The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Huge thanks to Benito, Mark Stone, DanAyo, MiniOven and so many of you!

GrinChaser's picture
GrinChaser

Huge thanks to Benito, Mark Stone, DanAyo, MiniOven and so many of you!

I've been baking sourdough loaves off and on for 5+ years now and lurking on this forum. Started with the Tartine book and quickly moved to mostly baking Maurizio's excellent recipes. There has been a slow accumulation of experience and dare I say skill. But in the last ten days or so, I feel like I've had a major bump due to two aha moments - both thanks to you lovely people. This post is to express my gratitude to all of you who share here so generously from your well of experience. It helps immensely. Thank you!

A couple of weeks ago I was introduced to Andrew Janjigian's "The Loaf" recipe. I got pretty good oven spring even on my first attempt, so it got me excited. At the same time I stumbled on to Mark Stone's post highlighting Tom Cucuzza's work over on The Sourdough Journey and especially the bulk fermentation curve. Thanks to all those videos, I was reminded again of the importance of proper bulk fermentation (something I can recall MiniOven stressing many times on these threads). I also recalled Benito's frequent encouragement to use an aliquot jar to measure % rise. Armed with all these I set out to address the couple of issues I had with my first attempt at Andrew's Loaf.

I knew I had shorted bulk slightly due to timing issues for that one. So this time, I paid attention to temperature from the beginning (instead of trying to fix it in the later half of bulk). Second, I set aside a small lump in a tiny aliquot jar and third I kept in mind Tom's graph of when activity would ramp up. This allowed me to push fermentation beyond where I would have been comfortable just eyeballing how the dough looked. I have been on the other side and over fermented to a soupy mess - by a half hour probably (but now I know why that half hour made all the difference, thanks to Tom's graph) - something I never want to repeat ever again.

I also lowered bake time and temperature slightly for a thinner/less chewy crust, subbed some of the King Arthur APF with Central Milling APF for lower protein to get a softer crumb (Take 1 was a little chewier than I'd like. Maurizio says that higher protein flour will yield gummier crumb) and viola a loaf I am so thrilled with! 

Next stop, up the hydration slightly each iteration to get an even thinner, shattery crust as I remember Maurizio's "My Best Sourdough" has.

Thank you to one and all who share their experience here. You are a collective treasure! 

 Best,

GrinChaser

 

HeiHei29er's picture
HeiHei29er

Beautiful loaf and crumb.  Love the blistering on the crust!

GrinChaser's picture
GrinChaser

I'm really enjoying this recipe! 

Experienced bakers, what produces blistering on the crust? 

Benito's picture
Benito

Congratulations on your big success GrinChaser!  It is so wonderful when things just click and work.  Glad you found the aliquot jar useful.

Benny

GrinChaser's picture
GrinChaser

I wish I'd listened to you and started using the aliquot jar much sooner in my journey.. :-)

GrinChaser

Mark Stone's picture
Mark Stone

Absolutely beautiful bake! What a feeling that is. Glad you were able to have success. It's incredible how easily information can be shared over the internet. 

GrinChaser's picture
GrinChaser

Appreciate the compliments! Indeed, love being part of this positive online community!

Best,

GrinChaser

GrinChaser's picture
GrinChaser

I am continuing to tinker with this recipe and finally reached all my goals - soft, plush crumb, thin crust and 50% whole wheat. 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/LSyzpno9J7ghGd1Z7

I really love the simplicity of this recipe. It makes me focus on the fermentation.

tpassin's picture
tpassin

Well, you sure got there!  Would your share the final recipe and process?

TomP

GrinChaser's picture
GrinChaser

The recipe/method is Andrew Janjigian's and can be found here: https://newsletter.wordloaf.org/p/thursday-recipe-the-loaf

For the most recent loaves with 50% whole wheat and 84% hydration, I adapted the dough formula as below:

35g 100% hydration starter from fridge, fed in the last week or so

250g whole wheat flour (currently Bob's Red Mill stoneground)

250g bread flour (currently King Arthur, but I prefer Bob's Red Mill Artisan)

370g water at 115 deg F + 50g reserved for mixing salt

10g fine sea salt

Other than that, I remove a small lump of dough to an aliquot jar right after the folds. I proof in my oven with the light on for the first 2-3 hours, especially in cooler months. I watch the aliquot jar for nearly double volume and then pre-shape.