Levain De Pâte

Levain De Pate recipe from 'Taste of Bread'.

Notes

This is from page 93 of Raymond Calvel's 'Taste of Bread' (or 'Le Goût De Pain').

The levain stage should be mixed and 1st speed for 10 minutes and then proof for 5-6h @ 24° (or 10h at 15-18°).

Main dough should be mixed at 1st speed for 5 minutes, autolysed for 30 minutes and then mixed at 2nd speed for 10 minutes (yeast added towards the end). Fermentation is 45 minutes followed by 35 minutes of dividing and resting. Proof for 1 hour 50 minutes (@27°) and bake for 25-40 minutes at 230°.

Dough temperature for both stages should be kept at the recommended 25°.

The recipe notes that abcorbic acid can be used at 20 ppm.

There is a disparity between the translation and the original which is 0.2% extra salt content in this recipe (1.8% total in the French original). Calvel states that when the dough is likely to be underdeveloped, 0.2% extra salt can be added to make up the difference. I have chosen to include this change because I enjoy mixing by hand.

Ingredients

	Bakers %	500g total	1kg total	2kg total	3kg total	4kg total
Levain Flour	14.3%	37	74	149	223	298
Levain Water	8.58%	22	45	89	134	179
Levain Chef	3.58%	9	19	37	56	75
Main Flour	100%	260	521	1042	1562	2083
Main Autolyse Water	50%	130	260	521	781	1042
Main Water	14%	36	73	146	219	292
Main Salt	2%	5	10	21	31	42
Main Yeast	1%	2.6	5	10	16	21

Percentage total: 192%
Values have been rounded where the error would not be significant (p < 0.05).

Last compiled at 2025-09-07 19:30:27.384596