I made several breads this week. Not a ton of success aesthetically so nothing to brag about but trying to write this down so I hopefully learn something.
1. Starter concerns. I've been feeding my starter twice daily and giving it a jump start with warmer water (90F or so). The ambient temperature is always around 72 which supposedly is a great temperature for yeasts. In any event, my starter will rise, but won't double until about 8 hours, and never much more than that. I keep reading it's supposed to double in 4-6 hours, and plus I see pictures where it's tripled. My starter used to do that (it's about 6 weeks old) but not now. It otherwise looks and smells right, from what I can tell.
2. I have been trying to make some pure sourdough breads. They keep collapsing in the oven, but I think that (despite my sourdough concerns above) they are overproofed, based on how they look, and well, the fact that they are sour! I have generally been using FWSY and I know many people here think his rising times are too long. I even proofed the second time only 2 hours and it still collapsed!
3. I made a loaf with all purpose and it was so delicate to work with, it was interesting to see how different it felt. This is one of the ones that collapsed in the oven too. I don't know if it was overproofed, overhydrated (since it was all purpsoe?) or some combination of the above. I can just say that after the bulk fermentation it was very bubbly!
4. I went back to the FWSY hybrid dough (1/2t yeast) and had great results! This one proofs overnight in the fridge rather than at room temperature so still unclear if it's a yeast problem (my starter not being vigorous enough) or an overproofing problem. I'm going to make a pure sourdough this weekend and proof the shaped loaves in the fridge and see what happens.
Here are the pics.
Overproofed with bread flour --3.5 hour poof at 72F
Overproofed(?) with AP flour (and maybe overhydrated)--2 hour proof at 72F. I claim I was trying to make ciabatta the whole time! I worry about my starter being vigorous enough but look at these bubbles!
Nice happy overnight proof in fridge (but hybrid--is it my sourdough starter that is not robust enough or something else?)
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