Norwich Sourdough Bread

Now that I have sourdough starter again, I've baked a batch of my favorite sourdough bread -- Norwich Sourdough Bread. The recipe is from a site that is a fantastic source of very well and precisely written sourdough recipes, as well as a weekly source of inspiration for baking new things, Wild Yeast. I'm submitting this post YeastSpotting.

I have copied the entire recipe below.

Norwich Sourdough
(copied from the Wild Yeast blog for reference and safe-keeping. My notes are in red. I removed all internal links from the recipe. The pictures are mine as well.)
(adapted from Vermont Sourdough in Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes by Jeffrey Hamelman)
Yield: 2 kg (four or five small, or two large, loaves). A 400g loaf ends up at about 325g.
Time:

Mix/autolyse: 35 minutes
First fermentation: 2.5 hours
Divide, bench rest, and shape: 20 minutes
Proof: 2.5 hours (or 1.5 hours, then retard for 2 – 16 hours)
Bake: 35 minutes

Desired dough temperature: 76F
Ingredients:

900 g white flour
120 g whole rye flour
600 g water at about 74F
360 g mature 100% hydration sourdough starter
23 g salt

Starter, flours and water.

Don't forget the salt.

The ripe sourdough starter.

Method:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the flours, water, and starter on low speed until just combined, about one minute. I did the mixing by hand.

2. Let the dough rest (autolyse) for 30 minutes.
3. Add the salt and continue mixing on low or medium speed until the dough reaches a medium level of gluten development. This should only take about 3 or 4 minutes. Needless to say, when this is done by hand it takes a bit more time. As soon as I could (i.e. the ingredients were all mixed) I removed the dough from the bowl and kneaded. Kneading time was 15-20 minutes. Because the dough is somewhat sticky, the technique I use is to hold the dough cutter in one hand to scrape the dough from the counter and knead with the other hand.

4. Transfer the dough to an oiled container (preferably a low, wide one so the dough can be folded without removing it from the container).
5. Ferment at room temperature (72F – 76F) for 2.5 hours, with folds at 50 and 100 minutes. I found this dough folding video helpful to see how to stretch and fold.

Starting the fermentation.	Before first folding.	After first folding.
Before second folding.	After second folding.	At end of fermentation period.

6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter. Divide it into 400g – 500g pieces. I usually make four 400g loaves and refrigerate the rest to use for pizza dough later. Preshape the dough pieces into light balls. I divided to 5 400g pieces.
7. Sprinkle the balls lightly with flour, cover loosely with plastic, and let rest for 15 minutes. Oops, I forgot this step.
8. Shape into batards and place seam-side-up in a floured couche or linen-lined bannetons.
9. Slip the couche or bannetons into a large plastic bag or cover with plastic wrap and proof at room temperature for 2 – 2.5 hours. Alternatively, the loaves can be proofed for about 1.5 hours at room temperature, then refrigerated for 2 – 16 hours and baked directly out of the refrigerator; this will yield a tangier bread with a lovely, blistered crust. I put the loaves into the fridge for the night after proofing for 1.5 hours at room temperature.

Before proofing.

After 1.5 hour proofing.

10. Meanwhile, preheat the oven, with baking stone, to 475F. You will also need steam during the initial phase of baking, so prepare for this now. I dump a cup of ice cubes into the oven to make the initial steam.
11. Turn the proofed loaves onto a semolina-sprinkled peel or parchment. Slash each one with two overlapping cuts that are almost parallel to the long axis of the batard.
    
12. Once the loaves are in the oven, turn the heat down to 450F. For 400g loaves, bake for 12 minutes with steam, and another 15 – 18 minutes without steam. I leave the oven door cracked open a bit for the last 5 minutes of this time. The crust should be a deep brown. Then turn off the oven and leave the loaves in for 5 minutes longer, with the door ajar, to help them dry. Larger loaves will need to be baked longer. My oven can barely make it to 475F without shutting itself off for a while. I also didn't use a baking stone. And I noticed that after putting the loaves and the ice in the oven, the temperature drops to as low as 350F. It all comes out great in the end.
13. Cool on a wire rack. Don’t cut until the loaves are completely cool, if you can manage it!