The Fresh Loaf

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Overnight Country Blonde, well sort of . . .

Skibum's picture
Skibum

Overnight Country Blonde, well sort of . . .

Satisfying to get a good result on my latest take 6. Takes 4 and 5 were over proofed with my new summer kitchen temperatures. All winter and spring my kitchen was a steady 68F Now that we have real summer it is running 73-75F and BOY does this temperature change mess with bulk rise and proofing schedules!

With take four, I took the bulk rise time down to 8 hours from the 12-14 hours Ken rec's @ 70F. WAY too long. I got up to check in at 4:00 am after 6.5 hours bulk and it was already gone.

Okay, for take five, we will try an all day country blonde: Start the levain at 6:00 am, mix at 12:00 pm, finish bulk at 7:00 pm and proof and bake at 9:30. Still WAY over proofed.

For this successful bake, I started the levain at noon and mixed at 5:00 pm. With 30 minutes after the first S&F, the dough had risen by more than 1/3, so I dropped the next rest to 20 minutes and the final 2 S&F's to 15 minutes rest. I then rested the dough for 45 minutes and did a final fold at 8:00 pm. The dough had nearly doubled by this time, so the only way to save things was into the fridge overnight.

In the morning two hours on the counter, shape and proof for 1:40 rather than the 3:30 -4:00 rec'd at 70F. This baked at 475F in a covered DO for 25 mins and a further 25 mins uncovered, turning at the half.

I really like this formula! Happy baking folks!!! Ski

Comments

KathyF's picture
KathyF

Looks wonderful. I have to agree about the proofing times. I am also finding that I have to really watch my dough as the recommended proofing times seem to be way to long. I am sure a lot of it has to do with the temperature difference, but I also wonder if our starters just happen to be a little more robust than what he is using.

Skibum's picture
Skibum

Well talk about a time adjustment due to temperature! As much as I would like to think that our levains are more active than Ken's, I checked a bake I did mid May in a 20C/68F kitchen and my proofing times were pretty much in line with his. Perhaps the higher temperature the natural yeasts more active and bulk rise will happen faster at higher temperatures. I was surprised at how much faster! Most surprising was the dough mass rising 1.5x in 45 minutes after the 4th S&F!!!

Happy baking, Ski

PS I just fed my levain in anticipation of starting another OCB or MCB in the morning . . .

KathyF's picture
KathyF

If I remember correctly, Ken's kitchen stays on the cool side. I do know that my yeasted loaves rise dramatically more in the spring and summer than they do in the winter. Since I started my sourdough journey in April, it will be interesting to see what adjustments I will have to make when the weather turns cooler.

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

I've been over oroofing everything lately myself with a long, shaped retarded final proof but, as long as it doesn't collapse when i bake it, I'm not going to worry about it. i hate staying up late to finish the pre-retard work and hate getting up early the next morning to bake it.even more,  Hoe ever it comes out in 12 hours is what it is:-)

Looks like you have it figured out.so maybe I will go back to long bulk retard  and shape it the net morning.  Seems every time i do that the crumb suffers with smaller holes?

This bread was well done inside and out. 

Happy Baking Ski

 

Skibum's picture
Skibum

. . . highly complex, multi day, multi grain bakes will likely suffer less from over proofing than my mostly white flour loaves. Over proof the Overnight Country Blonde and  I get an OCB pancake. Well this has been an education!

Tomorrow, I bake again!!!

Happy baking folks, Ski

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Your procedure with this formula is quite similar to the one I use in my "In the spirit of" bread from the same book. 

It's supposed to be well over 100dF here the next couple days, meaning my kitchen will be 75ish. It's like making "time lapse" Overnight sourdough.

David

Skibum's picture
Skibum

I have another batch going now and in five hours the bulk is at 2.5x, so another half hour or so and I am ready to divide and shape. It is now 23C in my kitchen and I think I will proof these overnight in the fridge and bake in the morning when it is cooler.

I also started a batch of your SJSD this morning and I really like the technique of doing 30 S&F's in the bowl, rotating 20% per fold. You can really feel the dough coming together and the gluten's getting stronger with each pass. I also did 30 and 30 at 45 and 90 minutes of bulk, not knowing any better. The dough looked and felt great and likely has better gluten development than any loaf I have baked. Tomorrow morning, I will divide, shape and bake. I also watched the KAF shaping video once again and I also like how they shape their batards. An interesting project!!!

David, I am inspired to reach your level of shaping and scoring skill and boy, am I going to need a lot of practise! It will be a ful journey.

Thanks for sharing your master technique and happy baking! Ski

WendySusan's picture
WendySusan

first time I've baked since it became warm...we've been eating less bread and then from the freezer.  First loaf while a nice crumb was more pancake like after I overproofed it.  Today I took more care and came out with a much nicer loaf.  Its at least 25 degrees warmer than when I last baked.