Tropical levain readjusting
Hello all,
I've been baking FWSY loaves for a couple of years now, and have been happily successful at all the recipes in the book. I have also learned to tweak and adjust flour types and fermenting times in order to make my own personal breads.
About six months ago I moved from Oregon, U.S., to the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. The temps here are a steady 85-95 deg. all day long and pretty much year round. I've been keeping an eye on my doughs and having many quality bakes with many of the recipes, except for the 100% Levain loaves. Those doughs have seen way more compost pile than the inside of my dutch ovens...
I believe that my sourdough starter is acting way too fast because of the temps, and many times the proofed dough turns into batter and failure and sad kids that don't have homemade bread! So I'm trying to adjust some parts of my recipes. I'm starting with increasing the amount of flour that I feed my culture. The original ratios according to Forkish are 1:1:4:4 (levain: whole: white: H20) so now I'm trying 1:1:5:4. The resulting starter, when ready, is already looking less watery.
The next step is gonna be to reduce to half the amount of levain in the final dough, but maintain the time schedule the same.
I'll report back on this, but would welcome some viewpoints or ideas...
Taming the beast,
Bryan
I live in sub-tropical Queensland, Australia. Although we don't have your temperatures all year around, this last summer we had many very hot and humid days.
I don't adjust the amount of levain but adjust the timing of both, bulk proof and second proof. If you really want to slow things down, why don't you do most of the bulk proof in your refrigerator? It's then easy to watch the dough (finger poke test) when the dough comes out of the fridge (already shaped in a banneton) to judge when it should be baked.
It might also help to change your levain from 100% to maybe 80%, but it should not make a lot of difference if you follow my suggestion.
Good luck!
i'm in Malaysia and the weather is not much different than in Costa Rica perhaps hotter here, my experience with 100% hydration SD is that it ripens between 4-6 hours during daytime. I just readjust my timing.
I have to cut the levain down to 10% use cold water for the dough flour, cut the bulk ferment in half or cut it out completely, do the bulk ferment and proof in the fridge for 8-12 hours. Works fine for me otherwise the dough turns to goo, It just takes some experimentation since things go very fast at high temperatures.
Usually this is what I do:
50g. Levain, 50g Whole Wheat, 200g White Flour, 200g H2o.
Doesn't sound like 100% levain to me... Am I right?
Anyway, the previous attempt didn't work either. I think I'm gonna try shorter fermentation and then proofing in the fridge...
Peace and bread,
B
IF it is 100% hydration then there is 25 g each of flour and water in the 50 g of levain. So
25 g levain flour + 50 g or whole wheat+ 200 g of white flour = 275 g of flour
25 g of levian water+ 200 g of h2o = 225 g of water so 225g of water divided by 275 g of flour = 81.82% hydration levian
Cold is your friend an hot is your enemy.when it comes to hot climates and bread. It just takes a bit of experimentation to figure it out
Happy baking
Almost a year later and here we are. Opened up a restaurant where the bread is a big draw, specially for the ex-pat europeans that call this home. Have managed to train my levain to help me rise this bread to nice heights, yes the pure levain loaves continue to give me a hard time with the heat and humidity. Ultimately I've learned to not look at the clock at all, look at the dough and be a slave to it's needs and wants.
Most Forkish recipes call for double or triple expansion during bulk ferm, but i find that a 40% increase in size is about all the sourdough breads can handle before the gluten becomes weak and the whole experiment becomes a sloppy sh*tshow.
More flour, different flour, less levain, less time, more fridge, more fold, etc. I don't know if I'll ever completely master this art of naturally leavening bread, but when it works, it's gold!
Ciao,
B.
B
Thank you for the rant. I totally empathize.
You are not alone, and I thank you for providing my minimum daily requirement of laughter.
dobie
Hi, does anyone have a modified levain feeding schedule and baguette recipe for those who live in the tropics?
Thanks!