Vermont Sourdough (1st Attempt)
Tried my hands on the 1:2:3 SD last night but it was a flop. It was probably because of a rookie like me who can't handle any high hydration dough yet. It will remain elusive for the moment. (Sorry if I disappointed you, Abe)
I was really running low on bread supply too and have decided to give the Vermont SD recipe a try. It wasn't easy to tackle yet another high hydration dough but I managed....phew! Stuck to the recipe except that....I was mixing the dough in my Kitchen Aid mixer for a full 5 minutes at first, so that I will have enough of gluten build up for the dough. After that, I kneaded it for another good 10-13 minutes or so by hand,which I prefer as I could 'feel' the dough. Also, I couldn't eat anything that is just so plain...so I added some brown bread flour for that matter....am a rebel at heart!
I guess the picture is visually satisfying but there was a major let down. My SF technique is far from acceptable as I was really trying hard to handle the dough as little as possible at that time.
The only consolation would be the bread doesn't look too bad and the crumbs are moist and chewy.....I shall work harder the next time!!!
And the quest continues.......................
The moment of truth.....can be devastating.
Comments
common thing for a new bread maker. All it means is that you are completely normal and much better than being completely abnormal:-) It usually coincides with a new and young starter too. Sometimes folks are too timid at gently degassing the dough before shaping thinking they will get rid of all the holes if they are too firm so instead of getting rid of all the big ones like they should they are left behind and get what you got. No worries. You will get the feel of the dough while shaping and these holes will go away for good.
The other thing i noticed is that the bread seems very pale on the bottom crust compared to the top. If you are using a stone make sure that you preheat another 15 - 20 minutes after the oven comes to the set temperature because the stone will lag the air temperature by 15 minutes of more if it is a thick stone. The other culprit is that the bottom element isn't working as well as it should and you should check it out with a oven thermometer.
Happy baking
Hi dabrownman, you have got some good eyes there. I do aware of the pale bottom of my bake and it is due to a few reasons. Am having a lousy oven here, so the heat is not distributed evenly. The problem lies in the bottom of the oven (small part of it though) is not heating up nicely. Also, I have forgotten to remove the tray after the initial steaming stage and only realised on the final minutes of my baking. It was a little late to salvage the mistake. So I proceeded with heating the bottom only for about 8 minutes towards the end. All in all, thank you very much for giving out those pointers and I shall keep them in mind. Hope everything is fine in Arizona!
Pleased you've done a very good bake there. Yes, 123 method is 71% hydration which might take getting used to. Your choice of Vermont Sourdough, 65% hydration, was a good one. And it was very successful I see. Sorry about recommending a higher hydration so soon. Keep it for future bakes.
I think a good piece of advice is don't be afraid to handle the dough. I'm sure they can smell fear. I think that's what the big holes are. But otherwise you should be pleased. Keep with this recipe for now as its a good one to get used to the whole procedure. I'm sorry for not thinking of this one first.
Hi Abe,
Thanks for ‘dropping by’. I guess I was over ambitious at that time and it’s got nothing to do with your wrong recommendation. It’s not wrong, just not right for me for the time being, I guess. What was I thinking anyway?
I do agree on one thing though, they can smell fear : ) I realised it towards the final SF session and was just hoping that luck was on my side but it didn’t happen obviously. Now that I know what went wrong, I should keep going even more.
Hope your weekend went on well and thank you for everything....
p/s: Maybe i should score the doughs slightly deeper to give them some ‘ears’ so that they would listen to my grouses??? Talk about live cultures, eh!
Regards,
FrugalBaker
That is a nice looking loaf of bread.
Here are a couple of tips, rookie-to-rookie - for handling the 1:2:3 dough, after mixing, wet your hands, dump it out on your board and slap and fold vigorously for about 5 minutes. Somewhere on the site dabrownman said to do that and I have been lurking and admiring his breads for ages. I was amazed how the gluten developed doing it that way. And then for shaping, check out the SFBI video - the method shown works like a dream. I baked my most successful 1:2:3 sourdough this weekend and was so surprised at how well I was able to handle the dough.
Thanks Theresa for your words of encouragement and I'll have a look at that. Good day there.....
TFL. Eric Hanner, may he rest in peace, took one look at my bread years ago and said 'you need to do slap and folds to get the gluten developed well and early in the process - then treat it more gently with stretch and folds.' That advice changed my bread making forever. I haven't used a mixer since except for enriched dough like panettone - if I am feeling lazy :-). Doing slap and folds lets you get a handle on what the dough should feel like and you can adjust the water and flour to make it just right from the beginning of gluten development. It also forces you into higher hydration as well since low hydration dough doesn't slap and fold well. .
it tastes good too. Another advocate for the 123 method. Wet hands are definitely your friend. Don't be afraid to experiment and make your oven is extra hot. Use an instant read thermometer and no less final temp of 195 dF.
I'm just putting a 123 in the oven shortly. I love this method because all I need is my math and an imagination as to what flours to mix.
I am quite pleased with the end result to be honest. This is my best bake by far. Thank you very much for your word of encouragement and all your pointers are well noted too. Feeling blessed to have found this site. Good day to you there. Happy Baking......