I decided to try my hand at making this bread. I don't think I quite have the hang of making the starter. Need to work on that. Glezer's book seems to indicate that the starter should be made in a semi-airtight container and I've read elsewhere that the starter should be allowed to breathe and collect wild yeasts from the environment. I ended up with a not-quite-sour starter but used it anyway. Instead of using the non-diastatic malt syrup I settled for a barley malt powder from my local brew shop. I let the first rise go for 3 + hours, divided it, rested it, then shaped it before proofing for another 2 to 3 hours. I put both batards on a silicon mat to proof and then just transferred everything to the baking stone when the time came. I thought I had botched the batard shaping process but the loafs were very forgiving and came out looking better than I expected. The recipe called for spritzing the loaves with water before baking and the use of a garden sprayer arrangement to add additional moisture. I opted for a pan in the bottom of the oven to which I added a cup of water immediately after inserting the loaves.
I liked the color and crumb however the taste was not sour enough(have to work on starter) and the malt flavor was not subtle enough. I'll try reducing the amount of malt powder the next time as well as using a more sour starter.
