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Hi Folks,

I attempted the Bouabsa high hydration dough shaped as ficelle. Here are notes on my experiment. Would appreciate some critique and guidance. Thanks to Alfanso and dmsnyder for detailed instructions and video. I especially need some help to resize the dough amount and proportions for my small steam convection oven (24in Gaggenau) and small baking stone (12" x 10"). I am planning to do take 2 this weekend and would appreciate any tips.

1. I only had KA AP flour and KA bread flour. I used mostly AP flour but ran short and added about 1/4 cup of bread flour. All by weight. My kitchen was quite cold and took longer to rise. 
2. Day 1 - My dough did not look like a shaggy mass and was definitely tighter. I ended up adding a couple more tbsp of water in the second hydration to make it shaggier. Even then the dough was not stretchy Like the gorgeous french folds in Alfanso’s video. 
3. On day 2, my dough needed about an hour to get to room temperature. Here is where I started running into some trouble. As I have a small steam oven, I wanted to make smaller ficelle - small enough for a sandwich for 1 person, after googling, I decided on 2 sizes - 100gms for small and 130 gms for slightly longer baguettes. I looked at Breadhitz videos to see how he shaped the smaller sizes. Well, my dough was a lot looser and not as shapeable. In fact, it didn’t seem to have as much gas. I figured it was my cold California kitchen and let the dough rest for a bit longer to get the yeast going. 
4. Equipment - I had some makeshift equipment. The whole transfer to oven thing threw me off as I did not have a transfer peel. I used a plastic clipboard that was long enough for my baking stone. My baking stone was an Emile Henry enameled baking stone that is quite small - 12in X 10in. Moreover, it had a raised handle and this made the oven transfer complicated. First, I decided to use parchment and the backside of a quarter sheet pan to transfer to the oven. The first attempt was a disaster as the bread just fell off the edge and I had to somehow rescue it. This ended up in the 2 misshapen specimens. For the next 2 batches, I used a cutting board with a handle.  I also made a mistake in using a glass Pyrex for the lava stones container. The boiling hot water hit it and it immediately cracked. I should have used a cast iron gratin dish or something that was sturdier.  Given that I have a steam function in the oven, maybe I could avoid the kettle of hot water and just do the dish towel in water for extra steam and the rocks for added thermal mass. But if a burst of steam is needed for the initial hit, then I need the water on rocks. 
5. Overall I needed to bake 3 batches and I feel that the skin got a little dry in the later batch. The second batch had a shiny crust but the third batch and the first batch look dull. Incidentally, the second batch was the one where the glass dish cracked, so maybe the burst of steam helped. I also feel that the underside is not dark enough. The scoring with the lame could be deeper maybe? The bread is not as holey as I would like and the crumb is dense - so maybe I needed to let it rise more or do different proportions or different flour? As I needed 3 batches, maybe I should bake a half batch or pop the dough back in the refrigerator and shape the second half later. Or maybe I should do 2 small baguettes and the rest as a batard or a boule? 

How do I know if I have the correct beasties in my rye starter? I couldn't keep the temp at 74°F. It varied from 70-88°F with the oven light on.

It has never been refrigerated, is 100% hydration, and was fed dark rye flour once per day. 

I had used the NMNF recipe at 62% hydration, but after 2 weeks of feeding, it was doing nothing so I switched it to 100% hydration. 

Now it has been 4 weeks, and I think I might be ready to switch it  back to a stiff starter. Then it will be a NMNF starter in the refrigerator. 

Do I have the right beasties? 

How do I know if it is strong enough to turn into a NMNF refrigerated starter? At 100% hydration, it doubles within 2-3 hours.

What is my next step? Thanks!

Hello! I am starting a project with my IB biology class (advanced biology, 11th grade) where I will have them create their own sourdough starters and then bake sourdough bread with it. I am new to sourdough baking but I have been doing some experimenting over the last few months to prep for this project. I received a donation from King Arthur Flour for so I have been using their recipes and resources. 

I would love to have the students bake naturally leavened sourdough bread (no commercial yeast), but I'm not sure how this can be done on a school schedule.  I would also like to have the students do as many of the steps (building levain, mixing dough, folding, shaping, baking, etc.) as possible.  But if its not possible, I can do some of the steps for them.  Here is the schedule that we're working with. 

The students are with me everyday at 12pm. We are on an alternating schedule were I have them for 40 min one day and 80 min the next day. I am at school from 7:30 - 4pm, but can stay later if necessary. 

In my limited sourdough experience, it seems like even with the most relaxed sourdough schedule, you still have to do something to it at least every 12 hours.  However, these students will only be with me every 24 hours. My contact at KA Flour says that using a recipe that calls from some commercial yeast may be the way to go in this situation (sad face).

So my questions:

Can anyone suggest a schedule for naturally leavened bread that would work? 

What type of recipe do you suggest (e.g., white, whole wheat, etc.)?

Should I give up on trying to do a naturally leavened bread and use commercial yeast?  If so, what schedule is suggested for this?

Finally, my other obstacle is that we have two ovens for 5 groups of students.  That will be 10 loaves of bread.  I'm thinking putting them in loaf pans and baking in 2 batches will be the best way to get them all to fit?  Any suggestions here?

Thank you for any and all help!

Cristina