Some recent sourdoughs

I baked a couple of times last week.  Both were sourdoughs with a rye-fed stiff levain and approximately a 70% hydration, 50% whole wheat final dough.

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This is the first batch, in which I used up my Red Fife whole wheat flour.

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The second batch I used a 2012 crop BC soft whole wheat that was grown by a farmer BreadSong knows and which she was kind enough to share some of with me.  I also added 10% spelt flour, just out of curiosity.

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It didn't look quite a nice on the outside, but the second batch had fantastic crumb and really wonderful flavour.  It had this beautiful, warm, almost caramel coloured crumb, which really doesn't come through in the photos.

The first batch was very good too.  I love baking in the cool fall weather we've been having because it makes it very easy to do a long, slow fermentation that really seems to bring out the best my sourdough. 

That's it for baking for the next few weeks.  We are heading back East for a bit to see friends and sightsee in Montreal, Vermont, and Boston.  The fall colours should be fantastic and I hope to get a chance to check out a few of the bakeries, mills, and bagel shops back there I've heard so much about.  

I hope everyone else is getting a chance to fire up their ovens again, and my best to fellow Canadians celebrating Thanksgiving next weekend.  

Happy baking!