Darn no knead Frisbee!!
Another unsuccessful attempt at a no knead sourdough in my cast iron dutch oven.
I used a recipe I found online:
1 cup (5 oz.) whole wheat flour
2 1/2 cups (11 oz.) white bread flour (I accidentally grabbed AP instead of bread flour)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups purified water
1/4 cup starter
This is my third attempt at the cast iron. My first was OK, second was slightly better than first, and this last was the worse. I figured there was enough cornmeal on the loaf itself, but I should have thrown some into the dutch oven first because it ended up sticking and burning. I can never get it to rise properly doing it this way and this last time I ended up with a burnt frisbee. The crazy thing is, the flavor of the bread (minus the burnt part) was actually not bad. I just mixed the ingredients, let it sit about 18 hours, put it on the counter and folded into ball, let sit 15 minutes, formed boule (kinda), and let rise two hours. Then I dumped into a preheated 500 degree oven in my cast iron dutch for 30 minutes, removed lid and let bake another 15 minutes.
So besides my complete novice attempt at this, where did I go wrong here? BTW, the dough did not look very well risen after the two hours, but I figured since this was a wetter dough it would rise in the oven. Not so much...
Those'd be the factors I'd look at. I haven't actually done NK SD, but from everything I've been reading lately I suspect it needs longer proofing - and your experience seems to bear that out. As so many people here have said, let the loaf, rather than the clock, tell you when it's ready to bake. Also, 500 seems hot to me, and the burnt crust fits with that. For NK bread baked en cloche (or in DO - same idea) I usually preheat to 450, and I find that for a loaf that size baking about 15 minutes covered and another 20-25 uncovered is enough.
I'm also guessing that you'd be better off doing a separate levain build rather than just a straight dough from that quantity of starter.
very temperature sensitive. A recipe that calls for 24 hours on the counter bulk ferment and then shape with 24 hours finial proof in the fridge I have to cut back to 6 hours bulk on the counter and only 12 hours shaped proof in the fridge since my kitchen is 86 F in the summer and the recipe came from SF where it is 72 F.
In this case with ony a little over 4% levain of the total weight. if you are at 72 F in the kitchen then 24 hours on the counter then shape and 6 hours to proof to 90% more volume than when it went in the basket sounds about right. If you want moire flavor then retard it in the fridge for 24 hours after shaping and bake it about 1 - 1 1/2 hours after it comes out of the fridge - still it should only be 90% proofed. Watch the dough and not the clock is the best advise you can get.
I do';t see anything wrong with the recipe ingredients or hydration around 79% or method other than the time and final proof depending on what temperature your kitchen happens to be. Hotter means less time.
I preheat to 500 F with DO and turn it doen to 450 F after 2minutes of steam and steam for 20 minutes and usually 10 more after the lid comes off but i'm baking to 205 F on the inside minimum not matter how long that takes.
Happy Baking
the temp is too hot. It doesn't get any simpler than that. (really) Repeat everything the same except.
Try a lower starting temperature and bake longer. Preheat cast iron only to 425°F and see what happens. Raise the heat if you want to after the dough is in the pan.