Sourdough batard
This was quite an experience.
Today's plan of making Hamelman's Vermont Sourdough was a bit out of sorts from the beginning.
I nearly forgot the salt after the autolyse, but thankfully remembered that. But it bothered me that my dough was so slack. I just let it go and made the adjustment, although I didn't do too much for fear of making too dry (I haven't gotten the feel for the dough yet), so the dough was still pretty slack. Then I realized about an hour into the bulk fermentation that I forgot the rye! Ah ha! Mystery of the slack dough solved. I guess I just glazed right over that part of the recipe.
I guess sven (my starter) might still be a bit too new because it took 4 hours to finish bulk fermentation rather than the 2.5 hours.
The crumb is pretty nice but I have the hardest time with scoring. It seems like it opens up to the point where the gringe disappears. I could have under proofed. Under steaming is a possibility, but I steam with lava rocks and cast iron with 1c water for 10 min. I could be simply scoring incorrectly. There are so many variables.
The flavor, is nice. It is mildly sour and the "sour" appears when you are just about finished chewing. I've not had much sourdough so I'm not sure if that's common to sourdough breads.
Ok, sorry for rambling. Here's the photos.
I didn't have a good light source, so I brought the bread to the light source (the front door), hence the wooden chair. lol