Hobgoblins and foolish consistencies aside,
This little mind seeks consistency of any sort. Sometimes making artisan breads feels like smooching while standing on a hammock (works sometimes, sometimes it doesn’t).
Take last Saturday, for example. I made 2 loaves of sourdough and 2 sandwich loaves of 100% whole wheat. Other than tasting good, they sucked. The artisan loaves had crumbs that were smooth as silk, while the sandwich loaves had crumbs more open than I’ve seen before (and I bake them weekly).
Seriously, I think my issues are with determining the end of fermentation periods - the whole poke-the-dough thing. I think it will just take practice. But, your comments are welcome.
But, yesterday was a winner...for me. See below.
These are 78% hydrated loaves with 45% KA all-purpose flour, 45% KA bread flour, and 10% stone ground rye. The sourdough starter was 100% hydrated and its flour was 30% of the total weight of the flour in the bread. Most of the flour was made into a soaker with 2% salt for 18 hours (but who knows if that was beneficial).
FF