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@cgg
Another one of mine, this time starting with the proportions from my old sourdough recipe, mixed with some of the schedule from bsb's pain de campagne and some other things thrown in to give it a try.
Proportions are easy: 1:2:3, as in 1 unit of sourdough starter (normal, not stiff), 2 of water, 3 of flour. (I've used 1/3 wholemeal and 2/3 plain white). Salt is 1% of the total weight of the above.
Autolyse for ~2h: I tried to autolyse sans starter but with salt on the account that the sourdough starter is breaking the gluten network that the autolyse is forming. With salt as it's easier to mix it now than afterward and there's no starter to kill so I might as well save me the trouble. I've been told about that technique by a friend and he read that in a book so there you go. Anyway, mix flour and salt and water together in some rough ball and leave it be.
Knead in the sourdough. I was told to knead while trying to not break the gluten network, I tried my best.
First proofing: big bowl, cling film and in the fridge for ~24h. I think I folded the dough on itself a couple of times in the meantime.
Shape the loaves. I tried to be fancy and emulate what I could see at the end of this video
. Not quite there yet.
Then back in the fridge, in the banneton or equivalent of thereof. I used an heavily floured tea towel put in some salad bowl. Leave it there for 12 hours or so.
Then the baking: oven at 250C, boiling water in the bottom tray, loaves in Pyrex Casseroles (they're actually cocottes, by the way) and off they go for ~40 minutes.
Results are plenty satisfying as far as I'm concerned. I think the key is the 2nd proofing after shaping the loaves (for these nice, not too big, not too small, and evenly distributed bubbles) and the cooking in-casserole (that - in my case - really helps to burst open the scorings).
Thinking about it again, proportions are actually somewhat similar to bsb's, from the stiff starter point on. In his case bit more of starter (and stiffer) and bit less of water for the same amount of flour, so my dough is slightly more hydrated. Although I think the loaves are more tasty with his recipe.
I think I'll now experiment with strong white flour (I use plain at the moment), less wholemeal and more water, hoping to get a more elastic and open crumb. We shall see.
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