Ingredients

pre-ferment

• 3 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon yeast rapid rising

Final Dough

• 2 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon yeast rapid rising
• pre-ferment dough

Directions

Preparing the Preferment

1. Put the yeast in lukewarm water and mix well to activate.
2. Mix all of the dry ingredients together.
3. Incorporate water and yeast with dry ingredients. blend well until the mixture is well hydrated. Don’t be afraid to add a little more water if necessary.  This mixture is not really dough per-se, so it can be a little stickier than you think.
4. Place in a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Set aside At room temperature over night – at least 12 hours. If you need to prepare the preferment more than 18 hours in advance, you can place it in the refrigerator after about 12 hours or so to stop the fermentation process.

Preparing the Final Dough

1. Flatten out the pre-ferment somewhat and chop it into small pieces with a knife.
2. Put the yeast in lukewarm water and mix well to activate.
3. Place all of the remaining ingredients except the pre-ferment in a bowl with the water and yeast and mix well.
4. Add the pre-ferment to the bowl and knead well until thoroughly blended – about 15 minutes. Alternatively you can use a stand mixer with a bread attachment for this step.
5. Place mixture into a large greased bowl and cover with a cloth.
6. Allow this mixture to ferment at room temperature for 2 1/2 hours, folding it 2 times during this period. Folding the dough serves to de-gas the loaf and promote gluten development in a way similar to punching it down. To fold the dough simply flatten it out by hand and fold it in thirds, turn it 90 degrees and fold it in thirds again. Place it just as it is back in the bowl and cover.
7. At the end of the fermenting time, divide the dough equally and shape into a ball. Set aside to rest covered with a clean cloth for about ten minutes before final shaping.
8. Shape the dough into its final form – I like a batard shape, which is kind of like a football (American football, of course!).
9. Re-cover with the clean cloth(s) and allow to ferment for 1 1/2 hours longer.
10. Halfway through this final fermenting period, preheat your oven to 450 degrees with your bread stone inside. While the oven is preheating, place a cast iron skillet inside as well to generate some steam. It is this steam that will give the bread a crusty outside.
11. Mist each loaf lightly with water, just enough to make the surface tacky. Sprinkle dry oats, poppy seeds, and sesame seeds on each loaf.
12. Immediately prior to placing the loaves in the oven, score each loaf across the top.
13. Mist the interior surfaces of the oven to generate more steam inside.
14. Place the loaves in the oven
15. After 20 minutes or so, rotate the loaves to ensure even baking.
16. Bake for approximately 20 more minutes, or until the internal temperature of the loaf is about 195 degrees when read with an -instant read thermometer.
17. Romove from oven, let cool about 10 minutes, slice, and serve.

Check out this great shaping video for pointers. I found it to be just the help I needed.