a_warming_trend's blog

A long weekend means just that much more time to experiment with intimidating techniques!

This weekend, I have baked two two-loaf batches of sourdough, using a formula that involves a short bulk fermentation and a long cold proof. 

Levain

50 g starter (I have a rye and a white, and either will work great)

75 g AP flour

75 g water

(200 g total)

Final Dough

Levain

700 g AP fl

100 g WW fl

560 g water (water #1)

20 g water (water #2)

10 g malt/sugar

19 g salt

Any "mix-ins" imaginable, really!

Steps:

1) Mix levain; wait 8-12 hours. 

2) Mix levain with flour and water; rest for 45 minutes (mini-autolyse--no salt, but fermentation has begun!)

3) Mix in salt and sugar/malt using pincer method (2-3 minutes)

4) Mix in any "extras": cheese, nuts, fruit, etc.

5) Rest for 30 minutes. 

6) Stretch and fold 1-2 full turns (4-8 stretches) every 30 minutes, for 2.5 hours

7) Rest on the counter for 1 hour

8) Retard in the refrigerator for 1 hour (boy, do I need this for shaping. AMATEUR ALERT.)

9) Divide and bench rest for 10 minutes

10) Pre-shape each half, rest for 10 minutes

11) Shape and place in bannetons

12) Proof at room temperature for 1 hour

13) Place in refrigerator for anywhere from 8-16 hours (in both of my cases, the cold proof was 10 hours)

14) Remove from refrigerator for the time it takes to heat the oven (30 minutes or so)

15) Score/adorn and bake (as you'll see, I added "everything bagel" seed topping to one loaf, and asiago cheese to another. I like baking plain loaves with exciting crusts!)

First bake:

Second bake:

Focusing on a long cold proof is just genuinely more stressful than focusing on long cold bulk. The "first fermentation" really is more forgiving. But the quality of the crumb of my long-proofed loaves keep me coming back for more experimentation. thus far, for me, the key is to find that "sweet spot" of levain percentage where bulk fermentation lasts for about 3-4 hours (allowing for 4-5 stretch-and-folds plus some resting time), and the loaves get about an hour outside of the fridge before heading in...but still don't overproof with 8-20 hours in that cold environment. I really like 12-14% levain for this purpose.

Oh, and here are a few bonus pics from the week. Still really working on shaping and scoring, especially of batards. This site gives me SERIOUS ear envy...

And my next experiment? Inspired by lepainSamidie: Long cold bulk WITH long cold proof. Oh boy.

And just really, really excited imagining my future with soaked and sprouted grains (which I haven't even approached to this point, but want to...). 

Can't stop. Won't stop!

--Hannah

Since discovering the wonderful challenge of sourdough, I've experimented with a wide range of levain percentages, fermentation times, proof times, etc.

Most of the sources I've read have warned against too-high-hopes for sourdough ovenspring. Sometimes, a baker just wants to see that sourdough CAN really get a rise. 

In my very limited experience: Preparing a dough with a significant percentage of levain + retarding during bulk fermentation + relatively short  room temperature proof = great ovenspring. Oh, and not getting too wild with hydration helps too...although I'm finding that it's hard not to add more water during bulk fermentation, even if I'm going for 70-72% hydration. Wetter dough almost feels "healthier" and easier to work with, but that's probably because I've been using slaps and stretches rather than traditional kneading. The levain in this formula is about 28% of the final dough.

Whenever I  have tried to use this high percentage of levain in a cold-proofed loaf, I have unwittingly over-proofed over night. Such a bummer. See, I really feel like the bulk needs to be at MINIMUM 2.5 hours, with stretches, in order to adequately develop gluten. Retarding during bulk rather than proof seems so much more forgiving, and that's why it's included in this particular formula. 

The Confidence Formula:

Day 1, Morning: Create Levain

100 g 100% SD starter

100 g AP FL

100g water

Ferment for 8-12 hours

Day 1, Evening:

Mix 350g flour (whatever combination of types) with levain

Add 220-240g water

Rest (this is sort of a "faux-autolyse," emphasizing the exclusion of salt over the exclusion of leaven...)

Rest for 30 minutes

Add 11 g salt

Add 5 g malt 

Stretch and fold every 30 minutes for 2 hours 

Rest on the counter for 2 hours

Refrigerate for anywhere from 6 to 72 hours

Day 2

Shape and proof for 1.5 hours

Bake at 450 for 30 minutes with steam, 15-20 without. 

Good Spring! Always good spring with this levain percentage, slightly lower hydration, and approach to bulk fermentation. And a more open crumb than I might have imagined for this goal!

Some bonus pics from the week: SD baked with Lagunita's Brown Shugga beer, and a browned butter SD that tasted sort of like brioche! 

