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Poilane bread

I think that most people have heard of the famous French bread of Poilne, asourdough miche weighing around 1,9 kg, with a thick crust signed with the letter P for Poilne. I wont tell you the story of this talented baker that wentagainst the tide of his time, you can read about it here.

While I was in Paris recently, I had a few hours to waste before catching my trainand I decided to go find the Poilne Bakery, rue Cherche-midi, by foot under therain. How excited I was to finally arrive at the tiny bakery with the famous michesand decorated breads in the window. The shop was warm and inviting with threesmiling women ready to answer all my questions. Having read on their brochurethat visits were possible, I dared to ask if I might go down and see the oven andthe bakers at work. They simply pointed the way !

I went down a very old flight of steps made of stones so worn and polished by

time. The room downstairs was small and long, with the great wood oven builtinto the wall, standing like an altar, radiating an intense warmth into the room. Ifelt like I had just entered in to another century. There was a young baker busybaking bread and working on some pte morte. I asked him if he knew it wasraining outside and he said, no, he wasnt even aware of that. The other bakerswere working in another room behind (probably busy with the dough preparation,shaping, making viennoiseries and sabls).

The baker explained things to me about the functioning of the bakery and themaking of the bread. I wasnt allowed to take pictures (I didnt have my cameraanyway), I suppose to keep certain secrets about this hidden place where thefamous bread is made. But he was very helpful in answering my questions aboutthe miche. The kneading machine with the levain sitting inside was right thereand I dipped my hand in to take a small piece, to feel it and taste it. The tastewas lightly acidic, with a very complex flavor. Its difficult to explain. When youvetasted a lot of sourdough, with time, you descern flavors like some taste wine.The levain that is used is really a pte fermente, taken from the days doughproduction.

He explained that they only use T80 flour, which is much like the American highextraction flour, though maybe slightly whiter. I spoke about this flour HERE. The

color of the miche is slightly grey, which is a classic T80 characteristic. The ptefermente is of the same flour (obviously, since it is taken from the bread !) Ithought maybe there were some addition, maybe rye, or wheat germ, but no, hesaid it was just straight T80.

Unfortunately, I learned that in France, bakers use proportions based on 1kg ofwater. So, when he started talking about proportions, I couldnt understand andhe couldnt give me regular bakers percentages. I couldnt ask to take notes, thatwould have been unacceptable .

http://www.poilane.fr/pages/en/company_univers_histoire.phphttp://aulevain.canalblog.com/archives/2008/08/28/10377402.htmlhttp://aulevain.canalblog.com/archives/2008/08/28/10377402.htmlhttp://www.poilane.fr/pages/en/company_univers_histoire.php

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But, I had learned that the flour used is T80 and that the bread is made with apte fermente. I bought a miche and so I could look at its characteristics and itstaste. I took some photos of my miche, but I lost them during a transfer. Thecrust is thick and floury, so at home, the same type of baking just isnt possible,unless one has a wood oven. With a regular oven, the crust will be thiner andcrunchier. The crumb is quite tight without being heavy. The hydration level isnt

very high.

The question that was bothering me, especially since the baker told me theanswer but I didnt really get it because of the calculation differences, was HOWMUCH levain to use. I thought that a third would be a good place to start forseveral reasons : At the bakery, they dont use cold retarding (5) and so if thereis too much levain to dough, itll ferment too quickly. At a third, the ptefermente would be ready to use if kept in an area under 19C. If there was less,it wouldnt necessarily be ready in time.

Now, I dont know if they do a series of builds or if the dough is simply placed in acooler place and then used the next day. For the hydration level, I chose 63%because the crumb is fairly tight without being compact. The miche isnt a ballshape, it is slightly flattened without being very flat. For the salt, I chose 1,9%

I would really like to say, before writing up the recipe, that it is absolutelyimpossible to do the exact Miche Poilne at home. Sourdough bread is like people.You can have two people with brown hair and blue eyes, but they wont be thesame.

