090426 First Wild Yeast Bread - Two Builds

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33569048@N05/sets/72157617583348645/ 

Another sleepless night. I almost thought something was wrong with my dough since I did not expect the fermentation would take this looooooooooong.  Next time I'd go to bed while it rises and not check on it every 15 minutes. 

The recipe was done on two builds from barm to final dough. The barm was refreshed the day before, very active.  It's converted from my previous whole wheat recipe.  I wanted to start my wild yeast experience with a recipe which I'm already very familiar with so that I can easily compare the differences. 

1st rise:  retarded in fridge, seemed very active, rose more than double in a very short time.

Final proof:  took 5 hours, barely reached 80% of the regular height.

Q: Should I have skipped all these different rises and shaped the dough once all ingredients were mixed?

Q: This made me wonder normally how long it takes to rise a dough with wild yeast?

 These loaves were moist, springy with a slight tang, but not as tall as their counterparts with commercial yeast. 

Q: Maybe I should adjust the rising time and the amount of starter next time?  

This time I experimented with 240g of 100% hydration starter. It's quite a challenge to maintain the percentage of ingredients in the original recipe without compromising those like eggs and milk which contribute to the softness and good flavors of the bread.    In this case I dehydrated the milk by using dry milk power and spared the extra water from the starter to the dough.  

 My seed culture was made with raisins.   

Q:        Would anyone know if there's a difference in tastes when seed cultures are made with different ingredients?

Q:        Or once the seed cultures are turned into a barm, the tang is indistinguishable?