Pan Integral Country Bread | A Crispier Crust

Open crumb and crisp crust with 85% whole grains

Pan integral, in Spanish-speaking countries, is bread made with a significant amount of whole wheat flour. I’m always in search of breads with a high percentage of whole grains — while maintaining a soft and open crumb. So far, I’ve found the just bread, a pan loaf with 70% whole wheat. With pan integral, I’m loading up along the spectrum of whole wheat another 15% — to about 85%. All in all, I’m happy with the results, particularly in the way the crust turns out. Furthermore, it does not have any bitter flavor of whole wheat flour without honey in the dough.

In New World Sourdough, the latest addition to my bread book collection, Bryan Ford talks us through his breadmaking process. From building the levain, to fermenting the dough. These process are familiar. However, he has a rather unique approach in baking the bread. As a result, the crust becomes lighter and crispier than usual. In this post, I’ll focus on his three-step method in getting the crust just right.

First of all, bake in a cast iron Dutch oven. This closely replicates the steam environment in a commercial setting. Preheat the Dutch oven to 500°F in a conventional oven.

1) Transfer the bread to the 500°F preheated Dutch oven and bake the bread for 10 minutes with the lid on.

2) Reduce the oven temperature to 475°F and bake the bread for 15 minutes more with the lid off. This let the steam out.

3) Transfer the bread (from the Dutch oven) to the top rack for 20 minutes. The bread is baked darker than usual (try it!). Meanwhile, let the bread finish baking with the oven door slightly ajar to let out all the moisture.

They say to let the bread cool. But as the aroma wafting through the kitchen, who can wait any longer to dig in the warm bread with butter. This is the best — after days of work and anticipation up to the moment.

My favorite sourdough recipe, such as the Vermont sourdough, calls for bread flour. It has more gluten-forming protein. As a result, the crust will be a bit thicker and you won’t get quite the same open-hole structure as you’d with all-purpose. In pan integral, the texture of both crust and crumb are relatively lighter with the use of all-purpose flour. I find it to be helpful as the percentage of whole wheat flour increases.