RWC SD minus the rye
I missed baking last week due to life getting in the way, so was happy to get some time this weekend to make friends again with "Woody" (yes, my starter has a name) and make a fresh batch of my usual weekly sourdough. This week, I dropped the rye to let the semolina shine through a little more......next time, I think I will drop the WW (except for what's in the starter) and up the semolina appropriately.
1000g AP (KA)
100g WW (KA)
100g Semolina (Bob's)
250g Starter (100% hydration, fed w/WW)
803g Water
26g Salt
I did everything up to the final fridge proof in one day, starting the first starter wake-up refresh at 9a (10:10:10). Followed this with 30:30:30 and 90:95:95. I wanted to try using the starter a little earlier this time, so only let it rise about 70%, then proceeded with my mix. All of the flour, water and starter got mixed up, and then rested for 30 minutes. Pinched in the salt, and did about 25 stretch/folds, then rested 30 minutes. Another two series of s/f on the half hour, trying to be much more gentle with the last one than I usually am. After this, I let it bulk proof at 75F which took about 2 hours. Shaped (had a devil of a time for some reason....STICKY!!!), then into lined bannetons to proof for an hour at 75F, then off to the fridge for the night. In the morning, baked covered at 475F for 20 minutes, then uncovered for 25 minutes.
I am very pleased with the results of this loaf across the board. Good oven spring and bloom, crazy blisters, crispy crust, and a bit more open crumb than I usually get. Oh, and it tastes damn fine, too!! :) Some pics......
Comments
What a beautiful loaf, Richie! The ear, the bloom, the blisters, the color... I have no idea how you could improve upon that.
Dan
I'm definitely pleased with that one! The only improvement I could make (given that I'm not likely to put in the effort required for some "small" gains) would be to consistently have them turn out that well! :)
Um, what's RWC?
Lovely work!
Carole
RWC = Redwood City :)
Thanks, Carole!
R
Thank you -- for the info and for the lovely loaf.
and those blisters are fantastic! Do you spritz your loaves with water to get that effect?
Do you find that the semolina also gives you an extra crunchy crust especially when toasted on day 2 (if a bread lasts that long)...
Kat
Thanks, Kat. No spritzing happening here. I get those blisters when I do the final proof in the fridge. They aren't typically that pronounced/crazy, but they happen every time I fridge proof (and don't when I don't.)
I haven't noticed a difference between the crust with the higher amount of semolina in this dough, but I'll pay attention on my next batch when I drop the extra WW and up the semolina to see if I detect something there.
R
I absolutely love that ear! The crumb is super nice too! Well done!
Thanks, Danni! I love seeing all of your breads with the creative flour, add-in and seed combinations that you do! I have a few of them bookmarked! :)
R
Let’s analyze this gorgeous score!
It appears that the red lines indicate the score. It looks to be very shallow, is this correct? The green lines point to a lip that has torn apart and separated. I am wondering why the lip, which accounts for most of the beautiful score is made up of mostly unscored dough? It appears to have separated because of the weakening affect of the score.
Does anyone have an explanation?
”inquiring minds want to know...”
Dan
I never looked at it that closely, Dan, but I can see exactly what you are pointing out with the score line and what appears to be tearing asunder (dramatic effect) after that. I'm no breadatologist, but I'm assuming that the score provides the weak point for the rest of the bloom and, since I am covering my batard with an oval roaster (large), perhaps the crust sets just enough before steam builds up in the enclosure to then need to tear rather than having a clean line/ear from the score? That's my vote until someone smarter comes along with a more scientific explanation.
And, for the record, I would guess that my scoring is on the shallow side at no more than 1/4" (I haven't measured, but that seems about right.)
R
YouTube time-lapse Video of a slash opening
A very pretty loaf. The blisters result from CO2 that is dissolved in the dough and comes out as a gas only after the surface starch has cooked to form a gas-tight membrane. The dough was somewhat under-proofed which assured lots of oven spring. There was plenty of steam in the oven to quickly cook the surface starch by condensation. The oven was hot enough and there was sufficient residual sugar in the dough to brown the crust, though a different cycle might have produced a thicker crust. The video gives you a look at what is really going on when the slash opens - the slash just establishes a line of weakness along which the loaf fractures and after which the surface does not stretch so much as it is just pushed out of the way by the expanding crumb.
I like that video......if my oven window was clean, and the inside light worked, maybe I'd make one! ;)
R
Yes, a clean oven door is nice, but since the glass is not in focus you can still do OK so long as you don't have a big blob in front of the lens. My biggest problem was getting the lighting right. The hot-glued cardboard camera holder was built to do double duty as a glare shield). You need a color temperature of around 3200°K and the light wants to reflect off the third surface and back into the camera, and you need more light deeper in the oven because of the R^-4 reflected energy - yada yada yada.
I have watched Doc’s video countless times and have never before noticed that the ears on his loaves also show a score line along side a fracture line. I always thought the ear formed as a result of the razor cut alone. After looking closely at Richie and Doc’s loaves it seems obvious that the score line facilitates the fracture. And it is the fracture that composes the lion’s share of the ear.
Some are probably thinking, “what’s the big deal”? To me, it is a giant discover. Prior to this, I scored with the belief that the razor cut carved the consequent ear.
I thought that the ear (see image below) was made by scoring in the ditch. But close examination reveals that this is not possible. How could the razor cut, if scored in the ditch, have the obvious fracture line tear to the left and right of that razor score?
If this observation is correct and undisputed, I expect future scoring will be done with a different mind set.
”always thinking...”
Dan