first artisan loaf and looking for comments
I've been making sourdough white/whole wheat with a little rye loafs in pans for my wife's brekkie for a couple months. My starter is 6 months old. I've tried some artisan loafs now and again with middlin results but I decided to have another go using a polenta-papita recipe I found here: https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/34729/polenta-pepita-sourdough
I mostly followed the original but scaled it down as I would be baking from 2 X 23cm oval bannetons. There were a few changes but the overall result was a very tasty bread.
Pre-ferment was 12 hours ~21-22C in proof box. I've never used a pre-ferment before so didn't know what to expect. 45 minute autolyse (wouldnt hurt?) then combine all by hand and do 4 stretch and folds 30 minutes apart. I S&F in a bowl so I'm not sure how much bulk rise at the end so when transferred to the proof box (at ~23-25C) in a square 4qt container I watched for a 25% rise then divided, pre-shaped, rest, shaped for 2 small batards and put the covered bannetons back in the proof box for a second rise but time was running out so instead I did an overnight cold retard in the fridge and baked this morning on a stone with a pan of water below. Dough was spritzed top and bottom, sprinkled with corn meal and scored.
I really don't know how much spring and or type of crumb to expect with these small bannetons nor if my methodology is sound so I'm looking for constructive comments. I'm guessing my uneven spring would have been due to my uneven lengthwise scoring.
That is a very decent first loaf. Been a while since my first loaf and it certainly wasn't as good as yours. I do think you can be a bit more adventurous with the ferment but this is purely personal opinion. You've nailed it now and you can experiment a bit. I do love cornmeal in a sourdough. Perhaps the high percentage affected the crumb in a way which makes me think it looks like you could be more adventurous with the ferment. At the end of the day do you like the flavour?
@Abe ... Thanks for the comment. What do you mean by more adventurous with fement? A longer bulk ferment? Perhaps I err on the cautious side as I've had a few fights with over fermented sticky dough. With the bread I bake in a loaf pan I use starter ... 3min hand mix then 4 X S&F followed by bulk ferment to 50%, shape and into loaf pan until dough is crowning the rim (~9cm) and bake with no cold retard. It works. I started out with this thing about doubling in size and dough was always sticky (over fermented?) I was also concerned about over fermented pre-ferment having never used that method before ... and yes I was very pleased with the flavour but will have to wait for this evening to see what headquarters and my daughter who gets the second loaf have to say. I'm trying to cut my carbs and miss my frequently made cornbread and masa harina tortillas.
I think they look pretty good, especially for the ingredient list of the bread. Mostly whole wheat is harder to pull off, and adding the non-wheat extras makes it more so. It's possible, just going by the look of the crumb, that it could have baked longer, but only a real hand-on chew test would tell for sure. Loaf pan breads, especially sandwich-type breads, are often baked to a lower internal temperature than hearth breads. Of course I don't know if that's been the case for your pan breads.
One suggestion I might make is to try making a few hearth breads that are much simpler and mostly white flour. It won't have the complexity and depth of flavor that this loaf probably has, but it would still be good and would let you get sure of your techniques more easily. For example, make just 15% of the total flour to be ww.
TomP
@tpassin ... thanks for your comment. You are correct. I have been reticent to do more hearth breads as my wife wants the pan loaf slices for her brekkie and there is just so much sourdough I can send down the road to my daughter. However, using these 23cm bannetons and baking on a stone will allow me to bake without wastage as I can spread the bread around to friends and enemies. If I keep one for myself and part goes stale it goes to the crows in the garden. They dip it in the bird bath to soften then eat it. I owe em anyway. One of em dropped a length of wire in our yard that was handy putting together my proof box. Someone's wondering where that wire went to ;<)
Ah yes .... I was happy with the crumb ... nice and firm, not gummy and no big holes ... there's not much sense trying to butter a void.
Actually, sometimes many things do not always apply the exact formula to produce the best product. Each person who cooks or creates a dish has his or her own characteristics. The details you listed are really meticulous. I am also researching to make a variety of cakes. Normally I only make small cakes and have not tried your cakes. Great! snake io