October 12, 2023 - 2:27pm
Not all bakes go according to plan....
A slightly experimental bake, with a stiff French levain (for raising power), a liquid levain (for pH reduction) and an overnight yeasted sponge (for flavour).
All went well, but bulk (to 60% vol increase) was rather fast at 2hrs 10m. Retarded, shaped and baked the following day.
As soon as I turned out the loaves from the bannetons onto the peel they started to spread and I realised the loaves were "classically" overproofed.
Sure enough, the ears and loft were poor and the crumb was closer, more regular and more "frogspawn" than I like.
The hazards of experimental bakes, I guess. next time I would reduce the yeast in the sponge and eliminate the bench rest and ambient (pre-retard) proof.
Lance