Thyme sourdough bread

There are three herbs that I can not do without.
Basil, rosemary, and thyme. I always make sure to have a surplus of all of them.
I can’t say which one I love most, but if I had to choose one, it would be thyme.
Why? Because it’s so versatile.
You can use thyme for everything. Yesterday I used it in a typical hearty Swedish game stew, and next week I may add plenty of it to some mouthwatering Mediterranean dish.
And it’s tough. Basil and rosemary have to be cultivated in pots that can be brought indoors during the winter, but not thyme.
It can handle the sometimes cold Swedish winter.
I just have to shuffle some snow over it when the temperature drops below 5ºF/-15ºC.

I have baked a thyme sourdough bread before. Some of you may remember the recipe with thyme and chevré that I recently published.
There I added whole leaves of thyme. In this recipe, I will use thyme-infused water instead.

But don’t worry. It’s almost as easy.

MAKING THYME-INFUSED WATER

The procedure is quite straightforward. You take a bunch of thyme sprigs and grind them lightly in a pestle and mortar. Cover with boiling water and let it sit for 24 hours.
Pour the water through a sieve. Now you have a brownish liquid that smells lovely of thyme.

ABOUT FLOUR AND OTHER INGREDIENTS IN THIS RECIPE

I have used my wheat starter with hydration of 100%.

The hydration of the dough will be 75%.

MIXING THE LEVAIN

The first thing one should ask oneself before mixing a levain is how much do I need. Then you mix a little bit more.

But how much do I need?

Well, that depends on many different things. Here are some aspects to consider.

• What is the health of your sourdough starter? Is it rising quickly or slowly?
• Is it warm or cold in your kitchen?
• Are you in a hurry, or can you let the fermentation take some extra time?

A rule of thumb is to use about 10-20% of the total dough weight. For this thyme sourdough bread, I have used 15%. But if your kitchen is cold, your schedule is tight, and if your starter is a bit slow, you may have to increase the amount. 

I used the ratio 1:2:2 when mixing the levain. That means one part sourdough starter to two parts flour and two parts water.

For this recipe, I used as follows:

• 20 grams of sourdough starter.
• 40 grams of wheat flour, 11.5 % protein content.
• 40 grams of water. 

That will be 100 grams of levain. I will only use 60 grams and let the rest go back into the fridge for the next baking session. You never risk facing the grim reality of having too little levain.

The levain was allowed to ferment overnight for 8 hours, at a temperature of 70-72ºF/21-22ºC.

BULK FERMENTATION

I mixed the remaining flour and thyme-infused water, plus some extra water, but not the levain. Instead, the dough was allowed to autolyze for 60 minutes. Autolyze is a technique where you let the dough rest, absorbs water, develop som gluten, and let enzyme activity break down starch to sugar.
This will give you better fermentation, better crust, better color, and a tastier crumb.

After the autolyze, I mixed in the levain and salt. Incorporate the levain can be a bit tricky.
I use to add the salt and levain on top and fold the dough over it. Then I pinch the dough with my fingers and then go back to folding again.
I continue like this until it feels like all the levain has been incorporated.

After 15 minutes of rest, it was time to build up some dough strength. You can do that by stretch and fold the dough in the bowl repeatedly until it starts to feel resistant. You can also dump it out on the counter and knead it or perform a couple of slap and folds.
Personally, I prefer to use the slap and fold technique. After 5 minutes, you have build up lots of strength to the dough.

The total time for the bulk fermentation was 6 hours at a temperature of 80ºF/27ºC. I performed 3 stretch and folds, spaced out with 30 minutes, at the beginning.

PRESHAPE, BENCH REST, AND FINAL SHAPE

Why do I preshape the dough? Why do I not go from bulk straight to final shape?
Well, the main reason for me is that preshaping gives me a dough with a more proper form to work with when it’s time for the final shape.

The bench rest fills the same purpose. When you preshape the dough, you build up tension. It’s hard to make any final shaping with that much tension, but if you let the dough rest for 15 minutes, it will be much easier.

There are many ways to shape a batard. If you follow this link, there is a video showing one method I like (and no, I’m not an affiliate for that book in the end). But feel free to use whatever technique you feel comfortable with.

