(Edit: Why aren't the pictures upright??)
That's the pretty side of the loaf. Here's the not-so-pretty side.
Tragic. I think I bumped the top of the loaf with the pot when I was trying to cover it. Sigh.
I wish the crumb were more open... Does it look overproofed? It's beautiful on one side and a bit too tight on the other half.
Really nice taste! Wish the tang was a bit stronger though. The crumb was definitely softer than my first try. How to get a thicker, crunchier crust?
Smelled really different too! Bread is so amazing. Bread with homemade curry is even more amazing.
Procedure:
Levain build for 12hours. A little past its peak but still smelled nice and fruity.
Mixed dough without salt, with water chilled overnight. Lots of dry spots. Maybe that's why the crumb of my loaves haven't been that open... my flour might be more thirsty than most?
Autolysed for 30min. Transferred dough to a chilled bowl. Dough temp: 76F
Hand kneaded for 10min. Dough was sticky, had to get it off the bottom with a bowl scraper. Overkneading?
Rested for 50minutes. Tried to keep dough within 72-76F as advised and surrounded it with ice packs. Not the best idea, dough at the bottom hit 70F while the top was around 73F. So I tried to warm it up a bit by putting a bowl of warm water underneath. Dough stabilised around 75F. Sigh. This climate is so troublesome.
First S&F. Dough was pretty easy to stretch. Looked quite strong already and formed a tight ball.
After another 50min, dough hadn't relaxed much in between.
2nd S&F. Quite stiff, a bit difficult to stretch but managed to slowly.
After another 40min (total bulk ferment time: 2h20min).
Not sure if bulk fermentation time was enough or too much? Dough definitely did grow in size but I couldn't see any bubbles beneath the surface until the preshape. Unlike my previous attempt, this dough was easy to handle and not overly sticky.
Rested for about 15min before shaping into a boule.
Let rest for 5min before popping into a lined bowl for proofing. Dough temperature remained around 75F (I did it in an air-conditioned room.
The poke test at 2h15minute mark seemed good. Some spots felt airier than others but all the pokes bounced back slowly until about halfway. Slashed (badly. Should get a lame soon) and slid onto a ceramic titanium scanpan to bake, covered with a metal pot. Then tragedy struck. Sigh. Pressed on. Baked at 420F-ish for 25min covered, then 15min uncovered until crust was REALLY brown.
Shout out to Lechem who gave me the recipe and answered A LOT of questions. Thanks!
This is a really nice loaf! Looks excellent to me. That big hole I think is only to do with shaping otherwise everything else seems to be spot on. Lovely crumb, crust and good oven spring.
Bon Appetit.
!!! I just cut into the other half, and I'm absolutely shocked. I think the "ugly" side was damaged when I knocked it, but this other half... I'm so happy.
Perfect crumb and exactly what you should be seeing with this recipe. Sourdough flavour does improve over a day or two as well. So don't eat it all at once :)
Great post, and more importantly - great loaf. Hope it's as tasty as it looks.. making me salivate! I don't think you've put a foot wrong with this bake, you've obviously put a lot of effort and time into researching techniques and had input from the ever present and very generous, Lechem. It's a great feeling when you nail a loaf. Please don't think it's going to be easy going forward though, I had a couple of early successes then some whopping failures and the full spectrum in between. Is it a failure if it gets eaten? Even the pancake bakes taste good i find and it makes the winners feel even more special.
Definitely have had awful bakes. Tried a poolish ciabatta once, wow that was a gigantic failure. And one of those no-knead loaves too which was a terrible idea, since 18h at room temp where I live turns any dough into a liquid mess. Making this loaf stressed me out so much with all the temperature fluctuations but it made the end result so much better, even though it's still not perfect :) Used to be more into making pastry and desserts but it gets a bit boring just following a recipe. Making bread is a huge new challenge for me, which is why I'm so obsessed with it now I guess!
Wow, that crumb looks nice (and the bold crust is also nice!). Couple of comments in response to your questions in the post:
I might try this again with an overnight proof in the fridge. Thank you! By the way, do you have any ideas how to get a thicker, crunchier crust?
There are a few different things that affect crust. If you type "thicker crunchier crust" in the search box on this site you'll find all kinds of posts on the subject - it's a popular one!
The only "fault" I see is that you should have mixed more to get all the flour moistened before the autolyse. I use a Danish dough whisk to start, then a spatula. A wooden spoon, your hands or a flexible dough scraper also work well.
You mention dough temperature several times. I hope you understand that the importance of dough temperature (within a reasonable range, say 68-78 dF) is to make the fermentation time predictable. That's important in a commercial bakery. For the home baker who doesn't need to be on such a rigid schedule, it is less important, as long as you feel able to judge your dough's fermentation progress by eye, smell, and feel.
Anyway, that's a great bread for a 100th bake and brilliant for a 2nd.
David
I did mix it as best as I could, and I didn't want to start kneading at this point? The dough really was VERY dry. Maybe next time I'll add a bit more water?
I read somewhere (Hamelman probably) that the ideal dough temp for fermentation/proofing was 72-76F? That if it's too warm there isn't enough time for fermentation and the taste of the loaf will be less "complex" and less sour. What are your thoughts?
The short answer is "Hamelman's right." That serves for almost any question concerning bread baking, by the way.
That said, the fermentation process for sourdough is very complex, and different components are optimized at different temperatures. For example, production of acetic acid is optimized at much lower temperatures (around 50dF, I think) than fermentation by yeast per se (around 76dF, I think).
Regarding your initial mix: As the flour absorbs water with mixing, it becomes subjectively less dry. Don't worry about over mixing before the autolyse. Worry about dry flour left in the bowl.
David
One day I'll try an experiment and see if bulk ferment at 76F vs 80F will have any effect on the taste... Thanks for your help!