Fussy All-Day Wheat Bread

Tools/Assumptions
	medium bowl (cereal bowl size)
	stand mixer with mixing paddle and dough hook 
	baking mat or floured work surface
	covering material like a baking mat or plastic wrap
	oven
	loaf pan, greased
	prior experience with dough manipulation (intermediate)

Ingredients

-Levain

    1/2 cup (57g)  Whole Wheat Flour
    3.5 tablespoons (52g) water, at room temperature
    1 teaspoon ripe (fed) sourdough starter or 1/16 teaspoon instant yeast

-Dough

    1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups (340g to 400g) water, lukewarm
    3 cups (339g)  Whole Wheat Flour
    1 cup + 2 tablespoons (134g) Bread Flour or whatever white flour
    1 1/2 teaspoons (9g) salt
    1/2 teaspoon (2g) instant yeast
    1 1/2 tablespoons (32g) honey
    2 tablespoons + 3/4 teaspoon (31g) vegetable oil

Instructions
(how long this step will take) 

*The night before* (5  min)	To make the levain: Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl. Cover and set aside to rest at room temperature for 12 to 14 hours.

(20 min)	To make the dough: Combine the levain with 1 1/2 cups (340g) of the water in the bowl of a stand mixer. Equip with dough hook.

    Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl with the levain and water. Turn the mixer to low speed to incorporate the ingredients, then run for about 3 minutes, stopping the mixer early on to scrape the bowl if necessary.

    Turn the mixer up one speed and continue to knead the dough for about 10 minutes, adding the remaining water about a tablespoon at a time roughly every 2 minutes. At the end of kneading the dough should be smooth and elastic, though still tacky; you’ll know it’s ready when you can stretch a small piece of it thin enough to see through it (the windowpane test). Leave the dough in the bowl, cover it, and let it rest for 45 minutes. 

(10 min)	Turn the dough out onto a floured baking mat or work surface and stretch and fold it four times. If you think of the dough as a compass, start with the north edge, pulling it away from you then folding it back so that the edge lines up with the center of the dough. Either feed it extra flour if it's too sticky or gently dust off any excess flour. Repeat this process with the southern edge, followed by east and west. Turn the dough over so the seam side is down, place it back in the bowl, cover, and let it rest for another 45 to 75 minutes.

(10 min)	Turn the dough out onto a floured baking mat or work surface, and gently pat it down to de-gas it. Fold the dough in half once to make a semicircle, then again to make a quarter circle. Roll the dough so the seams face down and with a circular motion, gently form it into a ball. If making a ball wasn't happening, feed it some extra flour. Place the dough, seam side down, on floured work surface and cover with baking mat. Let the loaf rest for 15 to 20 minutes. Grease and flour the loaf pan.

(15 min)	Turn the dough over so the seam is facing up, dust off any excess flour, and form the dough into a tight 9” loaf. Thinking of the dough as a compass again, fold the northwest and northeast “corners” into the center followed by the northern edge. Repeat this process to form a tight log, releasing some excess gas in the process. Place the loaf into a greased and floured loaf pan, cover with baking mat or whatever, and let it proof at warm room temperature 1 hour. 

(1 min)	Then, preheat the oven @425. 

(5 min)	When dough finishes proofing, it’s crowned 1” to 1 1/4” over the rim of the pan. Make a 1/2" to 3/4"-deep slash down the length of the loaf. Bake the loaf at 425°F for 5 minutes. 

(1 min)	Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F and bake for 33 to 37 minutes, until the loaf is golden brown.

(5 min)	Remove the loaf from the oven and turn it out onto a rack to cool completely.