Another attempt at Danni bread
Danni posted a very simple starter recipe. I managed to screw that up too :(
I used 100% hydration starter rather than the 70% hydration she uses. I had ramped down my former 1:1 by volume starter to 1:1 by weight, but forgot that this was still too wet.
The dough was just on the verge of too wet to handle. I had to tip it into the Dutch oven and it came out kinda crooked.
Try try again.
On the plus side: I used a stainless steel bowl for a banneton. I lined it with a linen square that I made myself that very day, yes indeed. Of course I had a length of medium-weight linen in the house. I sewed it up nicely, with hand-mitered corners. Then I needed a mix of rice flour and AP flour to dust the linen. Of course I had rice flour (mochiko). This is an island (Hawai'i) household after all. I make coconut mochi, butter mochi, sweet potato mochi. So, two wins.
(1 part starter, 2 parts water and 3 parts flour with 2% salt) uses 100% hydration starter which means half flour, half water by weight. It should have been fine. Where are you that your flour is not soaking up the water it should. Are you using all purpose or bread flour?
Where I am is very humid most of the time; tropics. And it's the rainy season here. So it's possible that my flour has already soaked up water from the atmosphere.
I may have to just add more flour when I add the starter. I do not get the extra autolyse that way, but I will get the consistency that I feel is right. I made the Reinhart pain au levain for years and got quite used to correcting the dough at the final mixing. I could tell by how it clung to the dough hook whether or not it was right.