This said, I am very pleased with the results, with its shape and its taste, the

texture of the crumb and the crust when it softens up a bit. The samecharacteristics and advantages of the original miche can be found in thishomemade bread. The recipes that can be found on the Poilne site or on theinternet can be made using this bread and the keeping length is the same.I made my miche smaller than the Poilne because 1 kg of bread is enough forus. You can make it bigger by increasing the proportions using the bakerspercentages (here) and the baking time.

I marked mine with a J for Jane .

Prepare a recipe, like my T80 bread (here), leaving the dough to rise a few hoursand then placing in the fridge over night. The newt day i twill have doubled andbe ready to use. Take the portion necessary for the leaven. With the rest, you canform it, leave it to rise and then bake it .(Thats what I did

Prepare a portion of bread dough in the correct proportions:

95 g farine T80 bio meule sur pierre (T80 or stone ground high extraction

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flour)60 g eau (water)35 g levain 100% (starter at 100%)1,7 g sel gris de Gurande moulu (ground grey Gurande salt)

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients and knead until a nice, smooth ball is formed

and then place in a bowl, covered. Leave it to ferment about 3 hrs, then place inthe fridge over night. (You can keep the 10 g that are left and feed it to keep thefirm starter)

Add the salt and the pte fermente cut in to pieces. Knead the dough either in amixer or by hand 5-10 minutes until a nice, smooth ball is formed with adequategluten development. Place the dough in a bowl and cover with platic wrap or adamp cloth.

1st fermentation: Let the dough rise 3-4 hrs until it has visibly risen, but itwont double.

Shaping: Flour a round banneton. Place the dough on a lightly floured table.Form a ball, making sure the skin is nice and taught. Place it in the bannetonwith the seam on top. Cover with plastic or a damp cloth.

2nd fermentation: Leave the dough to rise another 2-4 hrs depending on theroom temperature. The dough needs to rise enough so that it wont get excessiveoven spring, otherwise the incisons may burst and the smooth crust with a visibleincision wont be obtained.

2nd fermentation: Leave the dough to rise another 2-4 hrs depending on theroom temperature. The dough needs to rise enough so that it wont get excessiveoven spring, otherwise the incisons may burst and the smooth crust with a visibleincision wont be obtained.

Baking : Remember to preheat the oven to 230C early enough (45-60 minbefore baking) with a metal pan in the bottom and the baking stone or upsidedown sheet pan (coverd with parchment paper) placed on the grill just above.

Transfer the dough on to the floured peel, making sure to inverse it so the seamis now on the bottom. With a blade, make the incisions of your choice, quite

deep.

Pour a cup of hot water in to the metal pan.

Slide the dough on to the baking stone.

Let bake around 40 min watching the bread at the end. The internal temperaturemust reach just over 200C. Or the bottom will sound hollow when tapped.

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Os dejo ms abajo unas sencillas tablas para que veis las diferentes denominaciones

segn pases y una tabla con el grado de extraccin segn si es 0 00.

Denominacin Espaola:

Harina flor: tasa de extraccin de 40, es la ms refinada. Harina blanca: tasa de

extraccin de 60-70, se elimina todo el salvado y el germen de trigo.Harina integral para pizza: su tasa de extraccin debe ser igual o superior a 85, se muele

todo el grano excepto la cascarilla exterior.

Smola: se obtiene moliendo el grano de trigo duro y se utiliza para hacer pasta.

Denominacin Italiana:

Harina "00" (literalmente Doble Cero). Es una harina sin ningn tipo de Salvado,

totalmente refinada, y por ello blanqusima. La llaman tambin "fior di farina".

Harina"0". Menos blanca que la harina "00" ya que tiene una pequea cantidad de

salvado.

Harina "1". Todava menos blanca que la harina "0". Con valores mucho mayores desalvado.

Denominacin Francesa

Harina T 45: Harina flor

Harina T 55: Harina floja para todo uso

Harina T65: Harina de fuerza para hacer panHarina T80: Harina morena o panadera recia, es semi-integral, conserva el 50% del

salvado.

Harina T 110: Harina completa o semi-integral, conserva el 75% del salvadoHarina T 150: Harina integral con el 100% del salvado

Harina T 170: Harina integral con ms fuerza y rica en fibras