Sourdough baking

Just another batch, these took a very long time to ferment and shape, since the dough was at 70° the entire day. Mixed at at 10am, put the loaves in the fridge around 7pm.

The crumb isn't as even as I'd like, but it's better.

The better of the two proofed for about 18 hours and the other was closer to 12

Incredibly fine strands of gluten, very pretty

Having just bought Open Crumb Mastery by Trevor Wilson (not a plug, just a genuine wealth of information), I proceeded to not read it and do an experiment on a whim, with not much thought behind it.

I've always wondered about the function of the bulk fermentation(BF) vs the final proof in a banneton. I just couldn't find, through my own reasoning, why the biological processes that happen during the BF couldn't happen after shaping, simply with a longer final proof.

What I was trying to avoid was handling the dough after it had started to accumulate gas.

SO, I used the tartine country loaf, as usual, but cut the BF to like 45 minutes or maybe an hour, then shaped into loaves. The super flat loaf proofed for like five hours at room temp, then was baked. The slightly better one proofed in the fridge for 18ish hours.

My thinking is that, since this is such a slow recipe to begin with, neither of these alterations gave the organisms time to "activate" and begin properly fermenting/leavening the dough.

Still smells fucking stellar, though.

Lemme know what you think, I'd also welcome a good discussion about really open crumb

No crumb pictures, but, like, are they really necessary?

So this is the tartine country loaf again, albeit a bit sped up. I feed the starter at 7am, kept it in the oven with the light on until like 1pm, then made the loaves as usual.

Major difference is that I've only been feeding my stater every two to four days, so the microbiome is all out of whack.

Not sure how this combination of decent oven spring, yet absolutely zero ear is possible, but here we are.

Its partner is in the fridge, I'm guessing it'll be significantly over-proofed

These two were originally intended to be a modification of the tartine country loaf with 300g starter instead of 200g and subtract the extra 100g from the 1000g that go into the final dough.

I did the numbers in my head on the fly and think I dropped 100g somewhere, so after mixing, the dough was suuuuper hydrated, like 90% or so. So like 40 minutes after mixing, I added 50ish grams of all purpose and mixed that in.

After a few turns by hand and one proper tri-fold, I proceeded to forget about it for maybe 5 hours, but which point it was super pillowy she far past ideal for shaping, but I very gently made it work.

The results taste good, but the crumb is gummy and the holes are horribly distributed.

Lemme know what you think

Words fail me. The crust is crispy, light, and wonderful, the crumb is airy, stretchy, and tastes unbelievable. Everything about it is just, SO DAMN GOOD.

I previously doubted if it was worth $300, but I might be rethinking that

First off, because I abused the shit out of my starter over Thanksgiving, I couldn't use it, so this is the "white bread with poolish" from FWSY. Not my favorite, but it'll do in a pinch.

Basically, you mix a teensy bit of yeast in with a few hundred grams of a 50/50 water/flour mixture the night before, then follow regular sourdough procedures the next day.

With that said, this crust got really really crisp as you can see. Overall I like it (Don't tell my mom, but I HIGHLY doubt it's three hundred bucks better), it's quite good, though.

Butt, there is one small problem with my shaping technique, as you'll see at the end of the pictures The issue in question ^

And some sub buns I made for my wife. First batch was OBVIOUSLY a failure, not sourdough though, so if I must be tarred and feathered, so be it

I mentioned the challenger bread pan to my mom in passing like 4 months ago, commenting on how it's far to expensive for what's, realistically, a one-trick pony.

Lo and behold, a heavy-ass package showed up and she told me to open it.

I'm very very excited to try it out

As usual, tartine country loaf, I slightly altered the scoring I normally do, which got me the nice ear on the left loaf

The score was more like ) instead of |

I didn't score it or egg wash, it rose so high, not sure the picture does it justice. Baked in the big Pullman pan and it's 19cm tall.

Didn't keep good notes but it's this recipe, scaled up for the bigger pan, proportionately a little less butter and sugar than she used. Very nice crumb, delicious toast, I took a slice right from the middle and toasted it for breakfast.

https://www.pantrymama.com/sourdough-brioche/

I threw out my two experimental loaves, so I needed to make some more for myself. This is the tartine country loaf again, and I almost followed the instructions.

Only alteration was that, instead of feeding the starter the night before, I mixed about a 50/50 ripe starter to fresh flour mixture this morning.

Autolyse: 700g cold water, 200g leaven, 900g AP, 100g semolina flour, mix by hand, rest 25-40min

Add 21g salt dissolved in 50g water

Bulk ferment probably 6 hours, turned every 30min for the first

After BF, removed, form rounds and rested for 15ish min

Shaped into loaves and proof next to preheating oven for an hour, the other is in the fridge

So this is kind of the tartine whole wheat recipe, but I was curious about a really long autolyse, so I mixed the flour and water and left it for a day, then mixed in the leaven, salt, and continued the recipe as normal

Dough is 70% whole wheat, 30% all purpose. 76ish% hydration.

Oh, another "alteration" was that I forgot to feed the starter the day before, so instead of 200g of properly active starter, I put in 250g of sloppy gross starter that was well past its prime.

Overall I'm very pleasantly surprised

I've been making these sourdough bagels for a couple of years now, and they are just incredible. The sourdough tang plays great with the everything seasoning, and it absolutely blows away anything I've had from a grocery store or deli. This recipe is adapted from a Reddit post by a u/978nobody, but I've made enough changes to it by this point that it's kinda my own thing.

