PKD Recipes

CHEF
rise 12-24 hours
If using cold refrigerated chef (previously left over levain) about a half a day before baking your next loaf, allow it to come to room temperature. Mix the refrigerated previous portion with ⅓ cup of water and ½ cup of spelt flour. Allow it to sit out on the countertop in a glass jar for 12-24 hours or until it develops fine bubbles. For its rising I keep it in a glass covered jar with a rubber band to mark the beginning of the rising. Once it has fermented (12-24 hours) this becomes your chef for baking today.
LEVAIN
knead 5 minutes
rise 6-10 hours
Add the entire CHEF
1 ¼ cup spelt flour
Knead for 5 minutes, allow the newly formed LEVAIN to rise for 6-10 hours inside the bread machine with the bread machine turned off.

Ingredients
1 C. LEVAIN (save the rest for baking another day)
¼ C. warm water (warm to the inside of the wrist)
1 Tbsp dark molasses
1 Tbsp Tupelo honey
¾ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp Himalayan pink crystal salt
2 tsp Vital Gluten (can omit)
¾ C. rye flour
¾ C. spelt flour
water as needed

Preparation
knead 15 minutes
Allow the LEVAIN and all ingredients to come to room temperature. Warm the water a little. If your flour is cold from being in the fridge, warm it a little. This meticulousness helps the bread to ferment and rise nicely. The dough behaves quite differently if all ingredients are brought to room temperature. Mix the LEVAIN and water together and place in the bread machine on the dough cycle. Let it run for about 5 minutes or until the LEVAIN is partly dissolved. While the bread machine is mixing add molasses, honey, coriander, salt, Vital Gluten and just enough of the remaining ¾ cup flour so it forms a thick mass. Stop the bread machine. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour until the dough is firm and smooth, about 25-50 times. The dough is ready when a little dough pulled from the mass springs back quickly. Shape the dough into a ball and return to the bread machine.

Rise the Dough 2 hours in the bread machine
rise 15 minutes
Let the dough rest on the lightly floured surface, while you lightly oil the bread machine pan. Place the dough in the bread machine and turn once to coat with oil.
rise 2 hours
It needs to rest about 2 hours with the bread machine turned off and the door closed.

Let the Dough Rest 30 minutes
rise 30 minutes
Deflate the dough by pushing down in the center and pulling up on
the sides. Shape into a tight torpedo and place back into the bread machine for 30 minutes.

Second Rise of the Dough 2 hours
rise 2 hours
Place the dough seam side down inside the bread machine pan and close the bread machine door but do not turn it on. Allow the bread to rise until almost doubled in volume, approximately 2 hours. Sometimes about this time I might wish to go to sleep. If I do, I place the bread machine pan with the dough covered inside the refrigerator. This step greatly decreases the phytic acid content.

Cold Refrigerated Dough
rise 2-4 hours
In the morning I take it out and allow it to come to room temperature for 1-2 hours, then rise the previously refrigerator dough an additional 2 hours, then bake.

Baking the Bread
bake bread
Open the door to the bread machine and remove the pan. Close the door and turn on the bread machine on the bake cycle. If you have a choice set it to dark crust. Allow it bake for an hour or however long your bake cycle is. Once finished baking, remove the loaf from the bread machine, rub a little oil on the outside crust and wrap it in a towel as it cools. If the bread is allowed to fully cool overnight, it has a different crumb when sliced. The bread continues to bake as it cools.

Left over LEVAIN to make into a new CHEF
Earlier you had some left over levain to save for another baking day. Take the left over levain and add to this ⅓ cup of water + ¼ cup of spelt flour; adding the water first. Mix well to aerate, adding fresh oxygen. Allow to rise a bit while you finish baking the bread then place in a cool area or in the refrigerator (I put mine in the wine cooler) for baking another day. This then becomes your new CHEF.