The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

HOL-E'r

bread1965's picture
bread1965

HOL-E'r

Well, this is my sixth attempt at making a more open crumb per Trevor's book. I'm not getting the wide open crumb Trevor does, but I'm enjoying some mighty good breads along the way. This is this weekend's bake.. first the pictures.

This loaf was made with 100g of 100% hydration AP flour starter at peak, 200g water, 285g flour (70% bread flour, 30% whole wheat) and 6g fine sea salt. I gave the flour an hour autolyse before adding the starter and salt. I gave the dough three sets of stretch and folds thirty minutes apart. Aside from the initial mixing of the starter into the flour/water, the three stretch and folds sets were each four simple quarter turn of the bowl stretch and folds. I tried to build structure but keep it gentle.

From adding the starter I let it bulk for a total of almost seven hours to get it to a double of the dough.  I then tried to pour the dough onto the bench as gently as possible, but it deflated somewhat. I gave it a simple and gentle pre-shape and let it rest for ten minutes. I then shaped and loaded it into a basket. But I could also tell that the shaping process deflated the dough as well. I think next time I'm going to dramatically reduce bulk and leave most of the expansion to happen in the basket to reduce touching the dough after most of it's rise. Let's see if that helps. I loaded it in the the fridge for about 10 hours before the bake this morning. Here's the crumb..

The crumb is gently moist, has good body to it and great mouth feel. It's a very nice bread.. I'm getting there..

Bake happy.. bread1965!

 

Comments

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

beautiful inside and out and your description of the flavor and texture is spot on. Can't do better than that !  c

bread1965's picture
bread1965

It's been interesting how pushing the fermentation to it's limit has been impacting the crumb.. I'm pushing it longer than I otherwise thought I should.. and it's working out well. Thanks for the kind words!

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

fermentation is my next step as well. I was letting it double as it seemed to really want to grow like crazy. But I think that the disturbance to the dough in then dividing and shaping is too much for my breads to recover from. I am going to do as Danni has talked about doing and reduce the bulk, shape and retard, like I always used to do and bake cold from the fridge next day. I get amazing rise after shaping while retarding and the process of turning out the cold dough doesn't disturb the structure. Keep posting updates and I shall follow with interest. I won't be baking again till mid April due to travel. c

bread1965's picture
bread1965

I'm thinking experimenting with a long counter proof (by dramatically reducing the starter quantity) and compare that to a long fridge proof.. how long did you let bulk run compared to fridge retard? Happy trails runner..

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

i use spray Pam on bowls and bucket. Dough comes right out. So much easier .

as to bulk ferment I have done several hours in a warm oven till doubled then shaped and immediately retarded in fridge till next day. I have also started bulk fermentation in warm oven and when it is about 50% increased I have finished bulk in fridge and taken out and shaped it cold and let it rise .. this was least satisfactory. My warm bulk ferment takes about 4-5 hrs with YW as part of the levain. My cold ferments and retards are all night and into the next day 16-18 hrs. 

I am going to just ferment warm temp bulk and shape and retard cold and bake straight from fridge from now on. Had best luck with that. I like to use a lot of levain?

happy baking! 

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

That loaf is awesome and has an amazing crumb! Nice and open! It’s just beautiful!!!

As to your deflating if the dough, what do you do when you turn out your dough? Is that where it is getting deflated? Or is it during the shaping process?

Today, I let the dough rise to 50% so I wet my hand and ran it all around the dough and under the bottom to loosen it from its bucket. I kept rewetting it as needed and I also wet the side of the bucket that the dough was going to slip out of. I was pleased to see that it came out in one whole piece without any of it sticking anywhere. You might want to try that technique if removing the dough is the issue. 

Anyhow, even with deflating your dough, you made a loaf that Trevor would be proud of and so should you!

 ETA: Ha! You even have the same type of burnt board that Trevor has! I just noticed that. ?

bread1965's picture
bread1965

It's actually a butcher block I've had for about 25 years.. and given I'm not a butcher I tried to use it as my bench, but it's too course  (so my dough would tear during shaping) and a bit small, so I decided to brand it with my lodge cooker as he did his.. I set my combo cooker on it every time I pull it out of the oven and voila.. I have a great smooth bench that I use which is super smooth..

As to when the deflating occurs, it's when I'm taking the dough out of my bowl and flipping it onto my bench. Gently pulling the dough away from the sides with wet fingers is fine, but it deflated this loaf more than usual (and I didn't go all the way to the bottom to make it entirely free of the bowl - that's a good Idea, I'll try it). It also deflated a bit when pre-shaping and final shaping.

I'm getting there and am happy with it, but I'm looking to get more bigger and even holes.  I have a few more Ideas I'd like to try, but i think I'm going to given the raisin bread a try next weekend. And then come back to this.. I should go back and re-read Trevor's book at some point.  Let's see..  Thanks very much..

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

That's a crumb I'd be very happy with. 

Lovely! 

bread1965's picture
bread1965

.. toasted with butter.. if you lived closer that is.. thanks very much!

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

Toasted and dipped in pumpkin seed oil. Heaven. Really enjoy sourdough this way. 

Bon Appetit.

- Abe

bread1965's picture
bread1965

Will put that on my culinary bucket list.. many thanks!

 

Trevor J Wilson's picture
Trevor J Wilson

I would be extremely proud of that loaf. It's a true beauty. Your progress has been outstanding. Keep up the good work my friend.

Cheers!

Trevor

p.s. Lovin' that cutting board!

bread1965's picture
bread1965

Thanks for the kind words.. I'm very happy with it.  I find myself on a flour laden path to hol-e goodness because of you... Thanks for the inspiration and kind words.. I'm sure I speak for many on the board when saying your book, and the pictures of your breads on instagram, have had a real impact on how I/we think about making bread.. it's a great meditative journey..

bake happy.. bread1965!

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

like even every once in while:-)  Just beautimous.  Well done and happy baking