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I've been working on this one for quite awhile. The original was a variation on the Basic Sourdough in the Bread Baker's Apprentice. Between trying different proportions of the ingredients and consulting the good advice on The Fresh Loaf, I've arrived at this version, which I'll probably stick with for awhile. I've pushed it up over 75% hydration, so I've had to switch from kneading to stretching-and-folding. 

Have also solved problem of oblong boules by turning them out of the bannetons onto small sheets of parchment, instead of sliding directly off the peel. Don't know why I didn't think of this before. Saw it in DMSnyder's educational scoring video and had one of those forehead slapping moments. Still need to work on my scoring...

Regarding the goat milk: I've tried this recipe with whole milk and half-and-half, and have to say that there's something about the goat milk that I cannot put my finger on... I want to say that the flavor is more creamy, but I don't know if that makes sense. 

Firm Starter (biga)

• wild yeast starter (75% hydration) [200g]
• bread flour (Dakota Maid) [163g]
• water [92g]

Final Dough

• bread flour [617g]
• whole white wheat flour [127g]
• sea salt [20g]
• goat milk scalded then cooled to room temp [307]
• water at room temp [307]

Steps

1. Mix up firm starter, mist with spray oil, cover bowl with plastic wrap, let rise for approximately 4 hours until doubled.
2. Refrigerate overnight (12 – 18 hours).
3. Remove starter from fridge and set on oil-misted countertop. Cut into multiple small pieces, separate, mist with spray oil, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to warm to room temperature (a couple hours).
4. Mix final dough. If mixing by hand like I do, you'll probably have to turn it onto the counter and knead a couple minutes to make sure starter is fully incorporated.
5. Cover and wait 10 minutes. Then do a series of 4 stretch-and-folds, every 10 minutes or so. 
6. Allow to rise for 3-4 hours until doubled.
7. Cover tightly, and refrigerate overnight.
8. Remove from refrigerator and allow to warm up a couple hours. 
9. Gently remove dough from bowl, shape into two boules, place in floured bannetons, lightly mist bottom with spray oil, cover and proof for at least four hours.
10. Preheat oven containing bread stone and steam pan to 500 degrees at least one hour before proofing is complete.
11. Sprinkle semolina on bottom of loaf, then flip over onto piece of parchment paper on peel. Score loaf as desired.
12. Pour one cup of water into steam pan.
13. Slide onto baking stone.
14. Bake until internal temp is nearing 205 degrees, 15-25 minutes.

Barm
150 g Bob's Red Mill light rye
150 g water
75 g white starter @ 75% hydration

Dough
305 g barm
610 g water
915 g flour
22 g salt
3 g caraway seeds

Barm allowed to rise 5 hours. It was wetter than take 1, but I decided to just go with it and see what happened.

Dough very soft and sticky. Miserable to work with, but I persisted. Kneaded for 10 minutes or so.

Initial fermentation in greased bowl for 5 hours.

Proofed in two bannetons for somewhere between 2 and 3 hours (I know, I know: I should keep notes).

Baked in 500 degree oven (my oven sucks, so it's more like 425-450) with steam pan on stone for 30 minutes.

The resulting bread had a lot of holes in it, like a Ciabatta. Next time around, I think I'll up the flour a little bit to compensate for the wetness of the light rye barm. Or maybe just up the amount of rye flour in the barm.

Flavorwise, this is much better than take 1. The caraway impact is much lighter, which allows the sourdough to shine through.

Now, if I could just figure out how to take crumb shots that don't look like the bread is all wet...

Backstory

I had lunch with a friend in Minneapolis at an establishment called The French Meadow Bakery. I had bacon and eggs, which was served with a couple slices of toasted sourdough. The bread was like a typical sourdough, but had a hint of caraway.

It's listed on the menu as organic sourdough toast. No mention of caraway. Perhaps it was just stored next to a caraway rye. In any case, I decided that I would try to make a sourdough that has all the wonderful characteristics of a standard sourdough, but with a subtle taste of rye and hint of caraway.

I got the initial formula from Flo Makanai:  http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/9346/123-easy-formula-sourdough-bread

Here's my first shot.

