August 19, 2013 - 6:06pm
VT Sourdough with Increased Whole Grain
Back to basics for this bake. This is my go-to, everyday bread. I follow Hamelman's formula by the book. I thought it would be warm enough to bulk ferment on the counter, but not much had happened by the time of the first stretch and fold, so I put it in the oven with the light on for a while. At two and a half hours, the dough was still not where it should have been, so I did another stretch and fold and continued to ferment in the oven with the light on and off. In another hour it looked good, so I shaped and then did the final proof in the refrigerator as usual. I'm happy with how it turned out. A good save.
Dave
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Good improv skills and a good bread to show for it.
Paul
Thanks Paul. I know there is a proofer in my future, but I have to maintain a gear moratorium for a while.
Best,,
Dave
Your bread turned out quite nicely in the end, Dave. I have this same timing issue with naturally leavened breads in general, even when the dough and room temps are spot on. I now just add an extra 1-2 hours at the beginning of bulk fermentation time. I count it as lag time, because the dough doesn't move at all, and folding during this period doesn't seem to do a thing for the dough.
For the Vermont Sourdoughs, I mix the dough and then set a timer for 90 minutes, and when that goes off, I start the clock on the 2.5-hour bulk fermentation and folding as lined out in the instructions. I find that the folds do so much more for the dough by delaying this way. Curiously, bulk fermentation is the only part of the process that doesn't work, time-wise, for me. Maturation of the levain build and final proof run pretty much on schedule. Go figure.
Very best wishes,
dw
If I understand you reply correctly, you're mixing and then allowing 90 minutes before you take anymore action.. Is this correct and at the 90 minute mark you're adding salt or??
Thanks
Chris
Not doing anything to it at 90 minutes. The salt goes in at mixing. Just tacking on an extra 90 minutes to bulk fermentation, but at the front end before any folding, allowing for the lag time (and there's no gas to expell). I get more strength from the fold this way. In other words, a 4-hour bulk fermentation with fold at 2 3/4 hours. It's not as if the bulk fermentation is slower, because once it starts, things move along as expected. There's just this 90-minute delay even though the dough generally comes out of the mixing bowl at 76-77 degrees.
Best,
dw
Sorry for the duplicate post..
C
Hi Debra,
The term "bulk" fermentation probably explains this? A JH bulk dough will weigh a minimum of 10kg, and I guess he'll mix as much as 60-100kg reasonably frequently. That's a bit different to a homebaker's dough size!
Nice baking Dave!
Best wishes
Andy
Hi Andy,
Hard to say. My doughs start out the same temp as his, so you'd think they would kick in and start doing something, maybe slowing later in the process if the dough cools off faster in smaller mass. Although, I do use the proofer to keep things fairly steady. I have a theory that it's either more about the bakery effect than the mass effect; or some idiosyncratic initial reaction of my starter to the salt added at mixing. I may never know ...
All the best,
dw
Looks like your bread turned out pretty good to me with a nice crust and open crumb. Very nice baking.
Regards,
Ian
Thanks for your comments. Living in New England ( if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes), I've had to adjust to the changing conditions quite a bit this Spring and Summer. As I said above, I may eventually get a Brod and Taylor proofing box. But for now, as I've learned on this site,"watch the dough not the clock!" Sometimes the times are spot on, other times I have to subtract time; this bake required more time. But with this recipe I now know what the dough should look and feel like at each stage, so I adjust accordingly.
It's more difficult when trying a new formula, especially at higher hydrations, to know how to adjust. I still have quite a ways to go with higher hydration doughs!
Thanks again,
Dave
chances are you can make a good loaf of bread under all seasons, temperatures , unforeseen consequences and occasional duress .
Nice baking. This loaf has to be tasty.
Lovely.
Great looking loaf, and great job managing the dough through variable conditions!
I've enjoyed the discusssion above. This week has been complicated, so I probably won't bake again until the weekend. We are halfway through the second of these loaves and the bread is still great.
All the best,
Dave