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Monday, April 3, 2017

Zitny Chleba- Czech Country Bread





Žitný Chleba
From Küchenlatein

150g. 133% Hydration rye sourdough

Prepare the sourdough the night before by mixing 64g. Whole rye flour, 86 mL water, and 10 g. Sourdough starter. Let sit at room temperature for 12-16 hours.

400 g. Bread flour
100 g. White rye flour
1/2 Tsp. Active dry yeast, or 10 g. Fresh yeast
10 g. Salt
300 mL Water

Some ice cubes, for baking process

Mix water (reserving 1 TBSP) into sourdough and dissolve yeast. Add to the flours and mix until a homogenous dough forms. Let rest covered 10 minutes, then mix the salt and remaining water and knead in, until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Let rise in a covered, oiled bowl until doubled, about 2-2.5 hours at room temperature.

Shape a large, round loaf from the dough on a well-floured surface. Let rise covered for 1 - 1.5 hours on a pan (totally flat without a "lip" so you can slide the bread off later) lined with floured baking parchment.

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius, with a baking stone or heavy heat-retaining baking pan inside. Set another rack below this one with a vessel such as a cake pan.

When the bread is ready (it will spring back if you poke it gently), poke it all over with a skewer to make docking holes and slide it onto the baking stone/pan. Toss some ice cubes into the vessel below the bread to make steam and close the oven door.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, covering with foil if the loaf browns before it reaches an internal temperature of 90 degrees celsius. Let cool for at least 2 hours before cutting.


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