Pain aux Grain es de Lin (Flaxseed Bread)

Instructions

In a small bowl, mix the golden flax seeds and water. Let sit for an hour or so, until the seeds have soaked up the water. The seeds won’t really soak up all of the water but you’ll know things are OK when the whole mess is a slippery mass.

After the “soaker” has soaked, add it to your fermenting bowl (3 quart size), along with the water for the final dough. Add flours, salt, and yeast. Mix everything together using a Danish dough hook, or a stiff long-handled spoon until all is well mixed. This should take a minute or two.

Cover, let rest for about 15 minutes, then reach under the dough with a wet or oiled hands and fold 1/2 of it over itself within the bowl.

Repeat the stretch / fold going in another direction. Cover, rest for another 15 minutes and repeat the stretch / folds. Do 4 total stretch /fold sessions, then cover the bowl to ferment the dough.

Leave the covered bowl at room temp for about 8-10 hours at room temp (72-78f). The dough will have doubled in size. Using a bowl scraper or rubber spatula, remove the dough to a floured work surface. With light hand pressure (try not to knock the air out of the dough), preshape into a round ball, cover and let rest for about 15 minutes.

Uncover and shape into a boule shape and place the boule, seam side up, into a well floured banneton, or cloth lined bowl. In the latter case, the cloth must be well dusted with flour to keep the dough from sticking to it. Cover the dough in the bowl with a plastic bag and let proof for 45-60 minutes. The dough is ready to bake when it springs back slowly when poked with your finger. The next steps are the “hearth style” baking instructions –

While dough proofs, preheat a 4 qt, or larger, covered Dutch Oven, in a 450f degree oven. After the dough is proofed (45 – 60 minutes), gently invert the proofed boule onto a sheet of parchment paper. Once the boule is on the parchment, trim the parchment with a scissors to be about 1 inch wider than the boule.

Score the top of your boule with a serrated knife or single edged razor with an “X” pattern or any other desired shape. (You will use the parchment and oven-mitted hands to transfer the scored boule to the preheated Dutch Oven below)

Remove the hot dutch oven from the oven, remove its lid, carefully put the proofed dough into the Dutch Oven, replace the cover, return Dutch Oven to the oven and bake covered for 20 minutes.

Remove cover and continue baking uncovered in the Dutch Oven for another 20-25 min. or until internal temp of bread is 200 – 205f.

Remove finished bread from Dutch Oven and cool on a rack for at least 90 minutes before slicing and serving.