Oaty Sourdough - lower hydration this time
This was a repeat of this lovely bread, attempting to get more height and less spread. http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/58551/oaty-sourdough [1]. I also wanted to see if there was a difference between my two starters.
I scaled this to make just 1 smaller loaf. The porridge was enough to make two lots of dough so I did a little experiment with my starters. One I had converted to 60% hydration 3 weeks ago and it had been in the fridge all that time. The other loaf used my standard 66% hydration starter that always lives in the fridge. Both had been refreshed the day before and the l built a small 100% hydration starters in the evening with final build next morning using a bit of bran as part of the flour. Levain matured for 7 - 8 hours before I used it. Method was as my second attempt, with no lamination just coil folds. Dough hydration was 76% as opposed to 82% for the original. The porridge also added to the hydration and I haven't calculated that. The dough was very soft but manageable. As I had to go out I popped the bulk fermenting dough in the fridge for about 3.5 hours. When I came home, I warmed it up for 30 minutes and this time did a preshape and rested 30 minutes before shaping. It then had just over an hour on the bench before retarding over night. Baked at 240 deg C in two DOs at the same time for 15 mins lid on and 15 mins lid off.
I thought the 60% hydration starter dough was a little less sticky and easier to handle but the 66% hydration starter loaf had slightly better volume.
Is there a noticeable difference? in reality not much. Flavour might be a tad different and I haven't checked that yet. My crumb is no way as open as "fullproofbaking" gets for this bread, but I am really happy with this bake.
I will test my two starters again in a couple of weeks after they have been fed and left to see if the difference in hydration makes much difference in flavour.
Leslie