I wanted to have some more bread on hand and hadn’t made a loaf with spent grain in a while. I threw this one together on a whim and it turned out tasting really nice.

Schedule

Using the lazy sourdough method is actually quite simple. The real key to this method is that you can use your unfed starter straight from the fridge without the need to make a levain. There’s also no autolyse which saves about 30 minutes.

Schedule: Here’s a link to the lazy sourdough method.

The exact schedule I used is at the bottom of this post.

Ingredients:

This recipe makes two loaves. Simply divide all the ingredients in half if you only want one loaf.

Dough

• 800g bread flour
• 150g enriched flour from Valencia Flour Mill in New Mexico
• 50g spent grain flour
• 750g filtered water @ 84’F
• 200g unfed starter straight from fridge (100% hydration)
• 22g sea salt

Method:

After mixing the dough, I performed 4 stretch and folds within the first 2 hours. I let the dough bulk ferment at room temperature for a total of 8 hours. Bulk fermentation can take anywhere between 7-9 hours depending on the temperature of your kitchen and how active your culture is. My bulk ferments using this method often take a little less than 8 hours.

Once the dough had doubled, I shaped the loaves and put them in bannetons that I liberally dusted with rice flour. I put the bannetons in vegetable bags and then placed them in the fridge for a 17 hour cold proof.

One hour before baking I started preheating the oven, with dutch ovens inside, to 450’F. When it was time to bake, I took the loaves straight from the fridge and placed them in the preheated dutch ovens, gave them a quick score and then put them in the oven.

I baked the loaves at 450’F for 20 minutes covered, then removed the lid of the dutch ovens and baked for an additional 32 minutes.

Result:

About 5 minutes into baking, the house already started smelling fantastic. I really like the color and caramelization I get from baking the loaves for 20 minutes covered and then 30 minutes uncovered.

In addition to the main score down the middle, I played around with scoring an ‘X’ pattern on one loaf and gave the other some simple slashes. The light scoring turns out looking really good after pulling the bread out of the oven.

The crumb is a light tan color with some small holes. I got some really nice blistering at the bottom of the loaves thanks to the cold proof.

My Baking Notes

• Ambient Temperature @ mixing: 68’F
• Mixed @ 1:25pm on January 10th
• Dough was 81’F at mixing
• 4 stretch and folds in first 2 hours
• Started proof @ 9:20pm on January 10th
• Preheated oven @ 1:25pm on January 11th
• Out of fridge and into oven @ 2:25pm