thailand we still can't find a nice artisan baked bread. 

Susanna likes to see bread typical from my country. The Netherlands is a typical Bread country with enough bread to choose from. The first one that came to my mind was a typical Dutch loaf: tijgerbrood or Dutch crunchy crust. I had no rise flour in the house, only rise starch and that doesn't work. Of course I tried it and it gives a nice whitish crust but not the beautiful tiger pattern I was looking for.

Today I baked typical Dutch bread; brown bread and I rolled it in oats. It tastes very nice. 

Here in Thailand we just finished Songkran; Thai new year celebration for the year 2558. So with this delicious typical brown bread from the Netherlands we wish all you a happy new year.

Ingredients: (one loaf)
450 g all purpose flour
40g whole wheat bran
20 g roasted malt
300 g water at about 25 C
160 g ripe 100% hydration sourdough starter
12 g salt

Method:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the flours, water, and starter on low speed until just combined, about one minute.

Let the dough rest (autolyse) for 30 minutes.

Add the salt and continue mixing on low or medium speed until the dough reaches a medium level of gluten development. This should only take about 3 or 4 minutes.

Transfer the dough to an oiled container (preferably a low, wide one so the dough can be folded without removing it from the container). Ferment at room temperature (22-25 C) for 2.5 hours, with folds at 50 and 100 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter. Pre-shape the dough piece into a light batard and let rest for 15 minutes. Shape into a batard and spray with water and cover with oats. Place on a floured couche covered with a tea towel.

Proof at room temperature for 2 – 2,5 hours. Or proof for 1.5 hours at room temperature, then refrigerated for 2 – 16 hours and baked directly out of the refrigerator; this will yield a tangier bread with a lovely, blistered crust. I had it for 2 hours in the refrigerator and baked it the same day.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven, with baking stone, to 250 C. You will also need steam during the initial phase of baking, so prepare for this now. Turn the proofed loaf onto a semolina-sprinkled peel or parchment.

Once the loaf is in the oven, turn the heat down to 230 C. Bake for 12 minutes with steam, and another 15 – 18 minutes without steam. Leave the oven door cracked open a bit for the last 5 minutes of this time. The crust should be a deep brown.

Cool on a wire rack. Don’t cut until the loaf is completely cool, if you can manage it!