Well, here's my very first sourdough loaf! I've had the starter going for a couple of weeks now. Started with a 100% rye one and then forked it off into a 100% bread flour one. I had a kinda unusual time table for this loaf.
Built levain at around 4:30pm. Let that rise for 6 hours in a warm oven (pan with hot water in it)
Then, I mixed the final dough (there was an hour autolyse of the flour and water in there too) and let that bulk ferment for about 4 hours with some stretching and folding (only did about 3 but should have done more). It was about 3 am when they had finished being divided, pre-shaped, shaped, and went into the fridge overnight.
Then, this loaf (pictured above and below) got taken out at 8:30, went into the oven at 10am.
The other stayed in the fridge until about 5:45 pm when it went into the oven.
Definitely learned a lot from this experience. And will definitely be trying it again!
Does it look like it was shaped too much by how it pulled off the floor of the oven (the football shape)?
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I love the crumb! I bet it tastes great!
Hmmmm, which way up did you bake it? On pre-heated stones or? It looks like it was baked 'tight' side down (in other words, if you shaped it traditionally by tucking it into a ball and tightening the skin, it looks like it was baked with that skin side down). That works if it's baked in a Dutch oven (and the seam can burst), but if it's baked tight side down on a baking stone the tension might pull it into that shape.
The crumb is nice and open, and looks very creamy - lovely!
I baked it on a preheated baking steel. It was definitely baked seam side down (and was scored on top). But obviously as you can see, the scoring looks weird to me. That's been happening with a lot of my boules – but almost never my batards. And I don't know why.
I wish I had an explanation for when the scoring doesn't lead to an ear. I'm not sure if I'm not scoring deep enough OR if I'm shaping too much OR if it's over or under-proofed. It's feeling too random!
I learned an awful lot from the scoring tutorial under "Lessons" on this site. Boules and batards usually have quite different scoring. I'm now getting consistent 'ears' on my long loaves, following this lesson.
Yeah, I'm quite familiar with the scoring tutorial, and I think I've actually developed some good technique. It's more that with boules, I consistently don't get as much bloom as I'm expecting.
I have been making bread for many years, but am trying sourdough for the first time. I am trying to capture a starter without using yeast - from local bacteria. I am following the instructions in "Classic Sourdoughs" by Ed and Jean Wood. My starter is on its 4th day and is bubbling merrily away. However, it forms a hard skin on top between feelings and beaings which I don't like. Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong?
Thanks,
MamaMert
MamaMert, this probably isn't the place to ask for help with your starter. I recommend making a new post. And since I'm such a noob, I probably can't be of much assistance anyway. That said, I don't think the skin you're getting is necessarily a bad thing, assuming you're feeding regularly and covering the container of starter. I don't think you're doing anything wrong. I guess if the skin is really hard and won't actually mix in, that could be a problem.
Again, I recommend asking someone more experienced in the forum!
Now that you have captured your yeast from the local air, try placing a loose cover over your starter container. I use a pyrex 2 cup measuring cup and have a glass lid that doesn't cover the spout, thus allowing some oxygen in but keeping the top from dehydrating.
might be due the dough trying to escape that hot steel yo are baking on! Ears come from holding the blade at a 30 degree angle to the dough. Holding the bade at a 90 degree angle will produce a cut like yours which is the way boules are traditionally supposed to be scored. Not getting much bloom was probably due to being a bit over proofed.
Still, that is one fine loaf of bread for a first SD. Well done and happy baking
Thanks for the words of encouragement, dabrownman : )
Yeah, I've been using a shallow angle on my oblong loaves and a perpendicular one on the boules (as shown above). I think you may be right about the over-proofing. I'm just so often happier with my results with batards. Only way to find out .. bake more bread!
Here's the second loaf that I actually got to taste!
It got proofed in the fridge for about 15 hours instead of the 4 hours of the first one.
It has a lovely glossy crumb and wonderful flavor. I'd like a more open crumb but overall I'm very happy with it. Really excited to be in this new stage of bread baking!
Well done, especially for your first SD loaves. As DA said above, you don't really want ears on a boule anyway but if you do you need to change your angle of scoring. Your crumb and crust look very good. If you want to try and experiment bulk ferment your dough next time and retard in your refrigerator and then shape, rest, score, bake and see which way you like better.
Thanks for the comment! What would I expect the difference to be in changing the retarding from the proof to the bulk ferment?
It depends. Some people claim to have better oven-spring others just like the convenience.
I love the look of your loaves. I also have a 100% rye starter going and i've started a second one using what i removed at feedings to get a white starter going. Can i ask how long you kept your starter at room temp before refrigerating?
Thanks for the support! I'm SO not the person to ask for advice when it comes to SD as I've just started! I had it going for probably 1.5-2 weeks before I refridgerated it over the weekend out of necessity (was going out of town). Right now however it's still at room temperature. Given how often I'm baking right now, I may actually keep it out of the fridge for a while.
My starter is 1.5 weeks old, but I only bake about once every 1 -2 weeks that's why I want to refrigerate it.
Thanks anyway, happy baking :)
Looks good! Especially the crumb and blisters on the crust.
I've had similar shape problems before switching to a thicker baking sheet/baking stone/dutch oven. Could it be not enough heat from below?
Looking forward to seeing your next loaves.
That's an idea I hadn't considered! In this case, I don't think it's that. The steel I'm using is 1/4 inch thick and weighs like 15 pounds. When its hot, it has a LOT of thermal capacity and stays hot for a long time.
I do wish I had a Dutch oven to try as that would give me even more radiant heat from all angles, etc. I suspect it has more to do with proofing? Still it sure.. Thanks for the comments