Large Sourdough
I'm very happy with this big loaf, of mostly white bread flour with some whole wheat and cornmeal for a flavor boost. The taste was fabulous. :~) I think it's my first white sourdough, and it's definitely the first formula I concocted wholly on my own, as opposed to tinkering with an existing recipe or formula. I didn't weigh the finished loaf, but it was 12 inches across. The unbaked dough was just over 3 pounds.
Since my evening's breadwork was postponed by an unplanned movie, I mixed it just before bed using icewater. I left the 68F dough to sit in the 76F room, planning to not look at it until after a good night's sleep. But when the cat woke me up 4 hours later, I had to look in on the bread. The dough and the room were both at 75F.
Comments
I love your slash pattern, looks like you got great spring..how was the crumb?
Thanks Paddy. Scissors are great on slack doughs. It had a nice open crumb that was moist and chewy, but not too heavy - though a bit too open right at the top. I'm not sure if the baker's holes were due to insufficient dough development or if they could have been eliminated with slightly longer slashes.
Wow, Kippercat, that's a beautiful loaf! Why don't you post your recipe? You did a great job!
Large Sourdough Loaf
I was going to put this in baker’s percentages, but I’m not sure if the cornmeal should count as part of the flour or a separate ingredient. It’s not flour, but the hydration looks skewed if you take the water as a percentage of only the flour. At any rate, here are the ingredients I used.
140 grams starter at 60% hydration
600 grams bread flour
50 grams white whole wheat flour
50 grams cornmeal
8 grams salt
525 grams icewater
My dough working was hardly optimal. It was worked around my sleeping schedule – and the cat’s.
START - Mix dough, no kneading. Dough at 68F and room at 76.1
4 HOURS LATER – 3 folds in bowl, dough at 75 and room at 57.4F
90 MINUTES LATER – 3 folds in bowl, same temps
TIME? - Turned out on counter, did a few folds, rest and shape. Was a bit difficult rolling a ball that large.
TIME? Preheated oven well at 525F with stone.
TIME? Loaf proofed to finger poke test. Loaded bread and placed skillet of boiling water on oven bottom. Turned oven down to 450F. Removed skillet after 10 to 15 minutes, baked to 208F internal temp. Didn’t end up with crackly crust, but crust was good. I wonder if I removed the skillet of hot water too soon.
I like that you use a firm starter like I do so that makes it easy. It sounds good and I like the white wheat in there not to mention the cornmeal. I'll have to give it a try. I used to not care at all for white wheat but once I tried the Wheat Montana, Prairie Gold that changed. It is really good!
I have been having a real problem lately though and I need help! I am failing to get the nice open crumb I once did. I think it is that I'm worrying more about creating tension when I shape and I may be going at it too hard. Darn, I'm just not sure but I'm very frustrated!
I hate it when I think I've got a handle on something and lose it for no apparent reason. I know you'll figure it out.
One thing that surprised me about this recipe is that the salt is only 1%, but it tastes fine. Based on my limited experience, the low salt is acceptable either because of the cornmeal or the sourdough. I'll be paying attention to the salt content in other breads I make for awhile. The whole wheat loaf I baked yesterday has 2% salt, and could use a bit more to my taste.