April 8, 2009 - 3:34am
Vermont Sourdoughs from Rosebud
Since starting my new culture using Debra Wink's method, my Sourdoughs have taken on a new look, feel and taste. I'm very pleased. The oven spring has increased and the feel of the dough when folding is different than before. I feel like I've come of age!! These Vermont Sourdoughs (Jeffrey Hamelman) were baked yesterday; one batard and one boule. I've also recalculated the recipe for a final dough weight of 750 g which suits my new brotforms. Both weighed 680 g after baking.
Cheers,
Gavin.
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Those are lovely shapes. You are definitely on a roll now ! c
They look billowy and alive!
What size brotforms do you use for loaves?
Judy
Thanks. They are 750 g brotforms.
I laughed at the obvious but honestly I was looking for dimensions in inches - length, width, and height. That's how I bought my brotforms and have been playing with different weights in each size.
Thanks, Judy
Yes, I laughed also (with you, not at you). The oblong is 26 cm X 14 cm x 7 cm; the round is 22 cm diametre X 8cm deep. Sorry for the delay as we went camping for Easter and have just returned.
Gavin.
Hope you had a great camping trip - it's still a little chilly up here - but days are warming up and the early garden seeds are in.
Judy
Those are beautiful Gavin :-)
thanks Debra,
I owe you lots for getting me to this.
Best Regards,
Gavin.
You almost make me think of tossing out my current starter and beginning a brand new one with Debra's instructions just by the looks of those loaves! These were baked in your beautiful earth oven, I presume?
What do you think it is about your new starter that accounts for most of the difference in your dough and resulting loaves? That you've encouraged a different set of critters to emerge and stabilize, and if so, is it due to using different flour, different temps, daily maintenance schedules, all of the above? Sorry for so many questions, I'm intrigued by your results though...
Sorry for the delay in this reply, as we went camping for Easter and have just returned.
My improvements are exclusively due to the new culture and the revised maintenance regime. The dough preparation and ingredients have not altered at all. I no longer refrigerate my culture during the week, but refresh it at least daily, but always twice daily starting a couple of days before building the final levain. I use very small amounts of culture with each feed and maintain it at 125% hydration. The actual amounts I use are 15 g culture, 93 g water and 75 g flour. I build the final levain using 28 g culture 172 g water and 138 g flour which is enough for two loaves and a bit left over to maintain the culture. I keep the culture in a proofing box at about 26 C, It's always fully active after 10 to 12 hours which suits my daily schedule.
While establishing the new seed culture, I stuck exactly to Debra Wink's instructions. I had a viable culture after 7 days and baked with it successfully on day 7. It's improved gradually over the following weeks in taste. I'm over the moon with the results and can only attribute the difference to this new culture and maintenance regime.
Cheers,
Gavin.
I'm over the moon with you :-)
Gavin, these are very nice loaves. They look very tender and tasty!
Sylvia
thanks Sylvia.