Flaxseed Sourdough Loaf

It is always so interesting to track back where the inspiration comes from. Here is a short story behind the Flaxseed sourdough loaf 😊

Last week I went to Target, and saw a bag of Flaxseed meal by Bobs Red Mill.

On the back of the bag i found a description that really grabbed my attention: “Hippocrates The Father of medicine, prescribed flax to patients with intestinal issues. King Charlemagne was so convinced of its benefits that he passed laws requiring his subject to consume flaxseed.

Today the nutritional data backups the wisdom of the ancients. There is general agreement among experts of all sorts that folks should consume more omega-3 fatty acids to promote good health. 2 tablespoons of Flaxseed meal offers 2430 mg of omega-3s.”

Sure I grabbed a couple of those bags and rushed to my kitchen to mix another healthy loaf!

Ingredients

Sourdough starter 

• 5g sourdough starter
• 35g water
• 30g all purpose flour or bread flour 
• 5g rye flour 

Soaker

• 30g flaxseeds meal or just grounded flaxseeds (10%)

• 60 g water

Dough

• 270 g bread flour (90%)
• 30 g stone ground whole wheat flour (10%)
• all soaker
• 207g water (69%) 
• 24g extra water added with salt (8%). Total hydration 77%
• 60g levain (20%)
• 6g salt (2%)

Directions 

Starter

• 10 pm add starter to the water and whisk together, add flour, mix well, cover loosely, let sit at room temp 74-78F until in about 8-10 hours starter reaches its peak (triples or more in volume).
• Learn how to make starter from scratch here.

Soaker

• 10 pm weigh flaxseed meal, or grind flaxseeds to get 30g. Cover them with water, let them soak overnight.

Dough

• 7 am mix water, flour and all soaker, cover, let it rest 1 hour for autolyse.
• During the autolyse the flour absorbs the water, becoming fully hydrated. This activates gluten development.
• 8 am add sourdough starter.

• Mix on low speed of your mixing machine for 2-3 min, or KitchenAid on speed 3 for 3-4 minutes until well incorporated. 
• Also if for some reason you don’t have a mixing machine, you can incorporate starter into the dough by hands. Using Rubaud method or slap and fold method (about 5-7 min).
• Cover, let it rest for 30 minutes.
• 8:30 am add salt and extra water . Mix on low speed of your mixing machine for 2-3 min, or with KitchenAid on speed 3 for 5-6 minutes until well incorporated. The dough should come up together, but still be sticky on the bottom. 

Note:  if you perform mixing by hands, using Rubaud method or slap and fold method, that takes about 10-20 minutes. Do a couple of stops in between kneading, it helps tightening up the gluten.

• Continue gluten development and structure building by performing stretches and folds during the warm fermentation period.
• Leave to rest 30 min. At 74-78F /23-26C.
• 9 am wet your hands and table and perform nice stretching and folding on a table.
• 9:45 am 2nd stretch and fold.
• 10:30 am 3rd stretch and fold.
• 11:15 am 4th stretch and fold.

Performing stretches and folds helps with gluten development. Keep monitoring the dough, if you feel it proofs slowly, you can extend the time in between stretches, or add 1 extra stretch and fold.

• After the final stretch let the dough proof for 30 minutes at 76-80F/ 23-26C. You should see some bubbles on the surface, the dough has to become lighter. We are looking for 40%-50% rise. 

Preshaping sourdough 

• 11:45 am Transfer the dough on to a work surface and dust its top with flour. Flip the dough over so the floured side faces down. 
• Fold the dough onto itself so the flour on the surface remains entirely on the outside of the loaf. This will become the crust. 
• Place the dough round on a work surface and let it rest for 30 minutes uncovered.

Shaping sourdough 

• 12.15 pm Dust the dough with flour. Use a dough scraper to flip it over on to a work surface so the floured side faces down. 
• Starting at the side closest to you, pull the right 2 corners of the dough to the left, then fold them up into half of the dough. Repeat this action with the left side as well.
• Finally, roll the dough. Shape it into a smooth, taut roll.
• Transfer the roll, seam side up, into a prepared proofing basket (loaf pan with kitchen towel).
• Cover it with plastic and return the dough to the 78F/26C environment for 15 minutes. 
• Then transfer the dough to rise for 14-24 hours in refrigerator at 40F/4C.

Baking

Next morning

• Preheat your oven to 500 F, place a cast iron pan with the lid inside for 45 minutes – 1 hour.
• Remove the dough from the fridge. 
• Flip it over on a parchment paper, score it with a sharp knife or a scoring lame. 

• Transfer it on to the hot cast iron pan, cover with lid (to create steam for a beautiful and crusty crumb).
• Bake at 500F for 15 minutes with lid on.
• Remove the lid, lower the temperature to 450F. 
• Bake for 20 more minutes until golden brown.

Let it cool for 2 hours and enjoy your Flaxseed sourdough loaf.