I have also been reading Vanessa Kimble’s Sourdough School book, it may have been I was adding all the water too soon in high hydration doughs. I followed her bassinage method at the weekend and made an 80% loaf (80% white 20% wholemeal) that had decent structure, so may have been a case of bad workman blaming. Will be trying a plain white high hydration loaf where I add the water more slowly to see if that reduces the liquid dough effect.
Never heard of this method - sounds interesting! At what stage during bulk fermentation are you supposed to add the extra liquid; is this a general thing, or just for very high hydration doughs?
I have also been reading Vanessa Kimble’s Sourdough School book, it may have been I was adding all the water too soon in high hydration doughs. I followed her bassinage method at the weekend and made an 80% loaf (80% white 20% wholemeal) that had decent structure, so may have been a case of bad workman blaming. Will be trying a plain white high hydration loaf where I add the water more slowly to see if that reduces the liquid dough effect.