Potato Bread

It's been a long time since I made a potato bread. Combined with rye sourdough, (whole grain) wheat poolish and an altus (stale bread) soaker this bread develops a rich flavor. Not very complicated to make also.

Sourdough

• 135g (4 3/4oz) whole grain rye flour
• 135ml (4 1/2oz) water
• 13g (1/2 oz) rye sourdough starter

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir well. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 16-18 hours.

Poolish

• 100g (3 1/2 oz) whole grain wheat flour
• 100ml (3 3/8 oz) water
• 0.1g fresh wet yeast

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Stir well, cover with lid or plastic wrap and let rest for 16-18 hours also.

Soaker

• 40g (1 3/8 oz) stale bread
• 75ml (2 1/2oz) water

Chop bread up in a food processor and combine with water. Stir and put in the fridge for 5 hours. You can also leave it in the fridge as long as the doughs rest, but then add the salt from the main dough to the soaker instead.

Main Dough

• Sourdough
• Poolish
• Soaker
• 200g (7 oz) potatoes
• 350g (12 1/4 oz) medium whole grain wheat flour or bread flour
• 65g (2 3/8oz) light rye flour
• 120ml (4 oz) water
• 8g fresh (wet) yeast, or 1 tsp Active Dry Yeast, 1/2 tsp of sugar and 25ml (7/8oz) of water, mixed and let stand for about 10 minutes
• 18g (2 1/2 tsp) salt
• 10g (3/8 oz) butter

Boil potatoes with skin, then take the skin off. Let cool then mash up well with a fork. In order to get everything ready around the same time I cooked the potatoes the day before and left them in the pot with the skin on until the next day, when I skinned them and mashed them up.

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, give it a quick stir and knead with the dough hook on low speed for 5 minutes. Increase speed to 2 and knead for another 8 minutes. Cover the bowl with lid or plastic wrap and let rest for 1 hour.

Place dough on well floured surface and form into round shape. Place in banetton with seam up, cover with plastic wrap and let  rest at room temperature for an hour.

Preheat oven to 250°C.

Place parchment paper on a baking sheet and turn dough over onto it (seam is now down). With a sharp knife cut a cross into the to about 2cm (3/4 inch) deep. Then make a shallow cut - 5mm - in each of the quarters.

Place in oven on middle rack and spray in a lot of water. After 10 minutes open the oven door to let out steam, close it again and reduce temperature to 190°C for another 40 minutes. Then increase temperature again to 230°C and finish up baking for another 10 minutes.

Let cool on a cooling rack.

Original recipe (German language) in "Das Brotbackbuch" by Lutz Geißler, published by Ulmer Eugen Verlag.