Experiment - Effect of retarding 0 days, 1, 2 and 3. [Picture included]
I am trying to create a white sourdough with a light, crispy crust and a fluffy crumb. I attended SFBI last week for their Artisan Breads II - Mastering Sourdough class, and learned the effects of refrigerating dough at different stages of the process. When you refrigerate shaped loaves, it is referred to as retarding. In this part of the process, the pH will continue to decrease (more acidic), and the protein will slowly break down with the chemical activity over time. We were instructed to retard for 24 hours, but I tried an experiment this week with retarding dough for longer.
I used King Arthur All Purpose Flour and Whole Wheat Flour, and a stiff sourdough starter fed twice after a 2 week stint in the fridge. I shaped 4 loaves, baked one after a 1.5 hour proof, 1 after a 1 day retard, 1 after a 2 day retard, and 1 after a 3 day retard. I found that the best results can from the 2 and 3 day retard, with a better flavor on the 3 day retard. You can see the longer retard as you move up from the bottom in the picture.
Baker's % | Kg | |
Starter | ||
Flour | 95.00% | 0.269 |
Whole Wheat Flour | 5.00% | 0.014 |
Water | 65.00% | 0.184 |
Starter | 50.00% | 0.142 |
Final Dough | ||
Flour | 100.00% | 1.361 |
Water | 68.00% | 1.081 |
Salt | 2.50% | 0.034 |
Levain | 50.00% | 0.609 |
Total Formula | ||
Flour | 95.83% | 1.630 |
Whole Wheat Flour | 4.17% | 0.071 |
Water | 74.40% | 1.265 |
Salt | 2.00% | 0.034 |