30% Stoneground Whole Red Fife Sourdough Batard
My shaping skills leave a lot to be desired. I suppose I need a lot more practice particularly with high hydration doughs but I not making any progress so far.
For single loaf weight 750 grams 30% Red Fife (81% hydration and 20% Levain)
Weight | Ingredient | Baker’s Percentage |
111 g | Red Fife Stoneground | 30% |
259 g | White Bread Flour | 70% |
298 g | H20 @ 90ºF | 80.6% |
9 g | Fine salt | 2.3% |
74 g | Mature Liquid Levain | 20% |
Hold 40 g water for mixing
Levain for single loaf weight 750 grams
Weight | Ingredient | Baker’s Percentage |
30 g | 100% hydration starter | 100% |
15 g | Red Fife Flour | 50% |
15 g | Bread Flour | 50% |
30 g | Water | 100% |
That was my build for the levain and dough. I based this on one of Maurizio’s Recipes for a beginner with higher whole grain bread. I adjusted the % of whole stoneground red fife down from his 50% to now 30% after my attempt at 40% went only so so. I was hoping that with the lower whole grain and slightly lower hydration things would have turned out better. Things were going pretty well I think up until final shaping where the dough just kept sticking to me as I was trying to “roll” it into the batard shape, and I’m sure you know how that goes when everything sticks. I was trying not to use too much flour but obviously used too little.
pre-shaping looked fine to me.
I was so disappointed in the shaping I didn’t take a photo.
I will post crumb shots later tonight.
I’m happy with the crumb.
7735DDF5-518C-471B-833D-77F051364C67.jpeg
BC266202-565A-42C0-9ABC-58CBCE971BC2.jpeg
Shaping just takes practice. For wet doughs I use a scraper to help me handle the dough and wet hands.
Yeah man, Maurizio's recipes are all about that wet, custardy crumb of high hydration, not so much having the best looking loafs with the best ears. He's just been working with his recipes so long, that he can do it. One thing I would say is that people working with high hydration recipes proof too long, not realizing high hydration recipes supercharge the starter to some extent. For Maurizio's 50% whole wheat, I only proof for 2.5 hours at 78 degrees, then preshape/rest for 20, shape, then in the fridge for 10 hours or so.
Another thing is that whole wheat flour soaks up more water, so taking it out of a recipe doesn't help make it more manageable in my experience. Taking water out, yes, but why not leave the whole wheat % the same?
Otherwise, that looks like a great bread crumb wise. I've stopped obsessing about perfection as long as my bread is usable by me and my family.
Hey BR thanks for commenting on my bake.
Based on your comments I would have bulk fermented much too long, I believe I completed the stretch and folds over 2 hours and let the dough go for another 1.5 to 2 hours until it started to show some bubbles near the surface and a nice dome shaped top. The cold proof probably went over 12 hours, but it didn’t appear to be over proofed based on the finger poke test. But I hear you, you’ve advised me to underproof a bit in the past and I certainly didn’t do that this time.
The reason I didn’t go for the whole 50% was that my first try with 40% I found the whole red fife a bit too strong for my taste, so wanted to back that off a bit. I actually quite liked the taste at 30%. Perhaps with more bakes I will grow more accustomed to higher and higher whole grain flavors.
I was a bit timid about reducing water and I guess that I what I should have done to get more used to high hydration doughs.
Again, thanks for your comments they are always welcome and helpful. I learn so much from people here.