The sourdough mill loaf

So buoyed by the success of my wholemeal sourdough loaf, I thought I'd give Dan Lepard's recipes another go. Went for the "mill loaf", which uses a mix of 60% white, 30% wholemeal, and 10% rye flours. A nice mix.... Instead of Dan's method - which mixes all the ingredients together and then either gives you the choice of leaving it in the fridge overnight for a long slow initial rise, or out on the worktop for the first 10minutes - I decided to go for the River Cottage method. Daniel Stevens (R.C.'s "bread man") recommends a "sponge method", where you make a batter using the leaven, water and half the flour, and then leave it at room temperature overnight. This worked well for the wholemeal loaf.... but on reflection I think maybe the dough was a little "vigorous" for this... and then following Dan's method of short kneads and long rises meant that it was over-proved.. hmmm... not a bad loaf, in fact really tasty with a lovely flavour BUT I think I need to get it in the oven a little quicker next time. Follow one method, and stick to it - that's what todays loaf has taught me.... :-)

Mill loaf - tasty, but a bit shape-less!