hi there

does anyone know of mistakes in Peter Reinhart's Artisan Bread Every Day (ABED)?

In particular, I have been trying the Pain au `Levain (p 61) different times, with poor results. The recipe calls for a lot of starter in relation to flour: 16 oz/458 g starter being added to  16 oz/458g bread flour (+ 11 oz/312 g water and almost 3 tsp salt)

this is a 1:1 ration, starter: flour.

is it correct? is it a printing mistake?

isnt' it too much?

the dough doesn't develop any proper gluten. It looks and feels as if the starter "has fed" on all the flour - apologies for my lack of technical explanations. After the initial proofing (2.30 hrs), the dough doesn't feel/look elastic and shiny and if you try to check the gluten, it tears, instead of stretching (and yes I had mixed it according to recipe and even a little longer, on separate tests.

has anyone tried this recipe?

plus: do you think I can use all this bread dough-turned odd/unsable dough as a levain? yes, there is some salt, but it should not be a major problem?

what do you think?

has anyone tested recipes from this book,

I Am a fan of Mr Reinhart, but this book has not won me over and I don't feel hundred per cent confident in its recipes (the way I was with P Reinhart's previous books). Am I totaly wrong?

pls advise

thanks

stefano