January 26, 2015 - 1:47pm
It's so nice...
...after two months test-baking rye breads, some of whose recipe addled my brain, to just bake my familiar weekly sourdough.
This is essentially Vermont sourdough from Hamelman's Bread with 11 percent less levain, and 15 hours retard at 55°F.
David G
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That sourdough bread looks very, very good David.
Happy Baking!
Diane
I look for your posts every day. I'm always a little envious: I always bake alone, and usually bore my long-suffering wife talking about ears and gringes.
David G
I can relate the timeless weekly sourdough never gets old around here. Looks like you whipped up a nice one.
This is my "go-to" sourdough. The one I baked over-and-over to learn. It's a tasty familiarity.
David G
after baking a bunch of rye, or in my case, whole grain breads. They just taste and look so good with a bit of whole grains. Love this one David.
Happy baking
This one's got a touch of whole rye in it, so I guess I'm "withdrawing" from rye bread painlessly.
Regards,
David G
Just lovely. Sent you a private email thanking your for this post http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/12766/building-formulaready-levain-starter. It was complicated but helped me enormously. IF your brain is addled, God help the rest of us.
There are simpler ways to do it, but I still use my complicated method to build SD bigas, and robust Rye Sour. I like the three-build approach to "wake-up" my refrigerator-stored culture. I only have to keep a small amount between bakes, and it's "gentle" with the yeast and lab beasties--their environment changes slowly.
Since concocting that approach--five years ago--I've adopted a companion strategy. Most of the formulae I make now I still develop levain with a 24hour three-build discipline, but I keep it at 100% hydration and adjust the the water and flour in the final dough accordingly. It's simpler. If you keep your culture at room temperature between bakes, a single build is adequate.
I'm glad you got value out of it. If nothing else, it's still a great exercise to learn baker's math:-)
Happy Baking
David G