Make Multi Grain Slurry

• Place the water and multi grain cereal in a bowl and let it sit for 2-6 hours.
• Take your sourdough start, water, flours, maple syrup and multi grain slurry and put them in a large mixing bowl. Use a wooden spoon or dough spoon to mix the ingredients together.
• It will begin to be too sticky and dense to manage with a spoon. Mix with your hand until it is completely combined. Let this sit for one hour. This is the autolyse stage. Once the hour has passed you will add the salt and let it sit another 30 minutes.
• Now you will do your first stretch and fold or coil fold. There are two different options. You can stretch and fold which means you pull the dough up from one corner and stretch it and then fold it over the top fo the dough, rotate and do the same action 4 times for the dough.

  Coil fold is where you lift the dough from underneath with two hands, pulling the dough up and then folding it down in half on itself as you let it back down. I You then rotate the bowl and repeat this 3 more times rotating the bowl each time.`
• Let the dough rest another 30 minutes and repeat the coil fold or stretch and fold. (having wet hands makes this so much easier)
• Repeat this 3 -4 more times. You can do it up to 6 times.
• Once you are at this point you will notice the dough has a very different texture and should be very jiggly.
• Once it had doubled in size, its time to shape your dough and prepare it for the fridge! This will make one large loaf or two smaller loaves. This could take anywhere from 3-8 hours to bulk ferment.
• Form a ball, first by rolling the dough in on itself. Then flip it over and use the countertop to create tension. Push on the dough ball while rolling it under. You want to turn and roll. You can watch my video to see how to do this. This creates tension on the dough surface and gives it that good crust.
• Let the dough sit and rest for a couple minutes.
• While it rests, its time to get a bowl ready. You can use a regular large mixing bowl, but it is recommended to use a bread banneton proofing basket.
• If you use a bowl, line it with a towel, and flour the towel heavily to prevent the dough from sticking. I like to use wheat flour for this because it tends to not absorb into the dough.
• If you use a bread banneton basket, flour its heavily as well.
• Take the dough and lift it up, flip it over and put the finished side of the dough down into the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and use a rubber band to secure the plastic wrap around the bowl.
• Put the bowl in the fridge and let it sit in there for at least 12 hours. You can go as far as 24 hours.
• When you are ready, take the bowl out of the fridge and let the dough sit on the counter for about an hour. I like to let the oven preheat to 450 degrees while this is happening. Put your dutch oven in the oven to preheat with the oven. You want your pan to be hot.
• Lay out some parchment paper, and take the dough gently out of the bowl and flip it over so the smooth side of the dough is on top. Lay it on the parchment paper
• Cut some slits or designs in the dough to allow for more of a rise. Make sure to cut a long deep cut across the length of the dough, either in the middle or to one side. You can use a scoring lame or a sharp knife.
• Immediately take your hot dutch oven out of the oven and take hold of the parchment paper with the dough. Put it inside the dutch oven and carefully place the lid on and put it in the oven to bake.
• If you want, you can add a couple ice cubes on the outside of the parchment paper between the pan and the paper. This will give the crust a bubbly surface and allow more of a rise!
• Bake the dough for 35 minutes. Check around 30 minutes and see if it is done. Tap it, it should feel hollow. You can take the top off of the pan and let it bake if the top is not golden brown. Cook with the top off for another 15-20 minutes.

  *If you make two smaller loaves your baking time will be less.
• Take it out of the oven when it is done and let it cool completely on a rack before cutting.