Homemade Bread Day 2016 - Yard Sourdough

I hope this is not late for homemade bread day. There was no internet connection for several days, finally there is a connection now. I may not post for a while because our internet service provider scheduled a wide repair and maintenance, we're not sure if we will be affected. I'm going to keep this post short and sweet, the connection could be cut off anytime! I will surely repeat this bread and make a more "dramatic" post in the future. I missed uncle Dab's Mandela challenge last time and I don't want to miss this one now.



This is the bread of the countryside, of our yard. I named it yard sourdough because like many breads named after a place,; the starter was made here, the bread was made here and the baking method was based on primitive cooking styles from here.

What characterizes this bread? No measurements, all by feel, a super long autolyze (longer than 16 hours), a firm starter (or a starter that favors acetic acid production), and a long cold proof. It is baked in a clay pot on a banana leaf over heated pebbles. Our place is famous for it's vinegar all over the country so that's why I emphasized the use of a firm starter or one that favor acetic acid to keep the connection to our home.

I autolyzed some AP flour and water longer than 16 hours in the fridge. Unlike others who use ice water for a cold autolyse, I just use room temperature water to jump start the enzymatic reactions and just let the dough catch up with the cold in the fridge. I let the dough warm up for an hour before incorporating the 12 hour old levain (fed with BF, it smells lovely vinegar already) built using 2 builds. I incorporated it using gentle folds and let it rest for an hour. The dough is dry that you can pick it up in one hand or even just 3 finger and it won't droop or tear. After an hour, I gave it a stretch and fold did the same for the next 3 hours, 1 hour apart. After the stretch and folds were done, I let it rest for an hour at room temperature then an hour on the fridge.



I've been wanting to bake seam-side up for the longest time so I did not miss the opportunity here. For me it makes the loaf look more rustic, and rustic is what our home is all about. After the 1 hour rest in the fridge, I pre-shaped it into a tight boule and let it rest for 30 minutes and shape it this way. Place the dough seam-side up; give it a light degassing; give the edges an extra degassing/flattening and fold the edges as shown here starting at 0:32. Put in the cloth lined proofing basket dusted with corn starch and flour seam-side down and put it straight in the fridge for a 12 hour retarded proof.

I know, triangle proofing baskets are rare, I can't even find round ones in my area so I made a makeshift proofing basket from a legal size folder. I used "trusted" origami skills and made a tetrahedron and it worked!



Here is the dough after 12 hours in the fridge. I think it is just proofed right. It is already seam-side up in the photo. It is baked on the clay pot for 20 minutes over a live fire and the next 10 minutes on embers. I "skewered" it on a fork and the top now facing the pebbles browned for an additional 10 minutes.



This is what I'm talking about, baked on a banana leaf over heated pebbles. This photo was taken after 20 minutes. The seams have started to open although one didn't and instead a weak spot on the side opened. The crust is nicely gelatinized. am I using the correct term?



I underestimated the thermal mass of the pebbles (they are even gathered from our yard) so the bottom and a little of the top got a little burnt, I should have used the embers earlier to avoid this but I think it's okay because I've seen some more charred breads like Jim Lahey's Truccione Sare.  If you look closely at the bottom, you can clearly see the pebble marks.



Some close-ups of the crust. The crust was crunchy for the first 6 hours then softened at night. It was flavorful with caramelized notes. It even had some blisters!







Some of the crumb shots are out of focus so I just included all of them. The big hole in the middle came from the fork I suppose and not from the shaping.













It was so good this is what was left in just half a day!





The crumb reminds me of David Snyder's old school San Francisco Sourdough. It is tight because of the low hydration but its is moist and soft with a little bit of chew. It is my favorite crumb texture so far. The aroma is heavenly, toasty and sweet with the unmistakable scent of the banana leaves. The flavor is super sweet like there is some added sugar and although made with only white flour, I could still taste some notes of the wheat. From all of the sweetness is a background of a mild tang. It is mild in my taste but definitely tastes like vinegar.





Definitely a bread worth repeating. I'm gonna tweak this bread further and I'm sure it's going to be a regular in the house. Gonna check your entries later. See you all!

Happy Homemade Bread Day!!!