TEN OF ONE; ONE OF THE OTHER

Steps:

• Autolyse
• Mix the flours and water in a large bowl, cover, and let sit for about 1 hour.
• Mix
• Add the sourdough starter and salt to the dough. Mix thoroughly, cover, and let the dough rest for about 30 minutes.
• Gluten Development and Bulk Fermentation
• Perform two or more rounds of stretching and folding on the dough, separated by 20-30 minute rests. I did only one round of stretching and folding because I felt my dough was very developed. I'd used a stand mixer for the mixing and had let it run for about 5 minutes.
• When the dough has expanded by about 75% (see photo below), scrape it out of your bowl or bucket onto a floured countertop. My dough fermented for a total of about 4.5 hours.
• Divide and Pre-shape
• Divide the dough in two pieces of about 870 grams each.
• Pre-shape one piece into a large ball, cover, and let it rest 20-30 minutes while you shape the rolls.
• Shape
• Roll the second dough piece into a tube, cut it into 10 pieces, and shape them into balls. You may need to flour the dough pieces so they're not too sticky, and then roll them on an unfloured surface to get tension on the balls.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set the rolls on it with about 2 inches between them. Then flour the tops of the rolls and cover them with a damp cloth or oiled plastic wrap. Avoid putting plastic on unfloured rolls as the plastic will stick to them.
• By the time you've finished shaping the rolls, the gluten in the pre-shaped loaf dough will have relaxed and you can now shape this dough into a boule, batard, or as I did, a long batard for the oblong clay baker. Place the shaped dough into a floured proofing basket and cover.
• Final Proof
• At this point the doughs can be left out at room temperature for 30 minutes to 2 hours, and then baked immediately; or they can be left out at room temperature for 30 minutes to about 1 hour, and then refrigerated for baking the next day.
• I chose to bake my rolls after only 40 minutes at room temperature because I was concerned about them flattening a lot if left to proof warm for longer, and about the cover cloth sticking if I refrigerated the dough overnight. And I chose to refrigerate the long batard dough overnight after 40 minutes at room temperature so I would have a stiff dough for a fun scoring pattern.
• Bake
• Rolls: Preheat your oven at 425F. Brush the rolls with the egg white-and-water wash, score, and place the baking sheet in the oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
• Loaf: Preheat your oven and baking vessel at 500F for at least 30 minutes. Flip your dough out of the proofing basket and onto a piece of parchment paper if you want to take your time scoring. Score the dough, transfer it to the baking vessel, cover, and put it in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes covered at 500F and 15 minutes uncovered at 450F, or until the internal temperature of the bread is over 205F.