The Non-Conformist Baker: The wheat goes on...

My super wet dough looked SO nice and bubbly going into the oven! But somewheres along the line, all the bubbles got up and left...

Can't find my camera, but the house is in an uproar as we re-arrange for the holidays and try to pare down. Too many decades of accumulation...

The bread, after its Bulk Ferment was YUUUGE. Enough to easily make two loaves. That in itself was progress for me. Usually, 500 grams of flour will make one "normal" sized loaf of bread, albeit a fairly dense and heavy loaf of bread...I merrily cut the beast in half, letting half rise on parchement paper, and half rise in a no-stick bread pan. After 45 minutes, the Parchment paper bread was nicely risen, while the pan loaf was kinda just sitting there looking at me. So, I pre-heated the oven to 450, with my covered Nambe dish inside, and a cast iron pan with 2 cups of water on the bottom. When the light went out, even though the dish was not fully heated, it was hot enough to pop the lid, drop the loaf with parchment paper inside, reseat the lid and close the door. After 20 minutes, I removed the lid, and was pleased to see the loaf had risen to within about 1 1/2 inches of the top. I lowered the heat to 350. After 45 minutes, the bread, which had been too wet to even try to score before baking, had split down the middle and had a lovely light brown crust, so I let it go for another 10 minutes and removed it to cool on top of the stove.

As I pulled out "Fred Bread I," I put "Fred Bread II" into the over, added 2 more cups of water to the now empty cast iron pan beneath it, and closed the door. After 45 minutes, He was still very pale, so I left it another 15 minutes in the oven. Unlike "FB I," Fred II did not split down the middle. Did not split at all, actually.

By this time, Fred I was ready to be sliced open. I was somewhat disappointed to see that the interior crumb was like no-nutritional Wonder bread. Where did all those nice bubbles go??? The crust was delightfully thin and crackly, and the center, while cooked, was almost too moist, borderline soggy. But it was still delicious, and the hubby and I merrily chewed it with butter.

Fred II was pulled from the oven and left to cool as we ate his brother. 20 minutes after coming out of the oven, I turned Fred II out of the pan, and the bottom of the loaf was wet. Hoping there was still enough residual heat inside, I left him on the rack, upside down, so that more moisture could evaporate.

A few hours later, just to see the crumb, I sliced the heel off of Fred II, and again, the lovely large bubbles I had seen through the fermentation and shaping were gone. :( Poop...But, unlike Fred I, this loaf had the most wonderful light sourdough scent and delicate sourdough flavor. Not tart, but just a hint of complex flavor. Bob is a GOOD boy!

We ate Fred II over the last couple of days, generally just slicing him and slapping on a bit of butter at room temperature. We finished him off this evening as grilled cheese sandwiches.

Which leads me to my new creation. As always, I start with 500 grams of flour. This time 200 g are the sturdy bread flour, and 300 g are my comfortable A.P. flour. I have 350 g of warm water, into which I also tossed in about 1/2 tablespoon of basil, a teaspoon of dried dill, and a couple tablespoons of olive oil. If I am going to to have non-giant crumb, I'mma add some oil to make the bread a bit less chewy. I dumped the flours into the Kitchenaid, with the mixing paddle attached, and mixed it on 4 for about 2 minutes. Although a bit thick, it came off the paddle easily, and was much easier to handle than the last solid and evil lump of dough.

I had fed Bob the Sourdough Starter earlier today, not expecting the hubby to love my grilled cheese enough that I had to make a second one, which used up the rest of Fred II. So although my flour, herb, and water mixture is now autolyzing in the dehydrator at 85 degrees for at least the next hour or two, I am leaving Bob in his jar. When the autolyze comes out, I will take 50 g of Bob, and stir in 1 teaspoon of Fleishman's yeast before adding it to the dough along with salt. I am totally winging it here, since slavish adherence to recipes is never cooperating, and I am ending up improvising anyway. I may put the yeasted Bob into the Dehydrator for the last 30 minutes before amalgamating them together to let bulk ferment. We shall see...

To be Continued.