Talk to me about sourdough - The Fermentation Club!

[purple_dress]

Oh that's frustrating!

I took some photos of mine just before baking so you can see what the dough looks like after its overnight proving in the fridge.

[Pippedydeadeye]

Thank you!

I think I’ll prove in the fridge overnight rather than what Paul H said to do.

[purple_dress]

I think it depends how much starter you're using. Mine is 180g starter, 510g flour, 300g water, 12g salt. I think that's quite a high ratio of starter and mine would over prove if left out overnight. If your recipe has less starter in terms of ratio then I think it can take/needs a much longer prove.

[overthehill]

Damnit! I tried again, same recipe. Rose perfectly for the first prove, popped it in the basket for the second prove overnight and this morning went to bake and it was like glue. Over proved and I couldn’t reshape it because it stuck to my fingers. It took 10 minutes to get it off.

I only use 90g starter to 600g flour. But I would do a first prove overnight at room temperature, and a maximum of 2 hours for the second. I don't wait for it to double in size, second time round - as long as it has clearly expanded, I take it as ready to bake. (I can see it's ready by the way it splits open when I cut into it.) Everything else happens in the oven. I took a lovely loaf out of the oven, just before leaving for work this morning.

[purple_dress]

Please can you share your recipe, OTH?

[Pippedydeadeye]

Yes, please!

Thanks for all of your advice. I’ve left a batch proving at room temp since 10:30 this morning, so maybe I won’t need to leave it overnight then? Or can I whack it in the fridge/my really cold garage?

[purple_dress]

Do you have a link to the method/recipe you're using, Pip?

[Pippedydeadeye]

I’ve tried this.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl ... dan-lepard

[purple_dress]

It's not very specific about how much starter to use, is it?

I've never seen a recipe like that one. It doesn't include any stretching, which I'd say is a fairly important step. I don't ever do what I'd call a second rise. I have a stage of making the dough and leaving it to rest with three intervals of stretching over about 2.5hrs. Then shaping and into the fridge overnight. Then baking straight out of the fridge.

[purple_dress]

My methods - for the starter and the bread - are on page 17 of this thread, if you wanted them.

[bramblerose]

I mixed my poolish last night. It's quite bubbly. I'll make a loaf tomorrow.

I'm intrigued as to how different it will taste from my normal no knead bread.

[Pippedydeadeye]

My methods - for the starter and the bread - are on page 17 of this thread, if you wanted them.

Thank you, I’ll try yours next time!

I stretch rather than knead, after that mindful bread making workshop I did a while ago.

[overthehill]

Please can you share your recipe, OTH?

It's not much of a recipe, tbh. I posted it up-thread - it's pretty much exactly the ratios given in your Pro Baking video, though I don't think the video that I found was the same guy.

I found a YouTube video somewhere that gave relative weights/volumes for the key ingredients of any sourdough. I think it was an American chef/baker, but it's quite a useful rule of thumb, if you want to vary quantities. For any quantity of flour (100) the ratios of water, starter, and salt are: 100:80:15:2. So, according to these measures, for 600g flour, you would use 480ml water (I usually use 450ml), 90g starter, and 12g salt.

Aside from the quantities, I made up the dough, autolysed and folded it last night, and left it to prove at room temperature, when I went to bed around midnight.

I roughly use a folding method given in Emmanuel Hadjiandreous' book, "How to make sourdough", but I seem to have departed from most of the rest his method, now I look back. He tells you to fold 10 x 10 times at 10 min intervals, but I rarely manage to remember to set the timer 10 times, so usually end up doing about 10 x 6 foldings at 15-20 min intervals.

I got up around 7am, shaped it, and put it in its banneton basket (covered with a cheap and unglamourous plastic shower cap), and left it for 2 hours, before baking for 45 minutes in a Dutch oven: 15 mins at max, 240C, 15 mins at 220C, then with the lid off for the last 15 mins.

Anyway, here it is.

daily-bread-13-nov-21.jpg

Of course, none of these photos of loaves mean a lot, if you can't see the inside ...

daily-bread-13-nov-21-2.jpg

[purple_dress]

Thanks. So what time did you start?

Eta - it looks amazing!

[overthehill]

Thanks. So what time did you start?

Eta - it looks amazing!

I just added a photo of the inside. I suppose, realistically, I started yesterday morning, by feeding the starter, so it was nice and bubbly, when I got home from work. I actually started to make the dough around 10pm, I think.

[Pippedydeadeye]

10 x 10 is a lot! I was told 3 x 10 at ten minute intervals at the workshop, but that was normal yeast.

[purple_dress]

Oooh good structure. That's way better than mine. Thanks for the timing info.

[overthehill]

10 x 10 is a lot! I was told 3 x 10 at ten minute intervals at the workshop, but that was normal yeast.

I've got so lazy with yeast. R doesn't like sourdough toasted, so I bake a white loaf for breakfast, using a covered 'pullman' pan to keep the crust from becoming too crunchy. The dough is mixed and autolysed for 30 minutes. Kneaded for about a minute, then shaped and put in the pan for 20 minutes before I turn the oven on. The oven takes 17 minutes to heat to maximum. Then I pop the pan in and turn down the heat to 220C and bake for 40 mins.

500g flour, 400ml water, 5g dried yeast, 9g salt. (I don't add sugar to any of my bread and it doesn't seem to make any difference.)

This is the result

lazy-white-loaf.jpg

[Pippedydeadeye]

Loaf 3. I’d have liked it to rise more in the oven.

[baargain]

I spray my loaves with water before putting them in the oven, that helps to soften the outside so they can rise more.