Greg Wade - Inclusion & Proofing-56 copy

Inclusions: The Lamination Method

The lamination method of adding inclusions is a great way to evenly disperse small add-ins to your dough, such as seeds, grated cheese, herbs, or spices. Though this method bears the same name as the time consuming technique of making croissants and puff pastry, have no fear! The lamination process for sourdough is simple, quick, and effective.

Please email us at techniques@challengerbreadeware.com with your comments and questions.

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What you need

Inclusion of choice, such as mixed seeds, grated cheese, or herbs
Flour for dusting
Dough that is part way through bulk fermentation, and is ready for a stretch and fold

How to laminate inclusions

Lightly dust your work surface with flour, and tip your dough out on the surface. Gently tug at the dough until it is evenly and thinly stretched out in a rectangle. Make sure you don’t use too much flour– use the tackiness to your advantage in really stretching the dough thin and sticking it down onto your surface.

The thinner you stretch your dough, the more evenly dispersed your inclusions will be in the crumb.

Once your dough is stretched, evenly sprinkle about ¾ of your inclusions onto the surface of the dough. Fold the bottom right corner up and on a diagonal, sprinkling more of your inclusions on top of the dough, followed by the bottom left corner, as if you are folding the dough into a diamond shape.

Continue with the other two corners, top with the remaining inclusions, and roll the dough back up. Place the dough roll back into the bowl, and continue with the rest of bulk fermentation, as normal.