NATURALLY LEAVENED EINKORN BREAD

Steps:

• If making the Enriched Variation, start by heating the milk in a saucepan or microwave until it is over 180F. This makes a protein in the milk less of an inhibitor to the yeast in your sourdough starter. Add the honey and water to the milk to cool it down, then proceed with the rest of the instructions below.
• Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl (a straight walled container is helpful but not necessary). The dough will be sticky. Cover and note the time and level of the dough.
• Regular Proof (Instructions for Further Proof are at the end)
• When the dough has grown by about 75% (usually 5-7 hours), scrape it out onto a floured surface and preshape it with a floured bench knife, by folding it into a ball, flipping it, and rounding it.
• Cover with a bowl and let it rest 15-20 minutes.
• Flour the top of the dough, then using your bench knife/dough scraper/spatula flip the dough, and shape it into a tube with the bench knife not your hands: folding the top down and the sides inward several times until the dough is all in the tube. Transfer it to a buttered/oiled loaf pan. Expect some dough on the hand not holding the bench knife--just add it to the loaf.
• Dipping a spatula into a bowl of water, smooth the surface of your dough in the loaf pan, edging a bit down the sides as well.
• Cover and let proof until it is about 3/4" from the top of the loaf pan, usually 1.5-2 hours at room temperatures around 68-70F, less time at warmer temps, and longer, possibly overnight, if you use the refrigerator.
• About 20 minutes before the final proof is complete, preheat your oven to 500F.
• Create a steam-trapping cover for your loaf pan by wrapping the base of the pan in a sheet of aluminum foil (to get a good dome and correct opening size). Then extract the foil from the pan and invert it over your loaf pan, sealing the edges.
• Lower the oven temperature to 450F and put the covered pan inside.
• Bake at 450F for 30 minutes with the cover on.
• Remove the cover and bake at 425F for another 20-30 minutes.
• The internal temperature should be over 205F to avoid a damp interior.
• When finished baking, immediately remove the bread from the loaf pan and let it cool on a rack.
• If possible, wait 8-12 hours before cutting to let the crumb set.
• Further Proof Variation
• At the bulk fermentation stage, let the dough more than double.
• Scrape it out of the bowl and directly into the buttered/oiled loaf pan.
• Smooth the surface with a wet spatula.
• Cover and let proof until the dough is only about 1 cm (3/8 inch) from the top of the loaf pan.
• Continue with the directions above (preheating oven and building an aluminum foil cover).