The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Maiden bake

spring's picture
spring

Maiden bake

Hello everyone!

Just wanted to introduce myself and post about my first foray into sourdough.

A good friend of mine got me into baking after trying some of his amazing bread. I got hold of a copy of Casper Lugg's excellent 'Sourdough' book and did my first bake this week.

I was very happy with the results, having been nurturing my starter (Doris) for the last six weeks in a homemade proofing box. This is made out of two stacking containers with a sanitised water reservoir and an aquarium pump to keep things at a constant 26'C.

I made a real pig's ear of the bulk ferment, having to put it in the fridge overnight as I ran out of time. Consequentially it ended up having a 24 hour cold bulk ferment rather than a 4 hour room temperature ferment, but it seems to have worked out well regardless.

Having accidentally done a cold bulk ferment I wondered what everyone's thoughts were on this, and whether anyone does this routinely?

Can anyone tell me why sourdough has that slightly waxy crumb? I've never been able to work it out.

Looking forward to learning lots more as my sourdough adventure continues! If anyone needs advice on building a proofing box at home, feel free to drop me a line. Mine cost around NZ$70 (US$50) all-in and works beautifully.

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

You've stumbled upon a secret for excellent bread - cold overnight (or longer) bulk ferment! I ferment pretty much all of my doughs at least overnight in the fridge. It makes for much better flavour and digestibility. For the sourdoughs I usually leave it at room temperature for 4 to 6 hours first, depending on how much starter is in it as a proportion of flour, just to make sure it is actively rising. During this time I'll stretch and fold it a few times to make it nice, strong and stretchy.

Your bread looks amazing! Others can describe the chemistry and physics of why sourdough crumb is often glossy, moist and creamy like that, but it's certainly something most of us aim for. Well done!

spring's picture
spring

Thanks Loafer - great to hear your thoughts and I'm very encouraged by your feedback! I'll definitely build a long cold bulk ferment into my next recipe after reading your comments - it also makes it much easier to fit things around the day job!

Filomatic's picture
Filomatic

... as in, really nice bake.  You should be proud.  Please show the crust, since that's important too.  Well done!

spring's picture
spring

Thanks Filo!

I was really happy with my loaf (and pretty surprised to be honest!). Here's a picture of the crust...

spring's picture
spring

Hmm... trying to post a photo from my phone or flikr but cant seem to do it! I'll have a trawl through the site and see if I can find a solution.