mdw's blog

My starter has been temperamental lately as I've been adjusting its diet so I returned to my roots with this one in effort to regain some focus. I still maintain a cool stiff starter but after switching from 100% rye I had some issues and began adding about 25% back. This is all because my latest attempts with desem included 20% PFF and I found that 20% rye was too overpowering to the flavor of the hard red I was using. So this loaf returns to my longish ferment with lowish inoculation and minimal handling. Despite excellent oven spring the crumb isn't as open as it used to be, but I knew my sluggish starter hadn't completed the job when I had to call it a night. I invoked the power of Tartine's short bulk and hoped for the best.

The original formula was for 75% hydration but I decided to raise it to 78% when I added 15g H2O to the stiff starter, making it easier to incorporate. The total PFF was 7% and it bulked for about 7:45min at about 68-69℉. The cooler weather outside didn't help the fermentation. All in all I'm pretty satisfied with the results and glad to see my starter responding positively to the rye again. 

I've slowed down on the Brown Bread baking, but as part of my grain CSA I still need to work my way through some Chiddam de Blanc Mars. I recently made some Coffee Cake with Proof Bakery's recipe which was complicated but amazing. Unfortunately the center was undercooked because I didn't have a temperature recommendation, just time. So no photos. But yesterday we baked Maurizio's Sourdough Babka with better results. This is the second time baking it so I made a few changes, primarily the amount of chocolate filling. I doubled it with much better results. I also used 100% Chiddam de Blanc Mars, which adds some really interesting earthiness to the flavor. Since cutting out the rye from my starter feed it's been a little sluggish so it needed about twice as long to proof (I've since added about 25% back to the starter but don't plan to use as much PFF in my next loaf to limit the flavor effects). The additional filling extended the bake time well beyond his recommendation by about double, but the first time I made it the loaf needed additional time as well to reach target temperature. Very pleased overall and would recommend. 

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As part of a grain CSA I've recently been tasked with using unexpected flour. This was made with 100% Chiddam de Blanc de Mars. It's a pound cake with 100% substitution. I used a  Stella Parks recipe and am extremely pleased with the results:

The crumb is nice and light and the requests for more are endless (for now).

100% whole grain (100% extraction), this loaf was baked with 75% hydration. I knew immediately the hydration here was too low but decided to continue anyway to see what happened. I recently began converting my starter to something stiffer and cooler based on the Desem threads that continue to intrigue me. This was the first bake following my standard formula for whole grain that I've enjoyed for the last year or so. In part because of the hydration, in part because of life, the bulk ferment lasted a full 24 hours at room temp of approximately 70℉ (6% PFF). The dough was so stiff there was no manipulation at all during this time. The resulting flavor is delightful, a light delicate (and very even) crumb. Not as open as my previous bakes, but a joy to eat and a happy surprise from something I had written off as a loss before baking. 

This is a continuation of my ongoing experimentation with my family's daily bread. I first posted about this here and with this loaf I applied some theories I had been considering regarding the development of gluten. Inspired by these comments by Mariana and by watching old videos of Richard Bertinet (this one I particularly enjoy) I've been considering the idea that I haven't been developing the gluten as much as I could be. I'm not unhappy with how our bread normally comes out, I'm just always tinkering and enjoy applying theory into practice. My normal methodology is to autolyze for a set amount of time, typically three hours (although I have played with Trevor's salted and chilled overnight method) and to use Rubaud for initial development. I then switch to coil folds over stretching, I believe the action although gentle is in line with what happens during Bertinet's slap and folding, which seems to include plenty of stretching as well. Lamination seems to apply similar effects, but I've only tried that a few times so far. 

So this time I tried slap and folds. And a lot of them. Which seems particularly challenging with 100% whole grain. I spent about an hour doing this to see what would happen if I just kept going. I wet my hands so many times I probably raised the hydration by about 10% from the original 80%, if not more. The dough would at times come together relatively nicely but nowhere like the soft squishy balls Bertinet likes to tap when he's done. They'd come together but then I'd lose it a little, re-wet my hands, and keep going. At the end of the night I had sticky wet mess that left bits of dough everywhere and didn't maintain pre-shape on the bench for more than a minute or two. I stitched it as well as I could and plopped it in the banneton for short proof and a 5 hour cold retard. 

It also overproofed slightly, which isn't unusual for me (I shoot for 100% rise before retard). But the significant increase in hydration likely contributed to that as well. Before baking I was prepared to write this one off as loss but I was pleasantly surprised when I cut into it. It's definitely flat from the lack of tension and too much water, and slightly over fermented as well. But it's definitely tender and moist and it still tasted great. I would say that this particular experiment successfully failed and my typical methods are best suited for what I like to achieve.

The formula was:

• 100% Heirloom French Renan
• 80% H20 (plus was too much more)
• 7% PFF
• 2% Salt

I've long kept a personal diary online of my bakes to help track progression and variables and thought it might be nice to begin sharing them here. Over the years I've learned an astonishing amount from contributors on this site, I've fallen down rabbit hole after rabbit hole chasing theory on microbiology (you're amazing Debra! When will you offer classes again?? Years before I found this site I started my first starter with Artisan Breads Every Day!), dough strength, gluten formation, etc. It's not unusual for me to maintain several open tabs here for weeks on end. I also choose to bake with 100% whole grains from my local mill, originally for the nutrition and flavor (and challenge!) but increasingly because it supports a local economy and agricultural system that align with my beliefs. I'm not particularly patient, but I do tend to be rather methodical. As such the diary has been an enormous help in recognizing cause and effect for experiments that take a few days to complete, particularly because I'm often inspired midway through to try ten things differently next time. That said, I've settled into a basic routine that I'm happy with and am more comfortable isolating one or two variables at a time. I'm currently playing with dough strength in an attempt to push my whole grain as far as I can. I've recently been inspired by Mariana's comments in this thread, and for this last loaf I dusted off the KitchenAid to see what would happen. Spoiler alert, not much. We own the Artisan model unfortunately so the dough hook isn't particularly effective, but it was worth a shot. The rest of the process was as follows:

• 100% Whole Grain Heirloom French Renan
• 80% Hydration
• 5% inoculation
• 2% Salt

Autolyze for 5 hours followed by inoculation, a brief rest, and salt. My current theory is that building strength during the autolysis is beneficial, particularly when working with whole grains. So there was a lot of Rubaud and rolling around in the bowl during this time. After inoculation I laminated this dough twice, which is also a relatively new technique for me, but the effects were inconclusive. Although I prefer long cool fermentation I made a scheduling error and was forced to bulk at 80℉ to avoid 2am completion. I generally shoot for about 75% rise before shaping, followed by an hour or so at room temperature, then a retard in our very cold fridge of at last 5 hours. This loaf was baked after three nights in the fridge. 

This is not the best loaf from my most recent bakes, but they've become very consistent. As such I think I'm now better able to dial in on some of the more subtle effects from the process. As Trevor Wilson says, it's about 80% fermentation so as that remains consistent so too do the bakes. For the next bake I plan to incorporate some ideas I have based on watching what happens with Richard Bertinet's dough.

This site has become a respite of sorts from what feels like an increasingly toxic internet culture. The quality of contributions and dialogue is a real breath of fresh air and I thank you all.  

Inspired by this comment from Trevor Wilson, I decided to take a run at bread made from dough doubled twice before turning out for preshape. I didn't feel confident that I'd be able to shape something that far along so I also decided to indulge my wife's request for sandwich bread simultaneously and dusted off the 9x4x4 Pullman (sans lid). After calculating how much water it holds, I divided the number by two to determine how much dough I needed (to fill the pan before it doubles), and added 10% to provide just enough to sit proud of the top. 

For context, I bake two or three sourdough loaves a week, whole grain exclusively. I have great success with moist and open crumb, deeply flavorful low temperature inoculations. But I've always been chasing more tang. As far as I know, the only real way to achieve this is by fermenting it beyond the point of being able to maintain significant structure, and I didn't want to sacrifice one for the other. My daily loaf is generally risen to a full(ish) 100% before a cold retard, typically 75% in bulk and another 25% proof (using bwraith's models for guidance and planning). I couldn't imagine taking my daily dough to 225% (structure wise), so that's where the Pullman pan comes in. I have to say, this loaf did not disappoint.

With all the other changes to my routine I figured I may as well make a white loaf as well, so I used 80% BF (Central Milling ABC+) along with 20% Heirloom French Renan from Grist & Toll (my wonderful local mill). At 70% hydration I was going for a "stiff" dough at Trevor's suggestion, but this felt very lax and overly extensible and I think it would have performed better at 65%. My NMNF starter and levain were used for a 5% inoculation of the dough that fermented nearly 20 hours total before the final shaping (69/70°F).  

I'm blown away by these results. So much so that I've been inspired to delurk here to record my notes. I've never tasted bread this sour. The aroma pops you in the nose and the tang is downright puckering. It's not for everyone, but I love sour profiles. And the texture is just as Trevor described, it's light and fluffy like a cloud. If you haven't before, I highly recommend running this experiment for yourself.