This is my second ever sourdough attempt. The recipe is adapted from Susan from the [url=http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2007/09/24/flaxseed-currant/] Wild Yeast Blog [/url] and converted to use with sourdough. Here are the modifications I made:
- Instead of making the poolish, I made a 100% hydration levain from my stiff WW sourdough starter to equal the amount of poolish.
- Skipped the yeast called for in the final dough.
- Fermented for 2hrs at ~75deg F, folding at 30, 60 and 120min.
- Retarded in fridge overnight (~8hrs).
- Took dough out of the fridge and let it warm up for ~1hr before shaping.
- proofed for ~2hrs.
- I also halved the recipe.
And here are the results:
They tasted divine! I do think 1. I over fermented (the dough had almost tripled in volume while i slept =P ) and 2. I handled the dough a little too much during shaping. Hence the lack of big holes like Susan's. But the texture is still light, and I've happily eaten them as is, with honey, with cheese spreads, with soup, and in a sandwich. Very versatile bread!
Ah, my images are blurry and pixely -- they're taken with the iSight camera on my macbook pro. Sigh.... I must be the last person on earth (well, maybe the last person on the internet is more accurate) without a digital camera...
They still look very nice through those blurry pictures! And I'm sure they tasted great. I'll go take a look at Susan's recipe. The sourdough must have made your bread lovely.
Jane
Thanks for the compliment, Jane. Sourdough did make it taste great. I just wish I got bigger holes. Ah well, all the more reason to try it again =)
Violet
Your bread looks good.
FWIW. If your starter isn't at full strength (building it for a day or so in advance of baking) the yeast will help compensate for a less active starter. You may want to consider using the the amount of yeast called for in the recipe. If you're only using a small amount of yeast in your final dough mixture, then it shouldn't have a detrimental effect on the taste of the bread, even with a sourdough levain, and may give your loaves a bit more rise and oven spring. From my experience hydration and gluten development are key to achieving an open crumb. One thing you may also want to consider is developing the gluten more with a few stretch and folds, maybe 2 or 3 iterations at 20 minute intervals during bulk fermentation, if you didn't do that.
Howard
Hi Howard,
Thanks for the suggestions. I will keep them in mind when I make my second attempt. I know I overdid the bulk fermentation this time though. The dough looked good before I put it into the fridge to retard overnight, but it kept rising in the fridge and the next morning I woke up to a HUMONGOUS ball of dough, about to spill out of its container.... Oops =P I guess at least my yeasties are vigorous.
Did the recipe call for overnight retardation?
Howard