April 22, 2017 - 5:54am
My Go to Norwich sourdough
Finally I think I have it down pat. It's taken me a while, but it has good taste, and finally there are ears all the time. Thanks to you gurus here. (Apologies for not posting in a while. Stuff happens).
hester
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I'm currently ramping up my starter for my 3rd attempt at this bread (will bake this Sunday). I'm encouraged by the results I've had thus far (ie they have been "better" than any sourdough I've attempted in the past), but am still far from my goal.
What have you learned along the way as regards this particular recipe?
1. I use the very best flour I can find and afford. My bread flour for this recipe is T65, which is a French flour which is incredibly consistent, tho expensive. I get my Rye from Montana. Bread baking is one of my most important hobbies, outlets, and how I get my daily bread, so......
2. I use a cloche, always. I've tried lava rocks, other methods to create steam but a cloche or dutch oven works best for me. (for that recipe it means I have to have something on the flat part of the cloche to contain spread b/c I make small 500 gm loaves.) They would spread w/o the obstruction I put there. You could do 2 loaves and make them round and not need an obstruction. (I do 1 1/2 x the recipe to get 6 small loaves).
3. I take a lot of time w my starter. Two days b/f baking I take out 10 grams of starter and feed it 50/50 flour and water in the morning. So I have 30 gm by evening. I do exactly the same thing in the evening so: 30-30-30. And the next morning (day 2), I do the same thing, tho at this point I'm not just using generic AP flour. I add the T65 to the last build. (by this time I have 270 gm of starter.) The evening b/f making the dough (evening of day 2) I make the levain with 1/2 T65 and 1/2 Rye, or there about. Here's what my levain looked like just now before doing m
y autolyse. 
4. Patience. I never rush this recipe. Today I will make the dough and do 2 stretch and folds about an hour apart and then let it rest for hours. Later I will form the loaves and put them in bannetons and refrigerate overnight. I bake them the next morning. So I started the build on Thursday morning and won't bake until Sunday morning. I go very slowly. Why? I think the outcome is better and if I have suddenly to change plans or go somewhere, I just stick the starter in the fridge and deal w it later. That's the beauty of Sourdough.
5. I looked and DM Snyder's videos on making ears and looked at all the videos I could about that. It's taken my 2 years to get those ears right.
6. I adore baking bread. That helps a ton. Patience helps more.
Good luck,
hester
What a great bread to have in your pocket. Looking forward to hearing more from you, between your 'stuff'. :)
Cathy
much. It's my favorite.
hester
down pat! It sure looks grand inside and out
Happy baking
My silly hubby won't eat my 7 grain/seed/flour breads so i'm stuck making the most of a plain bread. My seeded sourdough is just terrific but he won't eat it. Has: AP flour, Rye, Rye chops, Flax, Sunflower, sesame seed.. and so on. It's amazing. Oh well. Gotta keep peace in the house. lol
Thanks DaB.
hester
it is one for them and one for me on alternating weeks usually:-)
I'll gladly take your seeded sourdoughs if we didn't live thousands of miles away.
Hester:
Thanks so much for taking the time to respond – your details are quite useful and encouraging to me. I feel as if I am on the right track!
I’m currently using a blend of generic bread flour and Bob’s Red Mill rye. When I get to the point of consistently having more acceptable results, I will look into upgrading my flour choices. I am, however, tempted to try cutting back on the rye a bit (and increasing the bread flour accordingly) to see what effect that might have on the crumb.
My loaf is exactly twice the size of yours. I use ½ recipe for single loaf. I just the other day purchased a cloche specifically for use with this recipe, as I was feeling my steaming was inadequate to generate enough oven spring. I am looking forward to giving it a first try this weekend.
Also, with this upcoming bake, I added two days to the feeding of my starter, for a total of 3.5 days of twice daily feedings before making the levain tonight (Saturday).
I will not be able to retard the dough before this next bake, as I am away on Monday, so will bake after proofing on Sunday.
Next opportunity, my plan is to make the full batch (two loaves), bake one loaf immediately after proofing and retard the 2nd loaf for baking the next day. I can then compare results.
Thanks again, and Happy Baking!
Edited to correct: read "AP flour" but should have read "bread flour".
Takes me all my time to bake one loaf at a time, once a week, and you churn out enough to start a bakery with each bake.
From inside to out they're all fine looking loaves.
As usual, your generous spirit shines through. Well, I give them away and our son can eat these, so when we go to visit him in a month, I'll bring him several. And btw, You are always experimenting and expanding your repertoire. I"m doing the same ole' same ole, all the time.
Thanks again
hester