Starting again for the new year

Hi all, 

I have a lovely starter that I was able to keep alive at (mostly) RT for the past three years. 

I think I am still grieving for my last starter in some ways, but this one is lovely. Six months ago, I moved it to the fridge and refreshed 2x a week at most and haven’t baked a single loaf. This past month, we are working on having her back at RT and strong enough for every other day use.

I decided to make things even harder for myself by focusing on whole grain blends. For my first recipe, I chose Perfect Loaf’s Fifty-fifty Whole Wheat Sourdough which I haven’t made before. 

Slapping your forehead yet? 

First loaves there was a weighing mishap with the water. I tried my best to recover but the dough was awfully tight. It did turn out alright on a Dutch Oven bake with decent oven spring and a fairly nice crumb. BUT I felt like the it was a cheating win and want to get it repeatable. 

Second loaves proofing was a bit wobbly due to our increasing changing temperatures. Just a small bit of lift, and a  moist crumb. Nice brown crust, but still not ideal. 

Things I am thinking I should try next:

 - Change the levain sitting time

 - Pay a bit more attention to temperature

 - Trust myself a bit more about proofing time

 - Try to remember to take pictures

Thanks for the space to share!