The Fresh Loaf

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Proofing my sourdough

gavinc's picture
gavinc

Proofing my sourdough

Proofing my sourdough at 24 C. 1 - Start of proof. 2 - End proof after 2 hours. Dough nice and light feel. 3 - Turned out onto peel and scored for oven. 4 - Finished bake. Recipe https://www.dropbox.com/.../Vermont-Sourdough-with-whole...

Debra Wink's picture
Debra Wink

Looks great Gavin. Can't wait to see the crumb shot and your flavor assessment :)

alfanso's picture
alfanso

Really appealing batards.  Interesting to see the minor difference between the two with two differently shaped bannetons.

I applaud you for your temping discipline.  If I ever started temping my dough I'd probably soon throw in the towel as being too involved for my simple methodologies.

This is a super-easy go-to formula, albeit with the original rye vs. your WW variation.  And which I've probably baked more often than just about anything else (apologies to my beloved sesame semolinas).  It is an almost can't miss formula, although mine come out shaped strangely different than yours for some odd reason 🤓.

gavinc's picture
gavinc

Hi Debra and Alfonso,

My notes about this bake:

Vermont Sourdough with stone milled whole red wheat.

Date Baked: 19 Oct 2023

The baked loaves felt light against Volume. The 750-gram dough was light and pillowy when turned out onto the peel and scored. The dough did not collapse.

I’ve baked this bread literally hundreds of times over the years. I’ve varied with rye, white wheat and more recently red wheat. I like them all with preference for the red wheat. I don’t retard the final proof electing to bake straight through to ensure a reduced tang, The slight sweetness is testament to my approach. I love a slice toasted with lots of butter and a poached egg. The crust colour is rich and shiny due to the high heat to start, steam and lower heat and finish giving the bread a full bake.

I mostly shape the dough into batards. My oblong bannetons were purchase separately at different times from different sources. I couldn’t get the exact same shape, but both are suitable for 750-gram doughs. I didn’t take crumb shots unfortunately so I can’t provide a comparison profile. I did get a slice out of the freezer this morning to show the crumb of the skinnier loaf. The other loaf has already gone to family. I’m baking again tomorrow and will get a comparison of the cross section.

Cheers,

Gavin.

gavinc's picture
gavinc

I baked again today. The oval is on the left and the rectangle is on the right. The baked loaf difference is not obvious without close inspection. The rectangle banneton produced a higher and slightly narrower loaf. Both were 750-gram doughs.