You will need: Fireclay stones
Fireclay brick: approx. 160-180°C
Top heat: approx. 300-350°C
Preheating: approx. 30 minutes
Working hours: 25 minutes
Baking: ca. 50 minutes

Ingredients (for 1 loaf)

The evening before:

For the starter dough:

• 100 ml water, lukewarm
• 4 g fresh yeast (room temperature)
• 100 g wheat flour type 550

For the sourdough:

• 250 ml water (40°C)
• 20 g starter
• 250 g wholemeal rye flour

On baking day:

For the main dough:

• Pre-dough
• Sourdough
• 50 g wheat flour type 550
• 150 g wholemeal rye flour
• 12 g salt
• 5 g bread spice, coarse
• 70 ml water

In addition:

• Bread spice, coarse - for the proofing basket
• Wholemeal rye flour for the work surface

The evening before:
For the starter dough:
Pour the water into a bowl and dissolve the yeast in it. Stir in the flour and leave the pre-dough to stand, covered, for 60 minutes at room temperature. Then leave to mature overnight in the fridge.

For the sourdough:
Mix all the ingredients for the sourdough in a bowl, cover and leave to mature at room temperature for approx. 10-12 hours.

On baking day:
For the main dough:
Place the starter dough, sourdough and the remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl and knead. Cover and leave to rise at room temperature for 60 minutes. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and shape into a round loaf. Sprinkle a proofing basket with the spices and place the loaf in the basket with the end facing downwards.

Cover and leave to rise again for 60-90 minutes at room temperature.

During this time, heat the Merklinger to approx. 300-350 °C.

Tip the bread onto the floured pizza peel, bake for approx. 50 minutes on a low heat. Remove the farmer's bread with spice crust from the Merklinger and leave to cool on a wire rack.