1. Before bed, mix the flour and water and do overnight autolyse. Mine was 13h long at 67F. It could also be 8-9-10h
2. The next day, wake up and discover fully developed gluten. The dough should be very smooth, relaxed and extensible. Add active and strong starter. Mix gently to incorporate. I mixed for 1-2min.
3. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 30min
4. Follow up with adding the salt. Mix gently to incorporate. I mixed for 1-2min. The dough should be very smooth and well developed
5. Cover the bowl and let it rest for 30mi
6. Do one lamination
7. Transfer the dough to a bulking dish and let it rest for 30-45min before you perform the first coil fold. My first fold was after 45min. If you see that the dough looks way too slack and relaxed, do the first fold after 30min if you wish.
8. Follow up with the rest of the coil folds separated by 30-45min. I did a total of 4 folds separated by 45min. Watch the dough and see how it’s developing strength and structure. If the dough looks too weak even after the forth fold, add additional one. Measure the dough temperature after each fold. I maintained 72-76F dough temperature. For the first part of bulk fermentation, I kept the dough at 72F and then after lamination, the dough was placed in a proofer with set temperature at 75F.
9. After the last coil fold, let the dough finish fermenting. Watch the dough and see how’s developing, it should be rising and filling up with gas. My total bulk fermentation, from the moment I added the starter to shaping, was 9.5h at 72-75F. They say whole wheat flours ferment faster because of stronger enzymatic activity. There are other things to consider as well, for example temperature and even altitude. I’m at sea level, it always takes much longer. If you are up high in the mountains, it will take faster for the dough to ferment. Also the bran in the whole wheat flours interfere with gluten development which means it would rise more slowly, even though during the long hours of autolyse, the bran had a chance to smooth out and hydrate well. As you see, there are many things to consider and keep in mind. But the most important thing is to watch the dough. I don't turn it over to shape until I see what I’m looking for, a big, round and puffy dough.
10. After bulk fermentation, shape the dough. After I shaped mine, I let it proof for 45min in the bannetone at room temperature 72F. So, then, you could say that my warm bulk fermentation was even longer than 9.5h. The dough felt good and strong in my hands while shaping it so I decided to push its abilities further and see what’s gonna do. When I first turned it over for shaping, it did feel kind of weak but with each fold during shaping, creating good tension, the dough felt strong.
11. Place the dough in the fridge for cold proof. My proof time was 14h 45min at 38F.
12. Score and bake straight from the fridge.
