Bread

Cheers

I find my fuckup loaves are where I learn most. I was under the misapprehension that I wasn’t proving for long enough but actually was over proving and allowing too much water in too soon. Not proving at ambient temperature because the freshly milled flour is so much more active I am still finding the proving time is much shorter than recipes using ready milled flour suggest. Adding water slowly “basinage” while kneading seems to allow the dough to drink the water up. As a result a much stronger outer layer forms, this makes for a much thicker crust and when the bread cooks it can’t just flop down and has to expand at the weakest point (where it has been scored).

The sourdough school book is a great resource and currently the one that has influenced my baking the most. At some point I am sure I’ll start reading Dan Leppard before going back to Bartinet. It feels there are bits of technique I couldn’t manage a year ago that now make sense and have been incorporated into my method.