Making Bread with LICOLI at home is always a great magic for me: few ingredients, a bit of patience, to find at home that scent that fills the heart and recalls distant memories…
The LICOLI, liquid sourdough, gives the bread a unique lightness, a crunchy crust, and a soft and well-aerated crumb.
In this recipe, I explain how to make an artisanal bread accessible to everyone, with practical tips on fermentation times, hydration, lamination, folds, and management of LICOLI.
Perfect for making excellent bruschetta, croutons, or simply enjoying warm with a drizzle of good olive oil: a fragrant delight to try.
Follow the scent… the recipe continues!
Oops… Discover my review on the stand mixer KitchenAid 5KSM60SPX with 5.6-liter lift bowl my great ally in preparing large leavened doughs, desserts, and much more.
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- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Very cheap
- Rest time: 21 Hours
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 2Pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 1,000.20 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 201.86 (g) of which sugars 3.93 (g)
- Proteins 38.63 (g)
- Fat 3.21 (g) of which saturated 0.00 (g)of which unsaturated 0.00 (g)
- Fibers 7.36 (g)
- Sodium 2,681.78 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 1,000 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 5.3 oz sourdough starter (in refreshed liquid culture)
- 3.5 cups Manitoba flour (or flour with a strength W 350)
- 0.5 cup whole wheat flour (of soft wheat)
- 1.5 cups water
- 0.4 oz salt
Tools
- 1 Proofing basket proofing baskets
- 1 Bench scraper dough cutter and scraper
- 1 Stand mixer
Preparation
For the LICOLI
To refresh the liquid sourdough (li.co.li) and make it active, take 1.8 oz of li.co.li (the excess, the leftover in the container can be discarded or used to make recipes that do not require leavening, such as rosemary breadsticks). Place it in a stand mixer or a bowl and add equal weight of water (1.8 oz) at a temperature of about 98-100 °F, and equal weight of flour (1.8 oz). Then knead until it comes together. Place in a graduated container or glass jar and let it rise until the li.co.li reaches one and a half times its initial volume according to the Pagani method (for example, if the refreshed li.co.li in the jar has a height of 2 inches, it will be ready to use when it reaches a height of 3 inches). Generally, a healthy sourdough rises in about 3 hours at a temperature of 72 °F).
For the bread – 1st step autolysis
In the bowl of the stand mixer, add the two flours, the water (leaving some aside for later addition with the salt) and the refreshed sourdough starter (5.3 oz), then mix with the hook at low speed just long enough to absorb the water. The dough should be coarse. Cover and let rest for about an hour in winter and half an hour in summer.
After the necessary time for autolysis, add the remaining water with the salt and start the stand mixer at low/medium speed kneading with the hook until the dough is soft and elastic. Cover again and let rest for about 30 minutes.
After the time has passed, transfer the dough to a work surface, wet your hands, and stretch it as much as you can trying to form a rectangle (dough lamination). Take one outer side of the rectangle and bring it to the center of the dough. Do the same with the other corners. Roll the dough on itself, form a loaf, and place it back in the bowl. Cover and let rest for about 45 minutes.
Make the folds twice at intervals of 30-40 minutes. Then proceed with shaping the dough by dusting it with a lot of flour, closing it well and trying to handle it carefully to avoid letting out the air trapped inside the bread. Place it in a well-floured proofing basket, cover it with a cloth, and let it rest in the fridge for about 14-16 hours.
The next day preheat the oven to 482 °F in static mode and place a cast iron pot with a lid if you have one. Otherwise, don’t worry, your bread will still be good.
While the oven reaches temperature, sprinkle the bread with a little flour, then gently and delicately flip it onto a sheet of parchment paper, removing the excess flour. Make a deep cut with the blade from one end to the other.
When the oven has reached the temperature, transfer the bread into the pot being very careful as it will be very hot! To make this operation easier, lift it with the outer edges of the parchment paper and place it in the pot or on a baking sheet, cover it with the lid and bake for 15 minutes. After the time, reduce the oven temperature to 428 °F for another 35 minutes without the lid. When it has reached the right color, remove it from the oven. Before cutting and enjoying the bread, wait until it cools down, it will take at least a couple of hours. The wait will definitely be worth it and will prevent the bread from being ruined.
Silvana’s Tips
Use quality flour: it helps support high hydration.
If the dough is too soft, add an extra rest between folds.
The crust will remain crunchy longer if you let the bread cool on a rack.
For a wider crumb, prefer a long and gentle fermentation.