Barm
150 g whole rye
150 g water
75 g white starter @ 75% hydration

Dough
305 g barm
610 g water
915 g flour
22 g salt
5 g caraway seeds

Barm allowed to rise overnight (approximately 18 hrs).

Dough very soft and sticky. Kneaded for 15 minutes.

Initial fermentation in greased bowl for 5 hours.

Proofed in two bannetons for 90 minutes.

Baked in 500 degree oven (my oven sucks, so it's more like 425-450) with steam pan on stone for 30 minutes.

Result

This produced a loaf that was sourdough dense, but still had a nice open crumb. It turned out to be oddly shaped because the bread stuck to my peel when I was sliding it onto the stone. The bread is slightly grey in color, due to the rye in the barm. Flavorwise, sourness in evidence, but some of it gets swept away by the caraway. I used caraway seeds I bought from Bob's Red Mill, and they are the most intense caraway I've ever come across. I want the caraway tones to be more subtle than this.

Next Time

For Take 2, I'm going to try BRM light rye, and scale back the caraway to 3 grams.

And, one of these days, gotta try this one: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/5500/pierre-nury%E2%80%99s-rustic-light-rye-leader. Wow.

NOTE: This post is superseded by http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/16314/goat-milk-sourdough-final-word

What I really like about Peter Reinhart's books is that he understands the urge to experiment. The following is his Basic Sourdough from the Bread Baker's apprentice, with a couple of minor adjustments. I got the idea from a loaf produced by a Twin Cities grocery store (Byerly's). I've had difficulty making this size of loaf (10.5" banneton) without burning the bottom crust, but moving the stone up a notchseems to have solved this.

The crust was tender yet chewy with a nice crunch, the crumb dense, but looser than my previous experience with the Reinhart recipe. The flavor was rich, almost creamy, but the milk does seem to subdue the sourness. Perhaps an extra 24 hours in the fridge would help this.

This revision includes scalding the goat milk, increasing the proportion of goat milk in the liquid mix, and increasing the percentage of liquid overall (to 75%). 

I've tried this loaf using only water, as well as substituting whole milk or half & half for the goat milk. Nothing works better than goat. Why, I couldn't say. 

Firm Starter

• 2/3 cup wild yeast starter (75% hydration) [180g]


• 1 cup bread flour (Dakota Maid) [150g]


• 1/3 cup water [80g]

Final Dough

• 4 cups bread flour [600g]


• 1/2 cup whole white wheat flour [68g]


• 1 Tbsp sea salt [15g]


• 1 cup scalded goat milk at room temp [233]


• 1-1/4 cup + 1/2 tsp water at room temp [298]

Steps

1. Mix up firm starter, mist with spray oil, cover bowl with plastic wrap, let rise for approximately 4 hours until doubled.


2. Refrigerate overnight (12 – 18 hours).


3. Remove starter from fridge and set on oil-misted countertop. Cut into multiple small pieces, separate, mist with spray oil, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to warm to room temperature (a couple hours).


4. Mix final dough.


5. Knead 10-15 minutes. Rest 5 minutes. Knead additional 2 minutes. Dough is super sticky, difficult to manage.


6. Allow to rise for 3-4 hours until doubled.


7. Gently punch down, cover tightly (I have a covered Rubbermaid container I use for this), and refrigerate overnight.


8. Remove from refrigerator and allow to warm up a couple hours. 


9. Gently remove dough from bowl, shape into two boules, place in floured bannetons, lightly mist bottom with spray oil, cover and proof for at least four hours.


10. Preheat oven containing bread stone and steam pan to 500 degrees at least one hour before proofing is complete.


11. Sprinkle semolina on bottom of loaf, then flip over onto semolina-dusted peel. Score loaf as desired.


12. Pour one cup of water into steam pan (I use a small cast iron skillet)


13. Slide onto baking stone.


14. Spray sides of oven with water three times in first three minutes (I've quit doing this as it cools the oven too much). 


15. Bake until internal temp is nearing 205 degrees, 20-25 minutes.