San Francisco Sourdough Again
I have been working on perfecting my technique in recreating David Snyder's formula for SF Sourdough he has posted on this site. I love the taste of San Francisco sourdough bread and this formula is very much like the bread I know and love.
Problems I've had in the past included not tightly shaping the dough, loaf not browning due to overproofing (my starter must be super active or something).
While mixing the dough, this time, I added a bit more flour (about 1/4 cup or so) and it seemed to help a great deal later on when shaping the loaf (I know, it probably messed with the hydration somewhat, but we'll see in about 2 hours when I cut into the loaf). Also in an attempt to not overproof, about half way thru the night, I took the loaf out of the fridge and let it sit at room temp (here about 60-65F) for the rest of the proof time, eliminated the 85F proof for 3 hrs and got up early(for me) 6 AM to bake.
I also baked in a cold Dutch oven, because I didn't want to risk steaming and perhaps causing problems with my newly repaired gas oven. Preheated oven to 500F with baking tiles in place. I baked for 20 minutes in the Dutch oven with cover (aka tight fitting cast iron skillet) on, and 20 minutes off at 450F. Left the bread in the oven with door ajar for 15 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.
Tighter crumb as I expected - but still not too shabby -
A hot DO and 85 F final proof might have done better. Some people don't see much difference in Hot vs Cold DO's but others do. The high final proof at 85 F probably has more to do with producing 3 times more LABs than yeast to increase the sour but it has to effect the large holes in crumb too I would think.
Nice baking!
Really nice boule, congratulations. I also prefer to use a cold DO in a 500 degree pre-heated oven, but I bake my bread for 40 minutes covered, then 20 minutes uncovered. I could be wrong but I think I read somewhere that the extra 20 minutes cover time compensated for the cold DO. I lowere the oven temp to 450 as soon as the bread goes in. This is the formula that seems to work best for me.
Thanks for the kind words and for the information regarding a cold DO. I'm trying not to burn myself because I can be pretty klutzy at times. The bread was baked through and the bottom crust was well-done, not burnt but I wouldn't have wanted it any darker, so I don't think I can go much longer in the oven without risking some seriously charred bottom crust. Do you use a baking stone under your DO when you bake or just let it be on the oven rack? Going without the baking stone may make a difference there. I did place a piece of parchment paper on the bottom of the DO before loading the dough so I could get the boule out of the DO more easily.
Thanks
Linda
I actually do place my DO on top of my tiles, but I've always wondered why I do that, to be honest. I don't seem to have a problem with too brown a crust, but then again my oven runs cool, so even though the thermostat says 450 it might be 10 or even 15 degrees lower. The parchement paper on the bottom seems like a good solution, no only for extracting the loaf, but also for preventing too much browning. If you got a loaf looking that good with what you've been doing, I wouldn't mess with it! You're obviously on to something :)
Barbara
Yes, I guess a proof for a couple of hours (maybe 2) would have improved the holey-ness, but I'm quite happy with my sinful(less holy) loaf, since I like to have some bread crumb to hold the butter and sandwich goodies.
thanks, DA
Linda
Hi Linder. I really like this bake. I am on a rye kick right now, but seeing this makes me want a SF sourdough soon!
Thanks.
John