One thing I will say is that the crust is never as magically blistered with a shorter proof as it is with a long cold proof. But the flexibility of long cold bulk, and the spring...I'll take the trade, at least some of the time!

The grand SD experiment continues.....

--Hannah

I have to begin with a disclaimer: I do not yet own the original Tartine book. I am slow and deliberate with all of my bread-related purchases, from implements and vessels to texts. I do plan to own it by the end of this month! My other disclaimer is that I have only been baking sourdough since November 1, 2014. I know this because the camera on my phone records dates (man, was I was excited about that first loaf...).

I can't actually remember where or when I first heard about the Tartine bakery, or the books. I think I basically slowly realized that every blog I was perusing was referencing this one text--or this one person (sometimes referred to  by his first name!). The miracle of the internet has allowed me to explore the magic and mystique surrounding the simple Tartine country loaf. I've read blog posts and articles, watched videos, and looked at beautiful pictures. It's downright fascinating for me, as a complete bread newbie/outsider with an anthropology background, to follow the way this recipe has affected the world of yeast baking. With a phenomenon this far-reaching, the waves of adoration and fatigue seem inevitable. I'm so late to the game, but I'm having a lot of fun observing it. 

I actually put my finger on one of the most interesting aspects of the Tartine loaf while reading Forkish's FWSY, in which he references Robertson's method: That small amount of whole wheat flour lends the crumb an amazing creamy color, and allows the crust to reach a deep mahogany that really wouldn't be possible with an all white loaf. The idea that this sort of mimics the flour that would have been used in the bakeries dotting the 18th century French countryside...well. I love that notion so much that I kind of don't even care if it's true or not. 

I look forward to reading the 33-page recipe. I have read enough condensed versions of it to get the general idea. What I wanted to do here was create a Tartine-inspired single-loaf formula that I could work into a relatively hectic work week. I could absolutely wait until the weekend. But I've found that my baking itch is way too strong right now to wait that long in between bakes. I have to try to make sourdough baking work, even during a busy week. 

To fit it in my work schedule, I knew that I would need to increase the levain percentage enough to speed up the bulk fermentation (I go to bed kind of early!)--but not so much that the dough would over-ferment during an overnight refrigerated proof. I also knew that I wanted to be able to get through at least two hours of stretch-and-fold without the dough increasing too much in size. I've had problems with overnight proofs with anything approaching 20% levain, so I settled on what amounts to about 17% levain. The hydration is technically 78% (with levain), but I tend to add more during S & F, so it might be closer to 80%. The whole wheat flour makes that much more doable. 

This is the formula and process I settled on, after four attempts. The main changes have been allowing for room temperature proofing before retarding, and allowing for time at room temperature in the morning before baking. For me, this makes the 24-hour process work. 

Day 1

Levain (mixed at 7:00 AM)

-50 g 100% hydration rye starter

-50 g AP flour

-50 g water

Final Dough (mixing begins at 6:00 PM)

-All of the levain

-100 g whole wheat flour

-325 g AP flour

-315 g water 

-5 g malt

-11 g salt

Process: 

6:00-Mix flour and water together and autolyse for 30 minutes

6:30-Incorporate levain, salt, and malt (or sugar, when I didn't have malt) and mix for 2 minutes, then slap and fold for 3 minutes

-Stretch and fold at 20 minute intervals for the next 2 hours 

8:30-Allow dough to rest on the counter for 30 minutes

9:00-then place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes 

9:30-shape, place in banneton/basket, and proof for 1 hour at room temperature 

10:30-place in refrigerator

Day 2

6:00 AM - Remove from refrigerator 

7:00 AM - Score and bake at 450 for 30 minutes with steam, 20-25 minutes without (I'm getting bolder and bolder with my baking!)

The crust is blistered and shattery--thinner than I might have expected, but in a nice way! Very crisp. Crumb is custardy and quite open (I don't actually have the photo of my best crumb of the bunch. Frustrating!)

What would I change on a weekend, with more time? After ACTUALLY reading the recipe, I think I'll try a lot of things. Less levain. Longer autolyse. Longer refrigeration; different amounts of time proofing at room temperature before and after retarding. 

For now, I'm okay with this little week day tribute to Tartine. 

--Hannah

I recognized late last fall that my friends and family love receiving yeast breads on special occasions. 

This realization lead me to begin experimenting with fruit, nuts, chocolate, and sweeter-associated spices in my breads. I've tried a pretty expansive range of slightly sweet loaves, from molasses, to cinnamon-brown sugar, to a "sourdough take on fruitcake (with bourbon!)."

