English Muffins ... Take 2

Kid #2 wanted something non-sourdough, so I decided to take  another shot at English Muffins.

Poolish:

100g AP flour

100g water

1 packet commercial yeast

Ferment for ~12 hours

Autolyse:

200g AP flour

150g water

Sit for 75 minutes

Final Dough:

All of the poolish

All of the autolysed flour

75g AP flour

25g WW flour

75g water

(I forgot to add salt (d'oh!!!))

Knead in Kitchen Aid (KA). Use a paddle to combine into a wet mass, then switch to a dough hook and knead at speed '3' for ~3 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes. Knead for 6-10 minutes at speed '6' (I saw a ciabatta video where this was done, and the dough "slaps" against the bowl at high speed).

Bulk ferment overnight (did this last night in my cold room (about 60F)).

This morning I did about 5 stretch and folds by hand with the dough in the KA bowl using a spatula. I then spread about 2/3s of the dough out on my cutting board which was dusted with cornmeal. I warmed the oven to 80+F and let the dough rise for about 30 minutes, then cut, then placed on a hot cast iron griddle.

Results were ok. Crumb was exactly where I wanted it to be, but the muffins were a bit thin because based on the last batch of muffins I thought it would be good to roll them thinner and then let them rise. I had one with breakfast, and it was very tasty after being toasted. These were pretty close to Thomas' ... I think to get even closer I would reduce the hydration, add salt (d'oh!), and roll them out a little thicker.

The remaining dough I made into a small loaf. In the pic the teeny 'loaf' (more like a large roll) is sitting on the knife handle so as to illustrate the crumb. The oven spring was amazingly good, the crust was nice, and the flavor excellent. I try to eat low carb during the week (and eat carbs during the weekend) but this little guy was tasty and I lopped off 2 slices and ate them with butter. I think I'll try Jason's Ciabatta next.