Walnut Cranberry Wheatberry Bread

Total Preparation Time

Total preparation time is around 16 hours (mostly waiting).

• 10 minutes arranging ingredients
• 3 minutes mixing levain
• 8 hours waiting on the levain
• 3 minutes mixing
• 8 hours rising

Ingredients

Levain

• Flour - 46g
• Sugar - 9g
• Water - 46g
• Starter - 18g

Dry

• Flour - 425g
• Salt - 8g

Wet

• Water - 275g

Mixins

• Dried and sweetened cranberries - 100g
• Walnuts - 62g
• Wheatberries - 30g (dry weight)

Method

1. Mix levain and let sit overnight
2. Cook wheatberries. I cook them for 4 minutes in a pressure cooker but whatever works to make them plump, not chalky
3. Combine everything and mix the dough until it's stretchy
4. Stretch and fold after 20min
5. Rise 4 hours
6. Work the glutin again, forming it into a loaf and put into a greased and floured cast iron pan, cover with a pie plate
7. Rise 2 hours
8. Cook at 450F (232C) for 24 minutes, uncover and cook 4 minutes more

Notes

This recipe was an opportunity to try different cooking techniques. Putting the dough into a hot skillet will keep it from sticking, but it's dangerous and difficult when the dough sticks to your proofing container.

With this recipe I started doing the final proof in the skillet covered with a steel pie plate. This worked well until the dough rose enough to stick to the top. Now I'm greasing and flowering the pie plate

Prepared

• 241204 - First preparation, too wet, overproofed
• ?????? - Tried with 471g flour (calculated at ~70% hydration)
• ?????? - Baked in cold oven at 450 uncovered and the top was burnt
• 250216 - I baked covered with a pie pan and the bread rose until it pressed into the lid (but not enough to stick)
• 250224 - The covered with a pie pan method resulted in disaster when it rose enough to stick to the lid. Instead of potentially deflating the bread I went ahead and cooked it with the intent of flipping it in the oven, removing the cast iron, and browning the bottom instead, but I missed the alarm and when I remembered the oven was only lukewarm. It took some effort chipping the bread out of the pie pan. Next time grease and flour the pie pan? Either that or watch the second rise more closely.
• 250301 - I greased the pie pan but only let it rise for 1.5 hours during the second proof, so it didn't grow so large. It turned out well.
• 250303 - I made the same recipe but substituted candied ginger with lemon zest instead of cranberries. The result was fine, but I still prefer the cranberries.
• 250310 - On the final proof I left it for 80min. It touched the greased and floured lid but didn't stick.
• 250323 - I put the bread in the oven and set the timer for 24min and then walked away. Later, I returned to the kitchen worried I hadn't heard the timer go off. The screen was stuck on a confirmation; "do you want me to start the timer now?". The rising bread pushed the pie plate off the top and I decided it had probably baked long enough, so I put it in for 4min more to brown the top. It seemed to come out OK.