Trying again, needing some measurement advice

Why so high? 

hester

We need more details:

1) What are your exact proportions of flour?  80% ww Vs 10% ww will give different results for the same method.

2) What is the 100g starter comprised of? Is that 100% hydration (50g flour/50g water?)  How do you ensure it is at peak activity?

There is nothing wrong with the recipe per se, but there are many variations within those proportions that will affect the outcome.

Most of us found our early successes with a lower hydration, I would cut the water down to around 340g for a 71% hydration (assuming 100% hydration starter). Or even 325g for 68% hydration.

Nobody can say if 12 hours in the fridge for your bulk ferment is enough.  Forget time measurements in bf, and use judgement.  If 12 hours is achieving a 50-70% rise you're good to go. If not, then go longer or warmer.

And tell us more about your shaping and baking method - that is critical to the rise and therefore crumb.  Are you using a tray of water for steam? a Dutch Oven?

All of the above is more important than buying bannetons, I baked for a long time with just a colander and tea-towel.

SD baking is a real journey - and we all find our own way along it... however it's a journey where we get to eat our mistakes, and as you say, they still taste fine :-)

At this point, I'd say that the ingredients in the recipe you're using are only half the story... the techniques you use to develop the gluten and the tension in the loaf itself are equally, if not more, important - that's what's taken me the time, anyhow.

Enjoy the ride, and change one thing at a time...

Those proportions look like the standard ratios for a loaf of french bread made with AP flour and will work fine with a cold retard after a good mix. A lot depends on the starter.

Flour

It is important for you to decide what flour you will be using and stick with that until you can claim proficiency. AP, bread and WW flours are 3 distinct flours with different impacts on how the dough mixes, develops,ferments and bakes. All 3 have different needs for hydration and rest to develop the best possible loaf. That particular fact is not very clear to people starting on the bread-making journey. So my recommendation is to develop your skill using only 1 flour and learn how to make the best possible loaf with that flour before moving on to a different flour. Only the very basic concepts are common to all 3 flours, so skill in 1 flour does not guarantee proficiency in another. AP provides the best starting learning curve, IMHO. Bread flour provides a workaround and the new baker does not learn how to develop a sense of how a dough develops properly using this high gluten flour. Bread flour also makes for a chewier crumb. WW is an entirely different learning curve.

I like analogies.Learning AP flour and bread flour is like learning automatic transmission and manual transmission driving. Both are driving a car but one is easier and less work and the concepts are similar. WW is like  flying a plane-totally different from driving and a whole different set of concepts. So start with your flour of choice but beyond some very basic concepts, WW experience doesn't translate directly to AP/bread flour loaves. Whichever flour you choose,take notes for each mix/bake for a while or all the different bakes will start to blend together in your head and you won't learn how the single change affected that bake.

Starter

How a loaf ferments and proofs is dependent on your starter. Make a very active starter and see the difference!  There are a million ways to build/maintain a starter. Do a little research and learn a technique that suits you. (Key word searches: biga, preferment, sponge, poolish, build a levain, maintain a starter, No Muss No Fuss Starter) Remember you are feeding a living thing and maintaining it's environment. Always wash hands and keep a clean "cage".

Also, FYI-"sourdough" starter is a misnomer. "Natural levain" is more accurate. I do not like a sour taste in my bread. My natural,active levain is never sour but it is well fermented. Developing sourness in a loaf takes a starter maintained for sourness and a dough developed for sourness. A whole different learning curve.

For some interesting reading:    http://robdunnlab.com/projects/sourdough/

The hydration of the starter affects the dough and the Baker's Percentage of the formula.

(Key word search-Baker's Percentage, hydration)

Remember a starter adds flour and water to your dough and affects they hydration and handling. For this phase of your learning, keep track of the hydration of your starter. A very active starter is always best but if you only bake 1x every few weeks, you can "build" your levain for that bake or do a preferment of some type for that loaf. I keep my starter in the refrigerator and build an active starter/preferment/biga before a planned bake as ,right from the refrigerator, the starter is really sleepy and the yeast population is low. It does take the spontaneity out of a bake.

OTOH, if you bake every few days, an active, maintained-on-the-counter starter is for you. Bakeries using natural levain build the next day's levain every day. It is always a lovely-smelling bucket of bubbles! Like fine wine!

THIS is one of my favorite recipes for 100% WW. It is flavorful and well developed and hydrated so the slices do not crumble when you take a bite of the sandwich. The WW concepts are embodied in the technique-a LOT of time soaking and time for the levain to grow. It can be converted to sourdough/starter use by reversing this suggestion by Dabrownman:"You can also convert any SD recipe you like to  poolisj by dropping the SD and taking 15 % of the total flour and water to make the poolish.  Once the poolish is near ripe, just autolyse the rest of the flour and water and go about making bread like you always do - things will just happen faster is all - probably no need for a retard."

The quote came from HERE

 There is a black ribbon at the top of the page with links "Home  Forum...Lessons..." HERE that has a lot of information.

THE 123 LOAF is also a good basic loaf. The link is a Community Bake (latest thing here on TFL) celebrating the 10th anniversary of the 123 Loaf creation.

SO enjoy! Study! Learn! and bake some deliciousness!

Caroline