First post here! Started making sourdough about a month ago. I’ve lurked this site and got some really amazing insight from this community. little things you folks have shared that would just take time to understand and get a sense of. I feel that I’ve learned much living vicariously through your documented bakes :-).
I was gifted bread, by Jeffrey hamelman last December by a fellow horticulture classmate. It had sat on a shelf for a while until I got into sourdough. This bread comes from that book and it’s been a great resource for me. I scaled it down to make a loaf.
overnight build soaker and rye sourdough
in the morning, mix everything but the sourdough and let autolyse for 3 hours. I included all the salt on accident, as it was included in the soaker and there isn’t much water to lend to the flour being that a lot of it is in the sourdough as well. At the end of autolyse the dough was pretty stiff and could not hold a windowpane.
added sourdough and mix a bit
10 minutes late knead a bit more
30 minutes later slap and fold, about 75
30 minutes later laminate
1 hour later coil fold
2 hours bulk fermentation
preshape, rest a bit, shape, proof two more hours
baked in 550 preheated oven with accompanying hot cast waffle iron and a tin loaf filled with two towels and boiling water poured right before dough drop off.
*all throughout the dough was not very extensive and I had to be extra careful not to tear the dough, I’ve been having problems developing proper strength, but I feel the lamination method has helped me a lot. I don’t think I’ve been slap and folding properly is why, so this extra step has helped me in the process to create strength and surface tension without tearing the dough, which has been a real problem I’ve been having. I was also worried as I had to tamper with the fermentation times, but I did not add yeast. I think it turned out well!! I do think I should lower the temp though, where the seam burst the bread was already a dark brown color, whereas the crust all around was not as crusty as I would like. All in all though very happy with the bread. My first few loaves were really more of pancakes than bodacious loaves of bread. Now I feel like I am in the beginning of knowing how to bake good bread. Woo! A triumph indeed, I will be making bread for the rest of my life, and am better for it!
