Semi Wholegrain Sourdough Bread Baked in a Creuset Pot with Lid!

This was the 1st time, I have ever baked a sourdough bread in a closed Creuset pot! I baked it for 35 minutes with the lid on & then 10 minutes without the lid! Look at my beauty:

And here it is when half eaten:

Semi Wholegrain Sourdough Bread baked in a Creuset pot with lid!

I have to say that it is the 1st time, I used dry sourdough to bake with. I had some dry sourdough in the house! This bread is lovely on its own or smeared with butter & smoked ham or a good slice of cheese. It is also yummy with some good local lavender honey!

The air holes are a little bit smaller than with fresh sourdough. I also baked it the 1st time in this Creuset pot with lid. I also proofed this bread in the Creuset pot + lid. Let’s see how I made this lovely bread!

Recipe: For 1 bread of 800 gr

Ingredients:

300 gr unbleached white flour (I use French T 65)

200 gr whole grain flour ( I use French T 150)

20 gr dry sourdough (or 150 gr fresh sourdough)

6 gr ground table salt

310 ml lukewarm water

Method:

Take Kenwood machine & place dough hook in. In Creuset pot, bring 800 ml of water to the boil with lid on. When bubbling, turn heat off & leave water in it. Just before placing your bread dough in the pot, discard water.
Add all ingredients in this order into your bowl below. Mix on low-speed for 3 minutes & 6 minutes on high-topped, like number 5-6. Your dough will be ready now. You can add some seeds if you like. Flour your kitchen counter a bit with T 150, but not too much. Place bread dough on it & knead for another minute with your hands. Your dough will be souple & stretchy! Place your bread dough in the pot & flour the top a bit with T 150! Place fitted lid on. Place this into a hot place with max. of 30°C. Leave to proof for the 1st time until it is doubled in size. This took my dough 1 + 1/2 hour.
After proving, remove lid & scatter some flour onto your kitchen counter. Knock dough back for about 1 minute. Form a roundish shape or the shape of your pot. In your Creuset pot, bring 800 ml of water to the boil with lid on. When bubbling, turn heat off & leave water in it. Just before placing your bread dough in it, discard hot water. Dry your pot & oil it & the sides too, with sunflower oil. This is to prevent sticking later on when the bread is baked in the pot!!!! Place lid back on & leave to prove for a 2nd time but a bit shorter. It took my dough about 45 minutes. Score the top like you want, I did it with a sharp bread knife: the pattern like you see on the 1st photo! Place lid on & put into the lower-end of your cold oven. Turn heat onto 220°C & bake for about 35 minutes. Then, remove lid with oven gloves, because it will be really hot!!!! Then place back into the oven , to brown the top even more for 10 minutes. Check often, to prevent burning the top. If you need to, lower your oven temp.
When baked, carefully try to turn the bread over & out of the pot. tap the back to see if it sounds hollow, then it is baked to perfection! Mine was ready! Place to cool down completely onto a wire rack! When cold, I put it into an organic bag.