Pain au levain is a mildly tangy sourdough bread made entirely from sourdough starter and a ripe levain, with no commercial yeast. Its wonderfully tender crumb makes it ideal for serving alongside soups and stews or for sandwich-making.
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To make the levain: Knead together the levain ingredients to make a smooth, stiff dough. Place the levain in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and allow it to ferment overnight at room temperature (65°F to 75°F). It should take the levain about 12 hours to mature. The mature levain will have doubled in size and be domed on top, or just beginning to sink in the middle.
To make the dough: Tear the levain into small pieces and add it to the dough water. Add the remaining ingredients and mix until the dough is homogenous and there are no remaining dry pockets of flour. If mixing by hand, use a dough scraper to blend the dough and break down the levain. In a stand mixer, mix the dough on the lowest speed for 2 minutes using the hook attachment.
Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes.
Knead the dough by hand for 3 minutes, or in a stand mixer for 1 1/2 minutes on low speed.
Allow the dough to rise for 1 hour in an oiled and covered bowl.
Give the dough a fold and return it to the bowl to rise for another 1 to 2 hours, until the dough is puffy and soft but not necessarily doubled in size.
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface, gently deflate, and divide in half (about 700g each). Preshape it into two rounds. (For details, check out this video: Dividing dough and shaping loaves.) Place the rounds seam-side up on a floured surface, covered well. Let the rounds relax for 20 minutes.
Shape the loaves into either bâtards (football shape) or boules (rounds).
Transfer the loaves to two flour-dusted, towel-lined brotforms or bowls. (See “tips,” below for instructions on how to bake in a covered baker, like a Dutch oven or cloche.) Cover the brotforms with a bowl cover or plastic wrap and allow the loaves to rise for approximately 2 hours at room temperature or up to 24 hours in the refrigerator.
Preheat the oven to 500°F with a baking stone or steel on the center rack and a cast iron pan on a rack below for 1 hour.
Just before baking, turn the loaves out onto parchment and trim the parchment to fit. Score the loaves with one long angled cut down the center of the loaf. (If you need to bake one loaf at a time, allow one loaf to rest in the brotform at cool room temperature or in the refrigerator while the first one bakes, and then turn out and score before baking.)
Slide the parchment and loaf onto the hot stone. Immediately pour about 1 1/2 cups boiling water into the cast iron pan (wear good oven mitts to prevent a steam burn).
Immediately lower the oven temperature to 450°F. Bake the bread for 35 to 40 minutes; the finished loaves should be a rich brown, firm on the sides, and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Their internal temperature should be 195°F when measured with a digital thermometer.
Remove the loaves from the oven and allow them to cool completely on a rack. (If baking one loaf at a time, allow the steel or stone to reheat for about 20 minutes before loading the second loaf into the oven.) Store at room temperature, lightly wrapped, for a day or so; freeze for longer storage.
Store at room temperature, lightly wrapped, for a day or so; freeze for longer storage. Reheat frozen bread in a 350°F oven until warmed through.
stand mixer (optional but helpful) · baking stone or steel · cast iron pan · brotforms or bowls with towel liners · Dutch oven or cloche (alternative to stone and steam pan) · digital thermometer
The levain takes about 12 hours to mature at room temperature (65°F to 75°F). It's ready when it has doubled in size, is domed on top, or just beginning to sink in the middle.
Yes. Preheat your oven with a baking stone on the center rack and cast iron pan below for 1 hour at 500°F, then bake both loaves simultaneously on the stone at 450°F for 35 to 40 minutes.
The loaves are fully baked when their internal temperature reaches 195°F when measured with a digital thermometer, and they sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
Shaped loaves can cold-proof in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours before baking, which develops deeper flavor. Bake directly from the refrigerator without additional rise time.
Yes, you can omit the 1/2 cup (53g) specialty flour and replace it with additional King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, though this will reduce the subtle depth the rye or pumpernickel adds.