FINAL RISE

How long is enough for the final rise? In my opinion, that’s impossible to answer.
The health of the sourdough starter and the ambient temperature are just two factors.
The time required for your dough will most certainly differ from mine.
But aren’t there any method to use? Yes, there is.
It’s called the finger poke test, and some of you are probably familiar with it.

You make an indent in the dough with your finger.

• If the indent springs back, the dough is under proofed.
• If it doesn’t spring back at all, it’s over-proofed.
• But if it springs back halfways, it’s ready for the oven.

It’s not a completely reliable method, but it’s the best that I know about.

The time for the final rise was 1 hour at a temperature of 73ºF/23ºC in a lined and floured banneton.

BAKING

Nowadays, I bake most of my bread in a dutch oven or a clay cooker. But it works great with a baking stone and a lot of steam. And if you don’t have a baking stone, an ordinary baking tray will do just fine.
As usual, I preheated the oven, with the dutch oven, to 480ºF/250ºC.
The total baking time was 45 minutes. I removed the lid to the dutch oven after 20 minutes.
You may have to lower the temperature at the end of the baking session.

FINAL THOUGHTS 

I kept the dough in a bowl, covered with a plate, during bulk fermentation. Every time I removed the plate, I felt a profound and pleasant scent of thyme. You will probably feel the same.
It may make you think that it will taste a lot of thyme.
Instead, you will feel all the characteristic taste of sourdough bread with just a hint of thyme somewhere in the background.
Not dominant at all, and I think it’s a bread that goes well with most kinds of food.
Imagine a slice of this thyme sourdough bread with a good cheese. Maybe a piece of chevré and a glass of wine. A meal for a king.

Thyme sourdough bread

Baking with thyme-infused water gives a fragrant bread with soft flavors of thyme and a hint of rye. This thyme sourdough bread goes well with most food.

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Servings 1 loaf

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

Levain (Note that only 60 grams are used in the final dough)

• 20 gram mature sourdough starter
• 40 gram Wheat flour 11.5 protein content
• 40 gram water

Thyme infused water

• 10 sprigs thyme
• 200 gram water

Thyme sourdough bread

• 350 gram Wheat flour 12.5% protein content
• 50 gram rye flour 8.5% protein content
• 60 gram levain
• 200 gram thyme infused water
• 90 gram water
• 9 gram salt

Instructions

 

Thyme infused water

• Bring the water to a boil. Grind the thyme lightly in a pestle and mortar. Pour the boiling water over the thyme and let it sit, covered, for at least 24 hours.

Levain

• Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Let it ferment until it has at least doubled in volume.

Sourdough thyme bread

• Mix all flour with thyme-infused water and let the dough autolyze for 60 minutes.
• Add salt and 70 grams of levain and incorporate it into the dough. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
• Work up some dough strength with your preferred method, like stretch and fold or slap and fold. You can also knead the dough on a working surface. Continue until the dough starts to come together and becomes less sticky. It should take about 5-10 minutes.
• Perform 3-4 stretch and folds during bulk fermentation. Perform the first 15 minutes after you have added salt and starter, and space out the rest with 15-30 minutes intervals. You may have to increase or decrease the amount of stretch and folds depending on how the dough behaves. If you feel a lot of resistance, it's time to stop. You can also check the dough with the windowpane test.
• The total time for bulk fermentation should be about 4-6 hours, depending on temperature, the strength of starter, etc. When the dough has increased about 50-70% in volume and has a slightly domed bubbly surface it is ready. If the dough jiggles when shaking the bowl, it's also a good sign.
• Dump out the dough on your working surface and shape it into a round with your bench knife. Let the dough rest for 15-30 minutes, giving it time to relax a bit. Shape the dough into your preferred shape.
• Flour a banneton and sprinkle with wheat or rice flour. Place the loaf in the banneton and let it proof for 1- 1,5 hours at room temperature. You can also let it proof longer, 8-14 hours, in your refrigerator, depending on temperature. Make finger poke tests regularly to make sure the dough is not over-proofed.
• Preheat the oven to 480ºF/250ºC. Score the loaf and bake it for 45-50 minutes. If you are using a dutch oven or a clay cooker, remove the lid after 15 minutes. You may have to reduce the heat in the last 15-20 minutes.
• Let the loaf cool on wire racks.

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