My first SD bake 1/29/21
After getting comfortable baking yeast breads with at least some amount of home milled flour, I decided to don my proverbial water wings and venture into the deeper end of the bread baking pool with the sourdough people. So far, it feels like I am doing a dog paddle, but my first SD bake came out good enough for us.
I followed Abe's VSSD [1] recipe (a 60% whole wheat bread). The bulk rise didn't go nearly as high as his experience, barely doubled after 12 hours overnight. Our home is only 67F at night,so that may have been part of the issue. While my 100% hydration starter is quite vigorous, the stiff starter may not have been quite ready for prime time yet. I gave bulk a little more time, then shaped/proofed in a banetton/scored and baked in a DO.
Proofing was quite slow as well, and I was certain the crumb was going to prove it was terrible. Even though my expectations were quite low, I decided to bake it and learn from the experience. The result was a very pleasant surprise! I expected a brick, but the crumb had a soft and pleasant chew with a soft tang. And the crust had a great crunch without being too much. Now I can hardly wait for my next "swimming lesson". ?