Hamelman's Vermont Sourdough

Hi, Pamela.

Hamelman's formulas are quite telegraphic. That's because he puts the detailed general instructions on techniques at the beginning of each section of the book. As you are just getting into Hamelman, my recommendation is that you read (or re-read) the introductory material for the section each time you bake a new bread, just to refresh your memory regarding his techniques. After a while, you will appreciate the "right to the point" formulas.

So ... If you cold-retard a just-formed loaf, you need to proof it before baking. The refrigeration adds an hour (or more) to the proofing time, since you have to wake up the critters that make the loaf rise from their hibernation.

I find I like to proof loaves a bit - say for an hour - before retarding them.

If you fully proof a loaf, then retard it, I think you could put it directly from fridge to oven. I don't personally do that.

I hope this helps.

David

Hi Pamela,

I'm not sure, but it sounds to me like there might be a step missing. Hamelman uses a liquid levain (125% hydration) to make a "final levain" before mixing the dough. The amount of liquid levain he uses is very small, like 1 teaspoon if I recall, and adds this to flour and water totalling somewhere around 10 or 11 ounces, again if I recall correctly. This ferments for 8 or 12 hours until ripe. It's this final levain that he mixes with the flour, water, and salt of the dough.

Or did I miss something?

David

I have the on-line version...

Anyway, the directions are really quite clear.  You have a bulk ferment of a total of 2.5 hours.  You can either bulk ferment for 1.25 hours, then do a fold and then bulk ferment for 1.25 more hours or bulk ferment for 50 mins, fold, bulk ferment for 50 mins, fold, and then bulk ferment for 50 mins.  Either way the total is 150 mins of bulk ferment.

If you don't think your dough was very strong after mixing, you want to do the two folds.

Then you divide (if required) and shape (usually Mr. Hamelman includes a preshape and a rest of 15 minutes in his definition of shaping).

Then you can do the final ferment.  If you retard after shaping, you bake when the bread is ready.  I put forth that probably Mr. Hamelman means that if you open the refrigerator and examine the bread -if it is ready to bake, you should bake it right away.  If, it is not yet ready to bake, you should do as you see fit - either remove it from the refrigerator and allow it to finish its final ferment at room temperature or allow it to continue to ferment in the refrigerature (which will, of course, take longer.)  You should be paying attention to the bread at that point and it will tell you if it is ready to bake.  If it is ready to bake when you open the refrigerator, allowing it to come to room temperature will mean that it is past ready, thus giving you the flat bread. "Ready to bake" is somewhat enigmatic, but it normally means nearly doubled in size with some room left for oven spring.  If you are in the habit of retarding your breads for the final ferment, you should train yourself to recognize this readiness just as you would in a loaf that went for final ferment at room temperature.

Trust me on all this, please.

often do the final ferment in the refrigerator.  On the occaisions when I have, I have used a lined, well floured banneton, which, I speculate Mr. Hamelman might use for this loaf.  Using a banneton will give support to the loaf during the final ferment.

I'm going to channel "my teacher" here.  What type of bread are you making?  You are making a sourdough with mostly white flour.  How would you judge the readiness of any other loaf that you baked that was mostly white flour (sourdough or not)?  Do you think it would apply here?  Probably. Then bake it when you think it is ready and evaluate the results.  Not to foist my blogs off on anyone, but in my homemilled baguette blogs there is a little pictoral evidence of "under proofed vs correctly proofed."  You make the judgement and then evaluate.

Some people use the "poke" test.  They gently poke a loaf and see if it springs back slowly.  I hear "my teacher" saying "Poke it?!!  What did it do to you?"  "My teacher" advocates feeling the actual loaf to see if it is ready - yes, actually cradling it lightly in your hand to understand if it "feels" right.  Then one bakes and evaluates.  This method takes awhile to learn but at some point you touch the loaf and it feels "ready" or "not ready."  It's kind of amazing that we can develop that kind of tactile memory.  Or you can use the "poke" test which is very popular and much easier...

Hope this helps.

Late to the party.....

After the autolyse, I set my timer for 50 minutes, fold once when it goes off the first time, fold again when it goes off the second time, then when the buzzer sounds the third time, the dough is shaped.

I bake this bread weekly and have never used a banneton - it's only 65 percent hydration.  The dough has a wonderful feel and can easily be shaped into a batard or boule.  It also is easily scored.  After shaping, it's moved to parchment (except for Monday night during a brain burp), covered, and refrigerated.  This is my midweek bake so I keep it in the refrigerator the full 18 hours.  I've never made it without a long retardation.

My dough has always risen quite a bit during the final fermentation, so once it is removed from the cooler, it is in the oven within 45 to 55 minutes. I judge it more by looking at it than feeling it and go for a slightly underproofed dough.  It always has had great oven spring.

I had mentioned in our other thread, Pamela, how forgiving this dough is.  Let me tell you just how forgiving it is:

On Monday night I had mixed a batch of the Hamelman sourdough, tweaking the hydration just a tad higher. Sticky dough but still manageable.  I formed two nice boules, placed each one on a dish, slid each dish into a plastic bag and into the fridge for the night.

Yesterday I pulled out the boules and prepared to bake them using Susan's magic bowl technique.  The oven was nice and hot, my stainless steel bowl filled with warm water, and when I removed the plastic bag from the first boule so I could slip it on the peel, I did a double take because I saw that I had neglected to use parchment under the boules.  No oil or flour on each plate, either.  Just sticky dough adhered to a plastic dinner plate.  I was not thinking happy thoughts and wondered if maybe I needed a prescription for Aricept.

It wasn't pretty getting the boule off the plate, but it held its shape and even got pretty good oven spring after the manhandling,  The second one was a bit flatter not only because of being literally wrenched from the plate, but probably because it was fully proofed by the time it got into the oven.  

I have a great deal of respect for this dough.  It doesn't disappoint and even survived one of my dumber baking moments.

Am sure your bake will be terrific.

Pam, I can tell you I have abused this loaf in one way or another each time I made it and it didn't turn out to bad at all...how about proofing it in tupperware with spice jars rolled in sprayed parchment for support!!  I had to make room in a small frig... I have to agree with LindyD it is a nice dough to work with...the flavor is wonderful and keeps getting better!

Sylvia 

i've heard so much about this bread can someone please post the recipe? thanks i just got a sourdough starter going and can't wait to use it. today it suddenly got beautiful and bubbly and risen. i think its day 7

I make this recipe every weekend.  If you stick to Hamelman's process paying attention to ingredient %'s and temperature calculation, it takes all the guess work out. I never miss with great consistent results.  Both the 10% rye or 10% wholewheat are terrific.  Like David, I give my doughs about 1 hour floor time before retarding just to get things going.  If I'm out of bread I retard one loaf and bake the other after a final proof of 2.5 hours.  Hamelman also states that you don't need to wait for the dough to come up to room temperature after being taken from the refrigerator.  I take mine out while the oven is warming up, score and straight into the oven; the oven spring is great and the loaf volume is equally as good as the loaves un-retarded, however I find that the flavour development is better with the retarded loaves.

Regards,

Gavin.

I think that's the recipe where the conversions from ounces to grams are incorrect. That is, if one wishes to use the actual Hamelman recipe. 

We had talked about it in another thread (but I don't have time to search for it right now).