New flour - how to avoid cowpats (!) ?
After reasonably (!) successful and reliable sourdoughs, I had in succession one very flat loaf and then a cowpat (overproofed) - the cowpat was a new recipe but the flat loaf was tried and tested. Even the cowpat seemed relatively fine - not very active bulk fermentation, so fridge overnight, it felt heavy when I shaped, then fell apart before final shaping... The thing I'd changed - was to a new flour!
The new flour came through Bakery Bits - a 100% stoneground white, which I thought would be great. Looking at the label, it comes from Little Salkeld:
http://organicmill.co.uk/node/143 [1]
and is the biodynamic, which I'm assuming therefore is potentially only a protein level of 9%(?) - it doesn't specify protein on the label :(
I've been using either strong bread flour, or the very strong Canadian flour (Waitrose) - so I'm guessing this is what is challenging!
Question: how can I best use this new flour, as I have 6kg of it? Should I mix it with the strong Canadian to make a sort of standard bread flour, or are there particular techniques I should try to get the best from this flour? I'd like to be able to use it and see what it tastes like - but I don't know the right techniques. Any suggestions much appreciated!!
thanks
Salilah