Down the Rabbit Hole 92% hydration sourdough hearth loaf

I must be crazy! What was I thinking?

For many months, I made the same loaves, week after week. One third wheat flour, 77% hydration, 1/12 inoculation. Stretches and folds for development, no kneading (at which I was terrible). 36-60 hours in the refrigerator during bulk. I think they were chronically underfermented during bulk (especially after the weather got cooler, for which I made no adjustment at first) but I was pleased with the size and shape of the loaves and they were certainly good enough for sandwiches for lunch.

Then I decided that I would finally try to make sourdough pitas... and quickly discovered that most recipes for pitas use fairly high hydration dough and need very good gluten development so they are all kneaded, whether by hand or by machine. I have a stand mixer, it is supposed to be a good one (KitchenAid Commercial), but it can't handle high hydration dough. I thought 65% hydration should be low enough for the machine so when I tried making some 65% hydration (100% KA AP) dough for pitas, even though I roughly kneaded the dough into a ball before I put it in the machine, after only a few minutes the dough had turned into a puddle at the bottom of the bowl and the dough hook was tracing psychedelic patterns through it (I finished kneading by hand and I got the impression, at that time, that it is true that you should never work with dough when you're angry - the dough actually does feel it).

So I decided to reduce the hydration of my workaday loaves - to 69% - and to use a combination of stretches and folds and kneading. I've been getting good experience, that way. But before I can knead I have to mix and I'm not going to be bothered trying to mix a 69% hydration dough with my finger. What I did was, I reserved a few handfuls of flour to use for kneading (after autolyzing and after my incorporation-of-salt-with-eight-stretches-and-folds-in-the-bowl step). All of that flour (which belongs in the formula anyway) makes it possible to knead wet and sticky dough by hand. As the dough is kneaded, the reserved flour is incorporated. Hopefully by the time I run out of flour the gluten will be sufficiently developed that I can get the rest of the way by just using my hands and bench scraper (and maybe a very thin dusting of additional flour). Then the dough is covered and it rests so the newly incorporated flour can become fully hydrated - then I finish kneading. It seems to work.

So a few days ago I was doing my incorporation of salt with stretches and folds in the bowl. I had reserved quite a lot of flour and the dough was EXTREMELY slack and I wondered what the hydration was... so I weighed the bowl on my kitchen scale and did the calculations and I discovered that I had been stretching and folding 93% hydration dough!!! "Woohoo", I said.

So, call me crazy, but I decided then and there to try to make a 92% hydration hearth loaf. I had never even attempted ciabatta, I had been fearing the 80% hydration "threshold" and thinking I would need a 30 cm Italian scraper before I could even make the attempt. Somehow my brief experience stretching and folding gave me the confidence to try to go too far, too fast:

165 g KA AP

180 g KA "Lancelot"

316 g spring water

030 g 100% hydration KA AP starter

007 g non-iodized salt

Friday, 11 January 2019

0745  I convert my AP starter from 66.7% to 100% and give it an approximately 6/5/5 feeding (it was completely refreshed just one week earlier and spent the intervening time in the refrigerator). I place it in a room which is 62 F in the winter. 

1745  The starter is certainly active... it goes almost to the very top of the jar. It is a foam, like marshmallow cream...

1815-1830  All ingredients except salt stirred in medium pyrex bowl using right index finger. Surprisingly, despite the extreme hydration, there is still a stratum of dry flour at the bottom of the bowl that has to be dealt with...

1830-1900  Autolyze

1850  Salt scattered on top to hydrate

1900  8x stretch and folds in the bowl to incorporate the salt. The first four are actually "flop and folds", as I like to call them. Messy.

1930  6x stretch and folds in the bowl. Very loose, it doesn't seem to be hanging together as dough should. Lots of bits and bobs.

2015  4x stretch and folds in the bowl. Much tidier (though still quite wet and sticky), it has a glossy surface and actually feels a bit tight after the 4th S&F so I stop there.

2100  4x stretch and folds in the bowl. Perhaps a bit too tight after four.

2150  4x stretch and folds in the bowl. As before the dough seems fine during the third S&F but seems too tight during the fourth, even though they are at right angles to each other...  

2235  2x stretch and folds in the bowl and then bowl placed into 62 F room...

Saturday, 12 January 2019

0935  Bowl returned to 72 F kitchen counter

1030  4x stretch and folds in the bowl. Separating the dough from the sides of the bowl wasn't too bad, I just used wet fingers and patience. But the dough was quite slack after such a long rest and quite gassy as well, soft and pillowy. Trying to S&F it was a bit like wrestling a snake...

1100  4x stretch and folds in the bowl. Maybe this set wasn't a good idea. I think I'm not doing the dough any favors with the additional S&Fs, the surface is looking rather rough...

1150-1200 Shaping. I prepared a thick layer of flour on the countertop and I sprinkled the banneton VERY generously with rice flour. Then I tried to shape the dough. What a mess. The thick layer wasn't nearly thick enough and dough was sticking to the countertop and getting pulled out of the loaf as I tried to shape it. My scraper was the only thing that kept it from turning into a complete disaster. In the end I floured both sides, flopped it into the banneton and covered it with a towel but I don't know... I then sieved the leftover flour back into my flour jar (there was a lot of it).

1245  Oven starts preheating to 505 F. I'm less concerned with proofing than I am with catastrophic sticking in the banneton...

1405  I begin preparing the peel and lame. I place a piece of parchment paper on the peel and dust the paper with flour. I also put a fresh blade in the lame. I begin overheating the oven to 520 F.

1415  I hold the sides of the paper to the sides of the peel and invert it over the dough in the banneton. I then flip everything over. And it works! Slashing is also no problem (although the center slash is a little shallow and "skips" over one spot). I use kitchen scissors to trim the paper around the sides of the dough, leaving some extra paper sticking out to the LEFT SIDE.

1421  Wearing gloves of course, I pull the rack (with the stone on it) out of the oven and place the hot bowl on the stovetop. I grab the left side of the paper and drag it and the dough (sideways) from the peel to the hot stone. I re-cover and re-set the oven temp to 505 F.   

1433  Bowl is removed and temperature reduced to 465 F. I kept the dough covered for only 12 minutes. I have never worked with such crazy high hydration before and am afraid that if it is covered for the full 18 minutes, it will not develop a caramelized crust before the interior gets overcooked and dry. At the same time I have never before worked with a recipe which was 50% high gluten flour and I am afraid that, because of either the excess of water or the high gluten flour (or both), the interior might be undercooked and/or gummy.

1445  Loaf is rotated 180 degrees. Paper is still intact and rotates with the loaf. 

1458  Removed from oven and placed into bamboo steamer tray to cool. I use two brushes to brush off enough loose flour to choke a giant squid.

Result - it is an ugly loaf with lots of imperfections in the crust. It is a very thin crust, the top of the loaf feels soft and it gives way to the slightest pressure. At the same time, it does taste and feel crusty - just thin. The crumb is moist, open (despite my inept handling) and glossy, not under- (or over-) cooked, and just a little bit sour. Overall, surprisingly successful.