100% Semolina Recipe Questions
I have been experimenting with semolina flours over the last couple of years. I came across this recipe and wanted to try it. I have the correct flour, I bought recently 25 lbs of super fine semolina flour from Azure Standards which is the equivalent of (semola rimacinata). Recipe in question: http://www.mydailysourdoughbread.com/100-pane-di-semola-rimacinata-back-sicily/ My final dough overproofed very fast. I should preface that I live in a very warm environment. I used the fridge to drop the dough temperature but unfortunately that wasn't as effective as desired. I ended up dumping the dough (which was closer to a sponge/levain) into a tin and baking it off that way. The final pan loaf came out extremely tart which is not surprising due to the amount of levain in the recipe and leaving it overnight was definitely a mistake, I tasted it in the morning and it was extremely tart. The final loaf had the aesthetic of a 100% rye loaf. The starter "levain" amount is almost half of that of the final dough. That's a very high inoculation especially in a hot environment. Keeping this in mind it makes sense why there isn't a real bulking fermentation stage. It's also a very high hydration dough which I know speeds up fermentation. I was wondering if anyone had any idea for troubleshooting? I could decrease the water or better increase the amount of flour (right now you ask for 300 grams I was considering increasing that closer to 500g) in the final dough. I was also thinking of using a smaller amount of levain in the final dough. Even with an hour long bf I managed to overproof the dough. 
I am a huge fan of semolina breads/flours. Thank you all so much for your help on this.
me going now...I never ventured in 100% territory and had a look at the link....
Did you compare how this formula compares to an Altamura loaf? I know there has been quite some baking of that on TFL but never managed to get there yet although on my to do list. Just a few thoughts...
1. You are right and boy that is a high percentage of starter in that formula! Funnily enough I have been wondering about trying bakes with higher percentages of levain and how it affects the bread....
2. I also noticed that the starter feed the night before is 1:4:4 but not 100% hydration and I assume that is for it not to run away during the night...my starter normally takes 12 hours at 1:10:10 feed and would not last the night at that high ratio....did you find that too?
3. Next shock is that there is hardly any bulk as you have said! So how and when do you build strength into this dough? Is it the acidity from the large amount of levain? I assume if you want to curb the fast fermentation you could make it a colder mix using cold water and/ or add the salt earlier to slow it down?
Sadly the formula does not mention any dough target temps etc. which is so often the case and really annoys me now when I bake....here temps must be critical as you describe....
I have only baked with durum up to 20% and 20% spelt and the rest strong white and got a beautiful crumb...so this is totally new territory for me too and not much of a help..apart from my thoughts..sorry....
I will try to bake this and might also consult some of the old Altamura bread posts for this...
I would maybe try the same formula again but try to cool the mix down as much as you can...maybe using iced water for the mix...I have a wine cooler so I can use it at temps like not quite as cold as a fridge but warmer too...
The other a bit crazy idea could be to do a pre-mix a la Trevor with salt the night before BUT keep the mixed dough in a fridge that is around 5C...so there will be some activity but not too much...
When you add the levain in the morning it should warm the cold pre-mix up and hopefully has not turned into soup by then...I assume levain might be 23C in your warm environment mixed with the 5C pre-mix and gives you then also a bit of a colder bulk or not...
Sorry, for my rambling thoughts...probably much better bakers around to help...I have other things on my list but certainly will try this recipe soon...and report back with my findings...I lean actually towards the cold pre-mix method based on some cold pre-mix bakes I have done....... Kat
Edit...
here is one of the Altamura links on TFL from Abe's bake...It is also 100% semolina but less starter from what I could gather on a quick glance...so if you were to go the less levain route but still 100% semolina then the Altamura might be worth considering...
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/51376/last-pane-di-altamura-breakthrough
I absolutely love durum wheat and the breads you can bake with them.
The first thing I did was pull out my Local Breads book and looked at Leader's formula for the Altamura Loaf with semolina sourdough. The inoculation percentage is 40 which is pretty high but smaller than the recipe in question.
My feeding rations are also around 1:10:10 depending on my schedule. I was concerned about the 1:4:4 ratio especially since my kitchen was warm. In the morning the levain was super tart/acidic and probably more liquid that it should have been (the gluten was compromised), I knew that was a bad sign but decided to go ahead and mix the final dough.
I am going to convert some of my white starter into a semolina starter and bake the Altamura from Leader's book.
I like your thinking on the pre-mix Trevor method that would definitely slow things down. I wish I had a dough retarder or in your case a wine fridge works, the problem of temperature control has caused me so many issues, as living in Texas can be difficult. Instead of leaving the levain over nights I would mix it in the early morning keep an eye on it. I would then mix the dough with the cold pre-mix.
The final product was much closer to a 100% rye loaf than the images from Nataša's website. I left in the oven for 24 hours just to make sure it cooled and set properly. The taste is good but quite acidic. I am eating it just like one would a rye loaf super thin slices with toppings.
I will also be reporting back with new attempts of 100% semolina.