2 KG Miche-very sour
I finally achieved the more than usually sour miche I have been trying for lately.
A 2Kg loaf, 70% hydration, 60% White Whole Wheat flour. I first had a larger percentage (close to 40%) of the final dough as a sour levain, mixed with cold-autolysed (18 hours) flour and water, along with salt and a little extra water for a second hydration.
5 S&Fs over about 40 minutes, then fermented 24 hours (noon to noon) in the fridge, with one s&f just before I went to bed, so it didn't get over-fermented overnight. Shaped while still cold and raised in a large bowl lined with my couche cloth, and retarded in the fridge another 8 hours, then at room temp for 1 1/2 hours. Scored in a pattern inspired by Breadsong's beautiful scoring here [1]. Baked on pizza stones with ovren preheated to 500, then after loading and steaming temp was reduced to 425 for 25 minutes, then 400 for another 25 minutes.
The resulting loaf is huge, weighing in at just over 2 Kg.
The crust got good and crackly:
I sliced it open (reluctantly) after cooling it for 3 hours.
Sweet rich flavour, with a cool creamy feel and a strong sour taste that almost bites you back! I think this might be close to the limit of sourness, which is what I was aiming for. If past experience is anything to go by (this is my third such Miche) the flavour should improve further with time.