rgconner's blog

I have been building my starter for about 6 weeks now, and I am finally getting the results I want.

Not that the previous breads were bad, they just lacked the sort of oven spring I was getting from Commercial yeast.

Standard Forkish Lean dough.

1st feed: 12 hrs with KAF whole wheat. 100% hydration, 50g 

2nd feed: 12 hrs with Unbleached Shepard's Pride white 100% hydration. 100g

Poolish with 100g starter + 450g flour, 100% hydration, 12hrs

Final dough: additional 500g flour, 244g water, 22g salt

Stretch and fold 5 times, approx 30min apart. 

5hr bench rest until it tripled

Form and basket, allow to retard proof in fridge overnight, about 18hrs before I could bake them. They are not the same size, one is 750g, the other is whatever was left over, just shy of 1KG I would think.

30 min covered, 20 uncovered (bolder bake), 450F

Previous attempts on sourdough have been ok, but not great.

I decide I would combine more than one process to see if I could increase the sourness and texture of my bread.

Biga overnight:

360g 50/50 starter

440g flour

365g water

per Forkish ratios

after 14hrs I had a nice biga, bubbling along nicely.

Remainder of flour, water, salt added to complete dough (75% hydration) and left for bulk ferment. 

6hrs later, good 3X rise with a decent sour note to the smell. Divide and shaped, then 4hrs refrigerated proofing.

And pretty good crumb:

I think the crumb could be more consistent, it is a little dense around the edges. I suspect it is from either too short of a time in the cold proofing, or needed more time proofing warm before going in the fridge. 

Flavor is good, much more sour than previous attempts, will have to see how the family likes it. 

That magic moment when you take off the lids and you know you did not screw it up!

Straight white Biga commercial yeast formula from Forkish, with 50% more salt because it tastes, and toasts, better.

Outside should be slightly crunchy, with a sweet light crumb. The bread will age nicely over 3 or 4 days, getting slightly sour by the end of it.... if it lasts that long.

Each loaf is about 950 grams. 

And the wife brought home a fresh block of butter from the store, and I made Blackberry jam yesterday... yum!