the quest for perfection

I have been working on my standard bread recipe for about 2 years now, every week changing one parameter, I posted a question about different flours and milling techniques here and a response required me to write out my recipe and method, so i figured I would post it here too, as my first blog post

I am focusing on using local grains as much as possible, and i am lucky to have a great Bakery close by that mill their own flour that i can use

66% E5 strong white flour ( there is no protein content given, I can ask)

33% gilchesters strong white (12% protein)

75% water

this is left to autolyse overnight, approximately 8 hours

2% salt 

5% water 

12% starter ( 60% hydration refreshed twice a day using approximately 5-10% the previous batch of starter. flour is Gilchester strong white)

this is all incorporated by hand and left to rest for 1 hour, then the dough is tipped out onto a lightly oiled work surface and given 1 fold, followed by four more folds every 45 mins, doing this on a work surface rather than in a container i find helps gluten development. the dough is then transferred to a high sided container for bulk fermentation. this happens at room temprature (18-23c) bulk fermentation is over when the dough has gained 50% in volume (approx 3hours)

the dough is then divided and preshaped, the when reshaping i do not touch the dough with my hands, only using the dough scrapper to shape the boule, but ensuring i get enough surface tension. after a 30min bench rest I very lightly flour the work surface and shape the dough. this is done by flipping the preshaped boules over then folding in the top and two sides of the circle, then folding that over the bottom flap, i then tighten up the boule with the bench knife.

The final proof is done in a cloth lined bannetone in the fridge, this takes 18-20 hours. the loaf if bakes straight from the fridge in a La Cloche at 250C, once the loaf is scored and in the oven the temperature is turned down to 220C. the loaf is given 30mins with the lid on and then another 25mins with the lid off.

one dilemma I have every week is whether or not I should score the loaf before baking, as they do often stay quite flat, which i have no issue with, but if i leave them unscored they sometimes have a better finish.