mdw's blog

My starter has been temperamental lately as I've been adjusting its diet so I returned to my roots with this one in effort to regain some focus. I still maintain a cool stiff starter but after switching from 100% rye I had some issues and began adding about 25% back. This is all because my latest attempts with desem included 20% PFF and I found that 20% rye was too overpowering to the flavor of the hard red I was using. So this loaf returns to my longish ferment with lowish inoculation and minimal handling.

I've slowed down on the Brown Bread baking, but as part of my grain CSA I still need to work my way through some Chiddam de Blanc Mars. I recently made some Coffee Cake with Proof Bakery's recipe which was complicated but amazing. Unfortunately the center was undercooked because I didn't have a temperature recommendation, just time. So no photos. But yesterday we baked Maurizio's Sourdough Babka with better results.

As part of a grain CSA I've recently been tasked with using unexpected flour. This was made with 100% Chiddam de Blanc de Mars. It's a pound cake with 100% substitution. I used a  Stella Parks recipe and am extremely pleased with the results:

The crumb is nice and light and the requests for more are endless (for now).

100% whole grain (100% extraction), this loaf was baked with 75% hydration. I knew immediately the hydration here was too low but decided to continue anyway to see what happened. I recently began converting my starter to something stiffer and cooler based on the Desem threads that continue to intrigue me. This was the first bake following my standard formula for whole grain that I've enjoyed for the last year or so. In part because of the hydration, in part because of life, the bulk ferment lasted a full 24 hours at room temp of approximately 70℉ (6% PFF).

This is a continuation of my ongoing experimentation with my family's daily bread. I first posted about this here and with this loaf I applied some theories I had been considering regarding the development of gluten.

I've long kept a personal diary online of my bakes to help track progression and variables and thought it might be nice to begin sharing them here. Over the years I've learned an astonishing amount from contributors on this site, I've fallen down rabbit hole after rabbit hole chasing theory on microbiology (you're amazing Debra! When will you offer classes again?? Years before I found this site I started my first starter with Artisan Breads Every Day!), dough strength, gluten formation, etc. It's not unusual for me to maintain several open tabs here for weeks on end.

Inspired by this comment from Trevor Wilson, I decided to take a run at bread made from dough doubled twice before turning out for preshape. I didn't feel confident that I'd be able to shape something that far along so I also decided to indulge my wife's request for sandwich bread simultaneously and dusted off the 9x4x4 Pullman (sans lid).