English Muffins, third and final test batch - YUM!

Well, after three test batches, my English Muffins were proclaimed ready for prime time by the taste testers here at my place! I'm really happy with these.  The right softness and chew in the crumb.  A bit of bite in the crust.  Nooks and crannies are just made for butter and jam!  ....and the flavor is really good.  Just a bit of sour tanginess to bring everything together.  I will note that much of the process, and a base for the starting recipe came from The Buttered Side up blog/site (EM Recipe)

Here's where I settled up for the formula (% include the flour/water in the levain):

Bread flour (CM ABC+) 70%

AP flour (Ardent) 15%

CM Red Spring (fresh milled) 7.5%

CM White Winter (fresh milled) 7.5%

Honey (local/fresh) 1%

Butter 2.5%

Water 75%

Salt 1.8%

Pre-fermented flour 10%

I hand mixed this batch starting with everything except the butter and salt.  After hydrating all the flour, and resting 20 minutes, I used the pinch method to incorporate the salt.  I smeared some of the butter on the dough, and incorporated with stretch/folds, repeating until all the butter was well mixed.  Another 70-80 minutes of RT proof included a couple more stretch/fold sessions followed by a 40 hour cold bulk phase (my recipe actually calls for just 20-24 hours, but I was busy in the bakery yesterday, so I made the dough wait!

This morning, I scaled the dough out into 100g balls, bench rested, tightened the balls up again, then onto parchment squares dusted with corn meal.  After a 2.5 hour rise, I cooked them on a fairly hot griddle (400-425°) for about 3 minutes, flipped for another three minutes, then finished in the oven for 10 minutes @ 350°.  Cooled, fork split, then toasted and enjoyed with butter on half, and jam on the other.

These are just perfectly suited to my tastes!  I've got a couple of friends beta testing them for me, too, so pending feedback, I'm calling these ready to go!