October 30, 2014 - 2:12pm
Improving 3-Stage Pain au Levain
Some changes I made for this bake of 3-stage pain au levain
-Levain chef premiere fermented for 3 hours
-Included a 2 hour RT autolyse without levain
-bulk fermentation lasted 45 minutes
-hydration increased to 72%
-used "high extraction" flour blend: 50% whole wheat, 50% all purpose
-Shaped into 1 miche, 1 boule, and 1 batard
some crumb shots
Overall, I was pretty happy with this bake. The crumb structure was much more open, and I liked the color from using the high extraction flour blend. The flavor had a prevailing sweet overtone, and the crust was well-carmelized, judging by color and flavor. Next week, I might add some raw wheat germ to the mix, for flavor.
Happy Halloween,
blackhatbaker
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Comments
Your loaf is a beauty, love the scoring, except I wonder if maybe it's time to develop a "B" and really take credit!
You achieved a more open crumb, but the some areas seem to have remained dense. I'm still learning, but wonder if a few stretch and folds (SF) may help develop the dough, create more pockets and lead to a more even distribution?
Wheat germ is great, but I understand toasted, it's just that much better!
Keep baking and sharing!
Cathy