Poilane-Style Miche

This is a fascinating bread. I'm still a bit wobbly with sourdough, and the first two times I made it, it came out very well (it received compliments from a French teacher of one of my daughters). The third time, it was a terrible flop - and I realized that I still have a lot to learn about wild yeast. I still don't know if it under or overproofed, but after all that work it was a bit dispiriting.

It makes a huge loaf (4.5 lbs), very dark and chewy. It's a bit of a challenge to work with that much dough, and the kneading will help with your arm muscle development! Definitely one to impress people with when you master it, and one to be shared with a group.

I put off making this bread as I didn’t have all of the recommended ingredients and I’m usually a little wary of breads that rely on wild yeast alone. I finally decided to try it using my recently resurrected starter, "Vlad”, and ingredients I had on hand and I’m so glad I did.

It’s a 2-day (or more) bread that begins with a firm starter. On day 2, the flour (I used whole wheat bread flour which I didn’t bother to sift) salt and water are mixed together with the starter and the dough is kneaded. I made a half recipe so was able to use my stand mixer for this step. The recipe indicates that fermentation and proofing time is 6-7 hours “ "Vlad” responded admirably to the current heat wave so these steps took only half the time.

I was very happy with the results: it’s a delicious, dense, chewy whole wheat bread with a definite sourdough tang and a lovely crispy crust. Definitely a recipe I will make again.