The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

I had a great day baking!

tchism's picture
tchism

I had a great day baking!

Every now and then you have a day were it all comes together right!
After my initial success with a longer refrigeration time, I attempted four loaves today that I allowed to cold ferment in the refrigerator for 24 hrs. I paid careful attention loaf formation & scoring and ended up with what I think is four of my best loaves of white sourdough to date.


I pulled these 30 min. apart starting left to right. I made smaller loaves that would be easier to slice. the finish loaves are just under 1.5 lbs.


Finished loaves.


Closer shot of the first two


Crumb from first loaf.


Crumb from second loaf.  You can't really see it in these shots but the loaves had some nice custard crumb.
My wife is taking three of the loaves to work tomorrow where they disappear quickly because some folks cut big chunks off. She asked me to slice up the loaves so that everyone can get some. This allowed me to see the inside of the first three. We're keeping the fourth one so I'll get to see how it looks tomorrow.

I think this is the first time that I have been really happy with a the outcome of a larger bake. The crust color & blisters, crumb texture, scoring and spring all seemed to work right. I haven't tasted it yet but if the flavor is like the one last weekend, I'll be happy with that too.
I can strongly recommend trying this longer cold fermentation process.  

pmccool's picture
pmccool

Those are beautifully executed breads.

Paul

tchism's picture
tchism

Thank you Paul!

chouette22's picture
chouette22

open crumb, great scoring, just beautiful breads! You should indeed be proud of this baking day.

tchism's picture
tchism

Thank you chouette22!