March 7, 2011 - 7:12am
S.D. Bread
Here is the recie from a well known Pro.Baker.
1/4 cup starter
1 cup whole wheat flour
5 1/2 cups white bread flour
2 1/2 cups of water
2 tsp salt.
Ingredients were measure with a scale. Every thig was done per the recipe except I used a KA Pro for kneading.
The dough never did start to come together or leave the side of the bowl I let it rest 2 times for 30 minutes each and it still was sloppy. I put it in a bowl over night temp about 68 degrees. The dough doubled . It acted and looked more like a starter at 100% hydration . Did not want to waste my time so I discarded it. Have not had this problem in the past. Any ideas
Thanks for looking,
Mr.bob
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68% hydration is the figure I come to, based on converting your volume measurements to weight measurements.
What figures did you use for the weight of a cup of flour and a cup of water?
Starter hydration at what percentage?
The amount of starter also looks to me to be a quite a bit low. That 1/4 cup would be about 5% of the total flour weight. (If my math is correct)
Is it a wild yeast starter, or does it contain commercial yeast?
Mark
Hi . well my starter is or has been 100% . I do mine 1 part starter 1 part water and 1 part flour. I have always been able to make a sd loaf with this starter that I feed on a normal basis as needed. I use a scale for measure ments. I use the gram or ounce measure ments on the bag of flour for a cup.
No wild or commercial yeast. This starter has neen active fpor over a year and has worked perfectly for me. I have made this bread before not perfect but not a dough like this.
I just thought that some one might have the answer. My flour is fresh and my water is ok not much else could be wrong.
Thanks for the reply.
Bob
I recognize this recipe from Mike Avery's site for his San Francisco-style bread. Mike uses a 100%-hydration starter. I believe the relatively small amount of starter is to allow for an extended fermentation time of about 12 to 15 hours and to achieve a distinctive sour tang.
The dough always came out really wet and sticky when I tried it. I mixed by hand, and it did clear the sides of the bowl. On my last attempt, I resorted to stretching and folding instead of kneading. That seemed to develop the gluten, but in the end, my loaves still didn't hold their shape well. (Of course, this could very well have been due to my relatively poor shaping skills.) The bread did, however, turn out okay. It wasn't a brick or anything.
In contrast to Mark, I come up with 74% for the hydration level, based on 120-g cups of flour, so it's a pretty wet dough and difficult for me to work with. I decided to move on to other recipes and learn how to bake bread with easier-to-handle doughs.
If the dough was like 100%-hydration starter, I'd guess you might have accidentally put in 3 1/2 cups of water instead of 2 1/2 cups.
Hi Yes this is one of Mikes recipes. For some reason I have had the same problem that you have had. This is the first time though that it was so sloppy. I have tried your method and your right. A loaf of bread but dertainly not what we had hoped for. I have had good luck maybe 2 -3 times in the last year or so. I back away and try again. It seems like a losing battle. I have made some pretty good bread but this one has me stressed as I know Mikes bread is outstanding and he puts a lot of effort in helping every one that will take the time to email him. I have bugged him to many times so thought I might get a answer here.
My 1/4 cup of starter was real thick so that I deluted it per Mikes recipe as I always have. I have no other answer. I never even when the dough is window pane tested able to get a loaf that will form perfectly in a boule. It always goes a little flat on me also
Thanks for the nice comments
Bob
You could try cutting back on the water or adding more flour to get a firmer dough.
I've kind of wondered if there was a mistake in the recipe because the dough was so slack, but I've also read comments about how with proper handling and shaping even the slackest doughs can produce good loaves. So I always figured the difficulties I had were due to my lack of skill, and I never bothered to e-mail Mike to ask about this particular bread. I'm kind of tempted to try it again now that I've had more practice with bread-making.
If you do end up asking Mike about this, i'd be curious to hear what he suggests.
Hi placebo
Take a look at this and I will if you want tell you what I did to get this real nice loaf
well I thinbk good enough for my book.
Mr.Bob
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/22785/single-sourdough-loaf
That looks pretty good. I assume the camera flash is why the crust in the second picture looks so pale.
Was this a free-form loaf?
No I used a proofing basket. Then I put it on a pizza Peel and slid it in the oven.
Not sure what you have but I mixed mine with a hook on a KA . I ran the KA at spped four till it was slapping the sides and had a window pane dough.
Only difference and it seemed to come together so much better. I could have done a boule it had good form even when I put it in the basket. I was looking for a nicer looking loaf. If it had been a little wetter I think it would have shown the nice grooves from the basket.
Thanks for looking
Bob