We have made this loaf before. It was extremely sticky and messy. It involved resting and plenty of kneading. The bread was great in the end and a lot of you enjoyed it, but it took quite an inelegant method to produce. The no-knead and cold fermentation methods are here to solve the issues of the previous recipe.
The result is pretty much the same. A very soft, springy, and flavourful whole wheat loaf that will stay soft for days.
If you don’t want to cold ferment this dough, then let it bulk ferment at room temperature for 2 hours or until it has doubled and continue as per recipe.
This loaf will fit in 1.5lb (680g) or 2lb (900g) tins perfectly.
Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.
Ingredients
For the scald –
100g (3.5oz) whole wheat flour
30g (1oz) barley malt syrup or any sweet syrup you like
30g (1oz) butter
10g (0.35oz) salt
340g (12oz) boiling water
For the main dough –
1 egg yolk
5g (0.17oz) instant dry yeast or 6g (0.21oz) active dry yeast or 15g (0.52oz) fresh yeast
400g (14.1oz) whole wheat flour
1 whisked egg white for glazing.
Method
- Make the scald. In a large bowl combine all the scald ingredients and whisk until smooth. Leave to cool down. We are aiming for a final dough temperature of around 25C (77F), so let the scald come down to that temperature. It will take around 3 hours. Alternatively, you could use less boiling water in the scald and top it up with cold water to balance the temperature if you want to speed up the process.
- Add the yeast and egg yolk to the scald and whisk until smooth.
- Add the flour and mix to a dough.
- Cover and chill for 15 minutes.
- Fold #1.
- Chill for 15 minutes.
- Fold #2.
- Cold ferment for 12 – 24 hours.
- After bulk fermentation divide the dough into 4 equal pieces and pre-shape. Leave to rest for 30 minutes (20 minutes if it’s been bulk fermented at room temperature) before doing the final shaping. You can shape it into a standard loaf if you like. The four sections are purely for looks.
- Place in a greased baking tin, cover, and final proof for 1.5 – 2 hours.
- Glaze with the egg white and bake in a pre-heated oven at 160C (320F) fan on for 45 minutes.
- Remove the loaf from the tin and spray it with water (optional). It will make the crust even softer. Place the loaf back in the oven for 5 more minutes.
- Brush the loaf with olive oil after it has finished baking (optional). This will give it a nice shine and soften the crust further.
Keep in mind that the conditions in each kitchen are different, so fermentation times may vary for you. It is up to the baker to control the bread and react accordingly.
Your oven may be different too, so your baking time may vary.
Watch the video here
