February 12, 2014 - 8:43am
Tartine Approach Worth It??
I have Tartine Book No. 3 & kicked off the Master Method a few weeks back & lost my discipline somewhere along the way.
By the time one has worked through the Starter, Leaven, Dough/Premix, Autolyse, Final Mix, Bulk Rise, Final Shaping, Final Rising & Baking phases, a fair amount of flour has gone into the waste bin & a block of ones life has passed.
My query is, is the taste & quality of the final product worth the effort compared to other simpler Dutch Oven baking methods?
C44
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I say its all worth it. My Starter/Levain is my pet, and its cheaper to keep alive than a cat or dog. I have yet to have to run it to the vet because it ate something I left on the table. My few customers also tell me its worth it, I gave a bunch of them, both a 100% hand made loaf and a sourdough loaf where I used a mixer. Every one of them said the hand made loaf tasted better. They didn't know which was which, I just gave then loaf A and loaf B
My loafs take 10-12 hours to make (excluding the set up the night before), and I wouldn't change it any other way.
but have been baking a lot of SD high % whole and multi-grain breads for a couple of years now in a similar way, either baked in the oven on a stone with steam or in a DO they both work fine. A great bread with full flavor takes time most of all.
Today is Wednesday, so it is time to get the Levain going for Friday's bake by taking 10 g of rye starter out of the fridge. This starter is now on its 2nd week in the fridge (out of 4 total) and the levain that I make with it today will also be retarded in the fridge for 24 hours after the 3rd feeding too. Then the dough made with the levain, after a long autolyse of the whole grain flours will be retarded in the frdge for 18 hours too. This process is much longer by a day than Tartine - at least- but if you want the best tasting bread possible - it takes time and the right temperature.
Whether you bake it in a DO or on a stone makes little difference in my book. I'm all for the long, slow processes in making bread whether it be the way I do it, Tartine #3 and Chad does it, the way txfarmer does it with her 36 hour baguettes or the way so many other Fresh Lofians do it. It is worth it but that is not to say a one day SD bread isnt good too - PiPs (Phils) White SD version comes to mind among others. But it isn' the same aste wise - That is what comes wih time.
Happy Slow SD baking
We have been baking Tartine method breads since the first book came out. It is a part of our life, and has grown into a small cottage biz as well. We get so many positive comments from our customers. Frankly, it is rare that we will eat another bread, except from a few of our favorite N. Cal. artisan bakeries.
You have to develop a schedule, rhythm and want to take the time to produce the best! We bake off several loaves every day except weekends (although we often experiment then) and love this method. Book 3 gets a bit more complex, and time consuming, but can yield some amazing flavor profiles. We love the sprouted Kamut and what a beautiful flour to work with. The sprouted-smoked rye has got us thinking far beyond just mixing in chopped up savory items to flavor breads. This is a book for those who want to explore and push the envelop a bit. It is refreshing to see bread going in the direction of other artisans endeavors such as craft brewers, coffee and chocolate roasters, etc.
Acknowledge you need to put the time in - currently probably the only time I could fit in the Bulk Rise 3 hr procedure is at the weekend.
At this time of the year, [mid winter], getting a rise off the back of the top of the fridge is slow.
I imagine if you were retired the Tartine method would fit more easily into your schedule.
BTW, I forgot the Starter about a week in & when I got back to it it had a thin crust on top.
Is that normal?
I threw that away & took 75 gm of the pottage under the crust & kept going, then found a quicker method of producing dough in another book & digressed into that, but left the Tartine bowl on top of the fridge..
So I have this Tartine Leaven with quite a thick crust, but there is some, [I don't quite know how to describe it - stretchy stuff], under there.
Should I persevere? Is there a way to tell whether what is 'under the crust' is viable or been left too long??
Thanks
C44
Take a tablespoon full and add it to 200 grams of water, 200 grams flour and mix it up. In 8 hours see if it made a viable levain.
Did as suggested & this morning there are signs of life, [expansion].
Presume I should keep feeding it 200 W, 200 F daily?
If I need to pause proceedings, how long can I leave the Levian in the fridge before I have to haul it out & resuscitate it??
C44
Gald to see it revived. I was only suggesting you follow the recipe in Tartine, to make the levain from your ripe starter. If it passes the float test use it to bake bread. I would not feed anything 200 grams of flour every day as that is too much flour if you are not baking with it.
I typically make the levain and use it within 12 hours -- alla, ripe starter and young levain recommendation of Chad Robertson. I would just put the expanded leaven in the fridge until you are ready to bake, then 8-12 hours before, take a tablespoon of that new "starter", mix it with the flour and water as per the book, and get baking when it is passign the float test (or otherwise looks airy enough so you know it will float without checking).
once you'll produce one killer loaf and decide for yourself.
As for producing one -- that is another matter. Sadly, Tartine has not worked for me so far, so I can't answer questions like yours to myself.
SD method to start with but if you can get the levain right and used to wet dough with very little, light, handling with the S&F's then you will we light years ahead of startling elsewhere. I always have much better luck with Tartine if I slip a few minutes of slap and folds in there at the beginning, calling them "dough mixing" :-) Doing 4 minutes usually starts to get the gluten doing something worthwhile faster, making nthe rest easier by following the rest of the recipe methods more closely......
Happy baking