Potato Bread as sandwichbread

 This month Zorra of Bread Baking Day asked Susanne of Magentratzerl to be the host for BBD #84. Susanne came up with the theme "sandwich bread". I have to admit at first I had no idea what sandwich bread was. It's bread that can be roasted and is good for sandwiches. That sounds like good bread to me.

Today I make Dan Lepard’s crusty Potato Bread. The original recipe is found in his book “The Handmade Loaf”. I’ve tweaked it a bit, using whole wheat bran, rye and I love the smell and taste of wheat germ.

Because of the grated potato the dough was wet. I used the mixing method from Maggie Glezer’s Royal Tortano and let it mix until the dough cleaned the bowl. This took about 10 minutes. I could almost pour it into the slightly oiled bowl. But it was tacky in stead of sticky, a good thing.

I wanted to use my second hand cast iron pan to bake this bread. Thai food doesn't use 

cast iron pans; most Thai food is stir fried over high heat. 

Luckily for us our second hand cast iron pan was found in a second hand shop in Amsterdam 

and traveled in a backpack to our kitchen. 

This is what I used for 1 big loaf:

330 gr all purpose flour  

27 gr rye flour

45 gr whole wheat bran

10 gr wheat germ

160 gr lukewarm water

11 gr salt

27 gr honey

75 gr grated (uncooked) potato

250 gr active sourdough starter 100% hydration

This is what I did:

I peeled and grated the potato. The original recipe says to use unpeeled potato.

I added the sourdough starter to the lukewarm water and saw it floated nicely. I dispersed the sourdough in the water and added the honey, grated potato and all the flours. With a spoon I mixed all ingredients until they are all incorporated. I covered it with a towel and left it to autolyse for 30 minutes.

I sprinkled the salt and mixed on low speed for 3 minutes. Then I continued mixing on medium speed for 8 minutes until the dough cleaned the sides of the bowl.

I could almost pour the dough into a slightly oiled bowl. I covered it with a plastic bag and left to ferment for 1,5 – 2 hours. Every 50 minutes I stretched and folded the dough to give it more strength.

Pre shape the dough into a ball and cover it to rest for 15 minutes. Shape the dough into batard or boule as you like. Place it seam side up in a banneton or other proofing basket and into a plastic bag. I wanted to use my ceramic pan to bake the loaf, so I made a boule.

The original recipe says to retard it in the refrigerator overnight. Because we were going out the next day, I wanted to bake this bread the same day. I proofed it for 2 hours until it almost doubled in size.

Pre heat the oven, with baking stone and baking pan with hot stones.

Place the boule or batard on parchment paper on a peel. Boil hot water

I baked it at 230˚C for 15 minutes with steam and after removing the baking pan with hot stones I baked it another 35 minutes without steam.

Remove the loaf when it is nicely brown. It’s difficult to over bake bread. Leave the loaf in the oven with the door ajar for another 10 minutes before transferring it to a wire rack to cool completely.

I send this to Susanne of Magentratzerl. And to We Love Yeast, the new showcase of Zorra and Sandra. Go and have a look!