Flaxseed Sourdough

"The Flax"

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On Mechnykova Street, 9 in Kyiv is 'The Bakehouse', one of Kyiv's most popular bakeries.

The CEO and Founder of The Bakehouse, Anna Makievska (right below), relocated to San Francisco at the start of the war for the safety of her two young children. The Bakehouse has continued to bake and sell throughout the conflict, and its Instagram account is still live and regularly updated.

In 2022, Anna released the formula and process for their most popular Sourdough, the Flaxseed, as part of a fund-raising campaign . With Andrew Green, a baker from Totnes, Devon, UK, they published Knead Peace , a collection of the very best bakes, drawing on the talents of such names as Richard Bertinet, Yotam Ottolenghi, Kitty Tait, and many, many others.

'The Flax' as it's known by the regular customers at ' The Bakehouse', is their most popular bread. It's a close crumb sourdough, rich in flax and full of nutrients.

This is a slightly adapted version. The formula is from 'The Bakehouse'. but because this is designed for commercial-scale production, the process has been adapted in line with BC20 'Simply Sourdough'.

INGREDIENTS

Stage 1: soaking the Flax seeds

260 gms flaxseeds (also known as linseed)

260 gms room temperature water

Stage 2: the liquid leaven

155 gms of strong white bread flour

155 gms of room-temperature water

35 gms of sourdough starter

Stage 3: the dough

430 gms of strong white bread flour

430 gms of strong wholemeal/wholegrain flour

650 gms water

28 gms crushed sea salt (this is the recommended amount (2.6%). If you wish you can reduce it to 23 gms (2%) - see taste tester comments at the very end of this post. )

All the leaven from stage 2.

METHOD

Stage 1

Mix the flaxseed with the water, cover and soak at least overnight and for at least 12 hours, but no more than 18 hours.

Stage 2

Mix the starter with the flour and the water and leave overnight at room temperature to allow it to double or even triple.

(I left mine at 23⁰C/73⁰F for 10 hours. At a lower temperature, it will take longer)

Stage 3

Add the water to a large bowl and mix in the leaven from Stage 2 and the linseeds from Stage 1. Mix thoroughly.

Add the white and wholegrain flour and mix thoroughly. Continue to stir for two or three minutes. Cover and leave at room temperature for one hour.

Now add the salt. Using your hands, make sure that all the salt is incorporated evenly into the dough.

Cover and leave at room temperature for 45 minutes.

Thoroughly stretch and fold the dough at the 40, 80 and 120 minute mark. (ie three cycles of stretch and fold over the next 2 hours).

Transfer the dough to a bulk fermenting container and move to a warm place to ferment.

All the dough to increase in volume as follows:

Temperature of the dough = % increase in volume

18⁰C / 65⁰F = 100%

20⁰C / 68⁰F = 80%

22⁰C / 72⁰F = 70%

24⁰C / 75⁰F = 60%

The dough will be about 1⁰C - 2⁰C above ambient room temperature

I'm bulk fermenting my dough at 23⁰C, so I'm stopping it at 65% in order that the dough can continue fermenting during division, resting, shaping and cold proofing without exhausting the bacteria and yeast present in the dough.

Stage 4

When the dough has reached the optimum increase based on its temperature, tip the dough out gently onto a floured board. (I find rice or semolina flour the best for this)

Divide according to the size of your well-floured bannetons. Bring together into a boule and cover, leaving it for 10 minutes to rest.

Now, shape your dough pieces and place them into the bannetons. Wrap in plastic and place into the refrigerator for 12 - 48 hours.

Stage 5

Preheat the oven with your baking pots to 240⁰C / 465⁰F.

Gently invert the bannetons onto silicone paper and score down the center of the dough Lower into the hot pots. Replace the lids and bake for 30 minutes with the lid in place.

Drop the temperature to 230⁰C / 450⁰F and remove the lids. Continue to bake for about 12 - 15 minutes until the interior of the dough reaches 98⁰C / 208⁰F and is hollow when tapped on the underneath.

Allow to cool thoroughly.