Pain Poilâne — Cook

Ingredients

For the levain build
200 g stone-milled Type 80 flour (farine de meule), ground between granite millstones
100–120 ml water, to maintain 50–60% hydration stiff starter
For the dough
800 g stone-milled Type 80 flour (farine de meule), sourced from a mill, not roller-milled
200 g active stiff levain, refreshed with the same stone-milled flour
544–560 ml water, 68–70% hydration on total flour weight
18 g fine sea salt, approximately 2% of flour weight

Method

1
Refresh the stiff levain with stone-milled Type 80 flour and water to a hydration of 50–60%. Leave at ambient temperature until it has peaked: it rises, domes at the crown, and just begins to recede at the centre.
2
Combine the flour, water, and active levain. Mix until no dry flour remains. Rest 20–30 minutes (autolyse), then incorporate the salt. The dough is rough and moderately stiff, with a hydration of 68–70%; it should clear the sides of the bowl under hand pressure but feel substantial, not slack.
3
Bulk-ferment at ambient temperature for 3–5 hours, performing a series of folds in the first 2 hours. The dough is ready when it has increased appreciably in volume, feels aerated and extensible under the hand, and the surface shows a slight dome with a few visible bubbles at the edges.
4
Shape into a large boule with firm surface tension. Place seam-side up in a well-floured large banneton. Proof for 2–3 hours at ambient temperature. The loaf is ready to bake when a finger-poke to the floured surface leaves an indent that springs back slowly and only partially — not snapping back immediately, not collapsing.
5
This step decides the dish. Preheat a Dutch oven (cocotte) in the oven at maximum heat (equivalent to the wood-fired four à bois falling from 280 °C). Turn the proved miche onto a sheet of parchment, score the surface with a lame — a single deep cross or the baker's own mark — then lower into the preheated cocotte. Bake covered for 30 minutes: the trapped steam must produce a pronounced, resonant crack-and-bloom at the score, audible when the lid is lifted. If the bloom is absent or the surface appears pale and smooth, the oven was insufficiently hot. Uncover and continue baking for a further 45–60 minutes (75–90 minutes total) until the crust is a deep mahogany-brown and the interior temperature reaches 96–98 °C. A 1.9 kg loaf under-baked is both structurally and gastronomically failed: the crust, which is both the flavour engine and the preservation mechanism, must be thick and fully caramelised.
6
Transfer to a wire rack. Leave to cool completely for 4–6 hours before cutting. The internal structure is still setting during this period; slicing early collapses the crumb. The loaf is ready when the base, tapped firmly with the knuckle, returns a hollow, resonant sound throughout.