Le Grande Comedie! My first attempt at baking a sourdough loaf
So, I got my standard PhD in sourdough from youtube and thought..."I've been baking bread with commercial yeast for years....how hard could it be?"
I got a 5 year old King Arthur starter sample from a local baker who was happy to share and coach. I went home, fed it well (I think), fed it again, and then started a loaf.
Felt like a Bad A$$ because i learned the term "autolyse" but am still not 100% sure if I autolysed whatever correctly because basically I just put it in my proofing box at 85 for 3-4 hours. It looked good, so I smacked it around a bit, folded it, and put it back in the proofing box for another 4-5 hours. It rose well (I think), so I pre-heated the oven. When it got to 500, I grabbed my favorite dutch oven and panicked because its WAY to small.
So I improvised....I scored the loaf (man that thing deflates FAST) and then fashioned a field expedient lid using heavy tin foil and plopped her in the oven!
It's currently cooking with its tinfoil hat, and I'm nervous how it will come out. Honestly, I'll be a bit disappointed if its beautiful and tasty.....it can't be THAT forgiving!
Pictures to come if I can figure out how to do it....and am not too embarrassed. :-)