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I was encouraged to try this bake, and with the recent activity in the 5-grain Levain CB thread, I decided to give it a go.  Wow, learning curves galore on this one.  First time baking the bread.  First time using inclusions.  First time using a soaker.  Mistake transcribing the formula to my spreadsheet caused a big mess in the first attempt on Saturday.  A few curveballs today.  It was a weekend of ups and downs, and won't have the verdict for at least another few hours. :-)

By the time I was in high school, I baked regularly - including huge challah for large Friday night gatherings at my girlfriend's house. Mixing the the dough for those huge loaves was a significant effort. Oh, I wanted a stand mixer!

Hi all -- Overdue for a proper update on recent bread experiments (there have been many this year, from so much time at home!).  But before that, wanted to see if others might be able to help me figure out an occasional problem I see with some sourdough loaves.  Specifically, every 15-20 or so loaves (e.g. infrequent, but not completely one-off), I tend to see a thin layer or layers of only partially cooked/gummy crumb near the bottom of a loaf when I cut it open.

Came across this  YT video and thought I'd give it a whirl.  Trying to spreadsheet a formula from the video's posted percentages and amounts, and nothing really meshed, so I had to massage the spreadsheet for a while to get the amounts into percentages.  And he is off by more than a very small amount on the hydration and minor amounts elsewhere.  

Just wanted to quickly share a simple recipe which produced delicious bread. I think I overfermented it in bulk a little, so oven spring and crumb structure are not very impressive, but in combination with sesame seeds the flavour is amazing. The crumb is also very soft, which interestingly I used to get a lot when I just started baking, and then lost. Not sure what happened, but I'm pleased to get such a soft texture again.

Here is the formula: https://fgbc.dk/1boa

Feb. 16, 2021.

This is my 8th bake for the durum Community Bake. The previous bake, #7, a tortilla/chapati, is at: www.thefreshloaf.com/node/67438/mini-bake-384-ww-durum-tortilla-chapati-02152021

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Submitted to the durum Community Bake at: https://www.thefreshloaf.com/comment/481725#comment-481725

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Today's bake - 123 sourdough. Recipe here. 

I scaled it to a little bigger loaf: 

150 gm levain

300 gm water

450 gm flour (400 gm KAF AP, and 50 gm freshly milled hard white spring wheat)

9 gm salt

Preheated oven and makeshift DO (our graniteware turkey roaster with a couple of small, rolled up damp towels) to 450F.

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).