I have been having a problem with starters for almost a year now, which has resulted me giving up sourdough baking in general. Given, I once said that I was not happy unless something is rising in my kitchen- like reading a good book.
Things are going monstrous on the bread front. I have recently gotten into yeast breads (not as much an art as a science, and you better hurry!) and even explored the fun-handling of rye flour and making rye breads.
Being an old New Jersey native, I like a good lip smacking jaw-dropping sour rye and I think I found one here
I think I have finally achieved what I wanted to do for about the three years that I have been sourdoughing. I think I have achieved the oven spring I wanted, and by all means yall be the judge.
I took the very same recipe that I had for my third attempt with two notable differences.
Decided on upping the starter to 150 so...
Starter 150g
Water 300
Flour 225 AP/225 BF
12g of salt
Mixed it all up, let it rest for an hour
Looked at it and folded it every 2 hours for 6.5 hours
Wonderful marshmallow texture when I put it in the bowl
Let it go in the fridge for 22 hours
Baked at the usual 450 for 500, I did forget to dunk the parchment paper in water.
A Sourdough Crossroads
Don't think for minute because of the title that I am going to give up this wonderful hobby (using the word hobby seems a bit limited to me but it is what it is- another expression I have never liked). If I gave up baking sourdough I would have to go back to brewing beer, and there is nothing more messy and demanding that that. I once ruined a perfectly good carpet with an exploding mead recipe.
Small Batch equals Small Bread
I thought that the dough was at the 1.75-ish cup point, thus I heated the forge, put it in wet parchment. Took out the heated cast iron, placed it in, poured in a half a cup of water under the parchment and started the usual 450 after 500 for 20 then for 30. Herein is the result, small, unimpressive, with no 'boom' really.
The above is typical of my sour note experiments. Nice crumb, medium tightness. Golden color. Above is a typical example of my oven spring. I want more, a lot more.
I want a bursting loaf, something that will rise so high that it scrapes the top of the oven. I have accomplished pretty much everything in a basic sour loaf except exceptional oven spring. Some things I have learned that have improved it are:
