To a medium bowl add: 521 grams of bread flour, 130 grams of spelt flour and 13 grams of salt.
Mix it with your hands so everything is well distributed.
Then add: 130 grams of sourdough starter, fed and grown to its peak.
If you know your bread flour can take 80% hydration, go ahead and add 508 grams of water.
If you’re unsure, start with 436 grams of water for 70% and add 36 grams to go to 75%. Add another 36 grams of water if the dough still seems dry to go to 80%.
Mix with your hands until no dry flour is left.
Then let the dough rest for an hour to develop the gluten.
Prepare sesame seeds
While the dough is resting, heat your oven to 200°C/390°F.
Then prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper and pour 98 grams of white sesame seeds on the sheet and spread them out.
Toast in the warm oven for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Add the toasted seeds to a bowl and put aside until you need them.
Bulk fermentation
Do a set of stretch and folds, and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
Do another set of stretch and folds. Before each set, add about a quarter of the toasted sesame seeds. After you finish the set, help the dispersion of the seeds by doing the Rubaud method.
Then let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
Do the last set of stretch and folds. Then check the gluten development by doing a windowpane test.
Then add the dough to a see-through bulking container with straight sides. Then wet your hand and level the top of the dough.
Then mark the top of the dough on the container and where it will have grown 25% and put it somewhere warm. If you have a proofer, that would be a great place.
Then let the dough proof until it's grown 25%.
Divide and pre-shape
When the dough has grown 25% and is puffy, divide the dough into two equally sized pieces.
Then, using your bench scraper, shape each piece into a ball. Then let them rest on the kitchen counter for 20 minutes.
While they are resting, prepare a dish towel with many sesame seeds on top.
Final shaping
Then shape your bread into either a boule or a bâtard. See the video for details.
Then spray the top of the dough lightly with water and invert the dough onto the seeds.
Then lift the sides of the dishtowel to get it all up the sides of the dough. Then move the dough to a banneton.
Shape the other piece of dough the same way.
Then move the bannetons to the fridge.
They should retard for at least 8 hours, but up to 48 hours.
Bake
When you’re ready to bake, heat your oven to 260°C/500°F with a baking steel and a dutch oven inside. I am using my Challenger bread pan.
When the oven has heated, grab one of the doughs from the fridge. Don’t let it come up to temperature.
Dust the bottom of the dough with rice flour to help it slide off the peel. Then flip the dough onto the peel.
Score the dough and then move it to the dutch oven inside the oven.
Bake for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, turn the oven down to 230°C/450°F. Do not remove the lid; this is to prevent the seeds from scorching. Bake for another 25 minutes.
Then take the bread from the oven and put it on a wire rack to cool off.