100% Whole Grain Hard Red
My starter has been temperamental lately as I've been adjusting its diet so I returned to my roots with this one in effort to regain some focus. I still maintain a cool stiff starter but after switching from 100% rye I had some issues and began adding about 25% back. This is all because my latest attempts with desem included 20% PFF and I found that 20% rye was too overpowering to the flavor of the hard red I was using. So this loaf returns to my longish ferment with lowish inoculation and minimal handling. Despite excellent oven spring the crumb isn't as open as it used to be, but I knew my sluggish starter hadn't completed the job when I had to call it a night. I invoked the power of Tartine's short bulk and hoped for the best.
The original formula was for 75% hydration but I decided to raise it to 78% when I added 15g H2O to the stiff starter, making it easier to incorporate. The total PFF was 7% and it bulked for about 7:45min at about 68-69℉. The cooler weather outside didn't help the fermentation. All in all I'm pretty satisfied with the results and glad to see my starter responding positively to the rye again.