June 12, 2023 - 9:03am
Cutting Levain in Half - Warm Texas Kitchen
Mixed up a batch of FWSY Overnight Country Blonde, which calls for 216 g of levain. Bulk fermentation completed in 8-9 hours. I want the bulk fermentation to take longer so I can leave it unattended "overnight", so I used only 108 g of levain.
To compensate, I added the flour and water that otherwise would have been provided in the additional 108 g of levain, thereby preserving the original final baker's percentages. Bulk fermentation for this mix took 12 hours - just right for my schedule. I have two loaves proofing as I type.
Are there any other items I need to consider when reducing the levain amout?
Thanks,
Bill
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Keep an eye on it. Enjoy!
Bill, when you cut your yeast (commercial or wild/sourdough yeast, as part of the starter) in half, there is no way that you would get the same bread out of the oven, even if you increase bulk fermentation time. Essentially, you are baking a different kind of bread, no longer the country blonde. It would be a good bread, I am sure, just different.
That said, the same bread can be made with different amounts of starter, for example, with 33% prefermented flour vs 45% prefermented flour, for as long as you reach the same target acidity at the end of bulk fermentation and add the same amount of commercial yeast to the bread dough to achieve the same oven spring, the same bread volume and the same crumb.
Your assumption that halving the starter equals to 50% longer bulk (at the same room T) is not correct. Even a 30% difference in the amount of starter (cutting the amount of starter down 1/3) leads to doubling of the fermentation time (to achieve the same target acidity), let alone a 100% difference (halving the amount of starter).
...in his book, Forkish talked about adding starter during the winter, so I assumed that reducing starter in the summer would be fine. Fermentation went great under my watchful eye, as did proofing. The resulting loaf I tasted was great; I gifted the other loaf.
SO, if I am understanding your point, my best option would be to either use cold water during the mixing or mix per the recipe as written and then finish BF in the refrigerator.
I am mixing pain au bacon tonight so I am going with 1/2 starter as bacon is fried and everything is ready to go. Plus I am not hung up on trying to match FWSY bread, I am just trying to make good tasting bread.
Thanks so much for the response.
Sure, reducing starter would be fine, both professional and home bakers rely on that method. But that has to do with the amount of starter itself and the length of fermentation that a baker prefers because they suit them, not with the change in temperature and humidity due to the change of seasons.
Change in temperature leads to a somewhat different kind of bread just because different biochemical reactions will proceed at different temperatures (and sourdough microflora will multiply at different ratios at different temperatures inside your bread dough, suddenly, your bread might become more or less yeasty or more or less sour, with richer or poorer aroma).
I only pointed out that in order to match the original bread characteristics, you would have to watch the acidity, to match it, and maybe help with a pinch of instant yeast to match the bread volume and its crumb character IF your liked the original Country Blonde. Otherwise, home baking is the source of infinite variation in qualities of breads, so if you like yours then you are good.
I come from a professional kitchen and bakery where customers expect the same quality of breads that they love day after day, year after year, no variation, that is why I am much more sensitive to the temperature control and to the target acidity values when I bake.
For home bakers, comfort is probably more important than the fact that the bread will be slightly or significantly different due to the change in temperatures in their kitchen and bread acidity and flavor varying from season to season. At home we want to be comfortable with out way of doing things, so if you want to skip temperature control, using cold water and chilling the dough from time to time, go ahead. You liked your loaves so much you even gifted one, so congratulations with the successful bake! Show us your loaves if you can. I would love to see them.
I bake in Tucson AZ, so face similar issues. I too often cut the leaven to make the times match up, a half or even a third of the amount. The taste of the final bread does change: less levain produces bread that is less sour than if one had used more starter like in winter. I also cut the IDY when making biga and poolish for the same reason (e.g using a third of the yeast in converting a 70F 16h schedule to a 79F 16h schedule.) Of course one can cut the time alternatively, keeping same amount of levain but e.g. going from 16 to 12 or even 8 hours. I will often use flour frozen I store in the freezer to slow things down--whole grains go bad quickly left out in my climate. To me this is all part of baking and getting to know your climate.
...been home baking in Texas for 4 months. I count it as success if I don't bake a brick, or if my boule doesn't split horribly.
As to gifting loaves, I generally bake two and give one to our grandkids. I hope they will remember I baked them bread long after I'm gone.
Upon mature reflection on taste, I completely see your point about it being different bread with different taste profile. Your perspective from a professional kitchen and bakery is vastly different from mine. I have been shooting for a 12-hour BF so I can leave dough overnight unwatched and unattended, then proof and bake in the morning. Your point about comfort is spot on - I want to sleep and then wake up and be able to make and enjoy coffee, and then start shaping and proofing.
Thank you for pointing out the fallacy of my "cut levain in half" approach. I will first work on mixture temperature control
The pain au bacon (from Forkish's FWSY) I made did not have the best underlying bread flavor, bordering on disappointing.
Thanks again for your responses. I really appreciate it.
Bill