Ingredients:

• 200g active starter
• 750g bread flour
• 360g water
• 15g honey
• 10g salt (go to 15g if not mixing the everything seasoning into the dough)
• Optional: ~2 tbsp everything bagel seasoning, adjust to preference, plus more for topping. Other mixins/toppings can probably be used as desired.
• ~1tbsp baking soda
• Spoonful of malted barley syrup, can also use brown sugar or molasses
• Optional: One beaten egg or egg yolk for brushing

Add starter, water, honey and salt to a large bowl and mix to combine, then add the flour and everything seasoning. Stir with a large wooden spoon until a shaggy ball of dough forms. Cover with a damp towel and let autolyze for 30 minutes, then, to quote the original recipe, "knead like crazy until your arms are tired." I've found it's pretty difficult to get this dough to fully pass the windowpane test, so I just knead until I can stretch it pretty thin.

Once kneaded, cover the bowl with a damp towel again and bulk proof until 1.5x size. I highly recommend setting a bit of dough aside in a small covered jar as an aliquot to track the rise. This usually takes me at least 6-8 hours, which I've read is because adding mix-ins to sourdough makes it take longer to proof, but it's worth the wait. If the weather is cold, I usually put it in the oven with the light turned on to make sure it's in a mildly warm environment.

Once proofed, split the dough into 8 roughly equal pieces, and shape into bagels. Place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or greased foil, cover the whole thing with a wet towel, and put it in the fridge to cold ferment overnight.

In the morning, preheat your oven to 425 F (220 C), and set a large pot of water on the stove to boil. While it heats, stir the baking soda and malted barley syrup into the water. Once boiling, add the bagels 2-3 at a time depending on the size of your pot, and boil for 1 minute and 30 seconds, flipping them over halfway through. Return the boiled bagels to the baking sheet.

Once boiled, brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle with a generous amount of everything seasoning if desired, then bake until golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Let cool for at least 15 minutes if you want to eat some fresh (and who wouldn't?), but otherwise, let cool completely before storing.

Other notes:

• The baking soda/barley syrup solution has a tendency to foam up and boil over if it gets too hot, so make sure not to leave it unattended. The cold bagels tend to keep the temp manageable, but be ready to remove the pot from the heat for a bit if things start to foam up.
• When reheating, they're great toasted, but I've found they are remarkably resistant to browning, so don't expect much color. I can max out my toaster and maybe get a slight tinge of brown.
• They keep pretty well in the fridge if you want them to last longer. I put them in gallon bags with a bit of paper towel to try and absorb excess moisture. If you fridge them, I recommend slicing them in half first, as they can be pretty tough to cut through once they're cold.

Hope yall enjoy the pics! If anyone else decides to make these, be sure to let me know how they turned out!

I've never gotten this combination of good oven spring and a nicely steamed loaf at the same time.

Add to that the flavor that the Tartine country loaf has, I'm really, really proud of this one.

Starter

100g starter, 400g water, 300g AP, 100g whole wheat. Put in oven with the light on for ~3 hours. Fed again, about the same numbers, back in the oven for another 3ish hours

Autolyse, 600g water, 700g AP, left that for like two hours.

Final mix, added 20g salt, 1/2tsp yeast, mixed well, then added 300ish grams of starter.

Folded like four times over the first hour, then let the bulk fermentation go a little over, maybe two or three hours in a warm room.

Very gently shaped into boules and put them in the fridge for a few hours until baking.

In a Dutch oven at 500°F with a handful of ice cubes, then out of the Dutch oven for another 20

Sourdough with wheat, rye and milk.

Bought some thick-ass deli bacon for this, and hoo boy, does it seem like it paid off.

This is the FWSY recipe, modified slightly to compress the schedule. I'll post the original recipe below, but basically I feed the starter at 4:30am (infants, gotta love em), then put it in the oven with the light on. Next alteration was including 300g of starter instead of the 200? I think, that's called for..... and I doubled the bacon grease. I'm here for a good time, not a long time.

Anyways, I haven't cut it open yet, but this was a beautifully steamed loaf, probably the shiniest I've ever baked.

I'll be honest, I'm quite proud of this one. It also smells HEAVENLY.

This is the partner to my recent tartine country loaf, proofed in the fridge for like 36 hours. Bit much, it seems

I mean, as long as no one has a problem with it, I'll keep posting my bread. I just don't want to spam the sub if it's not welcome.

Please let me know if I should chill

On the bread, this is my go-to, and it didn't disappoint

This one was interesting, but I probably won't make it again. It smells a little........footy, and the flavor isn't my jam

This is the first time I've made this recipe, but it seems pretty good. The flavor isn't as good as the tartine country loaf, but good all-around

Today's bake. 30g gluten flour, 270g sprouted whole spelt flour, 700g AP flour, 80g wheat germ. 850g water, 150g starter.

Added in 50g flax soaked 100g water, 50g chiaseed 100g water, 50g each sunflower and pumpkin seeds. 30g salt. Topped with black sesame seeds.

I'll say, I prefer the flavor of the Tartine country loaf, but this recipe gets great oven spring every time, I love it.

One thing I've never quite figured out, though, is how to easily and reliably shape batards. Like, I get it done, but it feels like I do it slightly differently every time