I just recently switched from King Arthur AP flour to Maine Grains 86% extracting AP flour. The Maine Grains flour is milled to order, and therefor very fresh. I knew it would be more reactive than the KA flour, but oh boy, it moved fast. My sourdoughs were massively over proofed, despite cutting the bulk fermentation time by about an hour. They were unrecognizable after spending the night in the fridge. My baguettes were in the oven for the exact same time as normal and came out as embers.
Does anybody have any tips on how to adjust my baking schedule/formula when working with fresh milled flour? I already cut back the bulk fermentation and increased hydration from about 73% to 75-76%.
Extraction is key. AP is usually about 72%.
Another method to compensate for fast-fermenting flours is to use less levain / yeast.
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And just as a point of info, it is not solely the freshness of the flour that speeds fermentation, but the extra enzymes in the bran (and maybe some germ) in the high extraction flour. Normal commercial retail (grocery store) roller-milled white AP and white bread flour is virtually branless and germless, with much less enzymes -- so much so that the miller has to add in malted barley flour to add enzymes back in, so that the starch can be broken down into sugar.
could you please update your experience on your thread from last year about your Nero deck oven?
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/69289/sos-new-deck-oven-baking
You left us in suspense as to what your solution was. Updating the story would greatly help out the next baker with the same challenge, and thereby contribute to the website's value as a community. Thx.
P.S. I don't work here, I'm just a fanboy.
Updated!