Bread

@lynx starter is 50/50 strong bread (Canadian) and wholemeal and water at around 26c. Bulk fermentation went on for about four and a half hours with four turn and folds. Proved overnight in the fridge, around 16 hours. Baked on a stone that was preheated at 250c for around an hour and had steam from two trays at the bottom of the oven with wet and very hot tea towels.

Looking into it more online I think the dough was underproofed and though this couldn't get enough tension when shaping, hence doing what it did...

Do you knock the bread back and let it rise again?

As I said, four turn and folds during bulk fermentation

Didn't know what that meant. How did you know when to do the turns and folds, did you time it or wait till it had doubled in size?

This isn't normal bread with commercial yeast so normal rules don't apply.

It does look underproved - shaping can make a big difference but also the temperature has dropped recently, so where are you bulk proving? Ambient temp makes a huge difference to proving times.

@cmburns also just buy a large casserole dish/dutch oven and bake in that. It's just better.

It does look underproved

Seconded. Not all flours are equal strength so you could try getting some other strong white bread flour and seeing how you get on.

Perhaps too cold at bake so the crust had formed before the oven rise got going?

When I used to bake sourdough, would leave the dough in the fridge for a few days. Used to knock back and wait till there was a significant rise to roughly double then knock back again. Would place the dough on a tea towel that had been covered in fine cornmeal, then cling film over the top. Would use a round wicker bread basket.

Shaping, are you talking about a banneton basket?

Cast iron casserole dish improved my bread, keep looking at terracotta rompertopf for a more loaf shaped bread.

Just to clarify, this was being proved in a Brod and Taylor proofer at 26c the whole time

Also I have a cast iron dish for doing boules, but it's far too small to make batards in hence having to go with the baking stone

hence having to go with the baking stone

That might be it. My breads always rise well in the cast iron pot, hardly ever without it

I haven't been paying any attention to my starter these days.

Fed at 1pm for the first time in 2 weeks, and by 9pm I had this:

60% white
40% whole
65% hydration

I used to pour so much time into kneading my sourdough, checking on it every couple of hours to do more 'stretch and folds' but now I just quickly mix it, then shape it an hour before I bake. Easy.

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Looks very nice!

It's funny, I'm prepping dough at the moment for an evening bake, and I also found that I've become far more lackadaisical with feeding and especially kneading/stretching/folding. The starter and I seem to have got into a comfortable routine ;)

Similar story here. It’s amazing how many people’s recipes are so regimented about autolyse, timings, kneading or stretches or folds or knocking it back.

I have forgotten to stretch and fold for a few hours to no detriment. Usually I add salt after about an hour after mixing flour starter and water together, but forgot for 6 hours and no negative effect.

It is perhaps because the Thoughtful Bakery recipe is so forgiving. The proportions just work and I tend to use 50-70% organic white flour and the rest can be spelt, malted granary, whole meal, einkorn, emmer etc for variation.

As long as I am getting a good window pane before shaping and leaving to prove things tend to work well. It helps if I can get good skin tension in the shaping. I was proving with the shaping seem facing up and then slashing before baking, but now putting the seam side down in the baneton and just letting it tear itself open in cooking.

It appears to me that yeast, bacteria, flour, water and a bit of salt will do most of the work.

The ones where I do different are cinnamon buns as there is so much butter in the dough it needs kneading and pizza dough.

And here are this mornings haphazard loaves.

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Nice bread.

Is that a walnut table?

It’s a compressed wood, think the brand name is spekva

As long as the starter is active. As someone told me, forgotten who sorry, that reading lots of the bread making books and figure out your way.

Am currently using french flour as I went a little mad a few weeks ago. It is very different to uk flour. Bought bags of pizza flour, and different types beyond plain and self raising.

Some sweet t55? Love a proper baguette flour, creamy yellow colour, always bakes a treat!

Loavely.

Sorry.

Had a baking day today too, two white loaves and some hazlenut cookies.
I always use Strong White flour without really thinking about it but noticed the recipe actually called for ‘all purpose’ which I believe is ‘plain’ in the UK. Anyone bake bread with a lower protein flour?

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I think that's US terminology. British plain flour doesn't have nearly enough gluten. I found that out the hard way.

I have no kitchen but the oven is wired in and that means I can make bread!

Edit: for balance, just so this doesn’t look like some middle class I have a house that I’m doing up utopia, I just tipped my coffee all over the bed, wall, carpet, curtains, in three drawers and got two pillows. And discovered a load of black mould in the corner while cleaning up. So, actually, fuck this.

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First sourdough.
Tasted pretty similar to pre-ferments I’ve done (Biga). Not that sour-ey. But nice

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