Here, I will just post my two favorite variations: Cherry-Walnut Levain and Dark Chocolate Levain. I have baked each of these loaves with a wide variety of levain percentages and fermentation processes. My constants have been flour amount and hydration percentage: 500 grams of flour, always; 80% hydration, always. Beyond that, the sky as been the limit: Different types of flour, anywhere from 50 to 300 grams of levain, autolyse between 2 and 8 hours, short fermentation and long proof, long fermentation and short proof, scoring patterns all over the map.  I will include here only my most recent formulas and processes for each!

Cherry-Walnut Levain

200g 100% hydration starter (however you want to create this levain!)

320g AP fl

80g WW fl

300 g water

11 g salt

20 g brown sugar

70 g dried cherries

70 g walnuts

Mix flour and water, and autolyse for 1 hour. Mix in rest of ingredients until combined. Stretch and fold every 30 minutes for 2 hours. Rest on counter for 2 hours. Place in the refrigerator for anywhere from 12 to 48 hours; I went to 48 last time, with lovely results. Shape into boule, and proof seam-side down for 1 1/2 hours. Bake at 460 with steam for 30 minutes, without for 18-20. 

*I really, really like baking loaves that are dense with nuts or fruit seam-side up; not worrying about slashing through small, dense objects is pretty gratifying. Also, longer bulk ferments involving walnuts lead to more of that beautifully lavender dough--always a good thing, from my perspective. 

Some recent Cherry-Walnut loaves:

On to the next...

Dark Chocolate Levain

50g 100% hydration starter

475 g AP fl

375 g water

11 g salt

140 g dark chocolate chunks 

20 g brown sugar

5 g apple cider vinegar

Mix flour and water, and autolyse for 1 hour. Mix in levain and the rest of the ingredients. Stretch and fold for 3 minutes. Stretch and fold at 20-minute intervals for 2 hours. Rest on the counter for 6 hours. Retard in the refrigerator for 4 hours. Shape into boule, and proof for 1 1/2 hours. 

This is probably my "most requested" loaf. I love giving it to friends for birthdays. Dark chocolate and sourdough...something just really, really works here. 

Some recent loaves:

Here's to more holiday and birthday sourdoughs in 2015!

--Hannah

Bread-baking has fully converted me to the metric system, but it hasn't yet convinced me to suspend my impulse to experiment rather than follow recipes or formulas. For the most part! I love to read and absorb recipes, but I always seem to end up using my new-found tool of baker's percentages to invent my own loaves. 

I've really wanted to experiment with a stiff levain for a long time (biga-like strength? Yes, please!), so I decided to give it a whirl. I put together a simple formula and hoped for the best: 

Levain:

50g 100% hydration starter

75g ap fl

25g water

Final Dough:

levain

340g ap fl

60g whole rye fl

330g water

5g malt

5g apple cider vinegar

11g salt

1) Create levain; I let mine ferment for 14 hours. It looked so stiff, I couldn't imagine it fermenting fully. But it did!

2) Mix final flour and water, and autolyse for 1 hour

3) Added levain and other ingredients; Slap/fold for 4 minutes

4) Stretch and fold ever 30 minutes, for 2 hours

5) Rest on counter for 1 hour

6) Retard in refrigerator for 1 hour

7) Shape and place in banneton; proof in the refrigerator for 20 hours

8) Remove and rest at room temperature for 30 minutes

9) Slash and bake at 450 for 30 minutes with steam, 17 minutes without

 I couldn't have asked for better ovenspring. The loaf was really tasty; strong in flavor--simultaneously malty and tangy. I enjoyed working with the stiff levain, and I'll definitely be experimenting with it again in the near future!

 Edit: Looks like my friend made good use of her half of this loaf!

Happy New Year to all, from a newbie to bread and to this forum!

I agree with CAphyl: There's something special about the notion of giving a yeast bread as a holiday gift. And I could be biased by my recent discovery of wild yeast, but I love the idea even more if the loaf is a sourdough.

Yesterday morning was a busy one in my tiny kitchen. The top loaf was a walnut and cherry loaf for a friend who loves both of those ingredients. The bottom was an asiago and mixed italian herb loaf for a another friend. The splotchy baguette was for a party, as was the final loaf. I really love playing with the FWSY-style natural fissures. All were sourdough. 

I will always remember 2014 as the year I discovered the magic and mystery of bread. I can't wait to start my next experiment in this new year! (Full disclosure: I already have...)

For my first real post, I'd like to share the results of this little experiment: I wanted to test the merits of the long cold fermentation vs. the long cold proof.

Both loaves had the same ultimate flour content and hydration (80%). As for the long ferment, I know that 300 grams of 100% levain seems high for a loaf with 500 grams of total flour, but I've had good results with that percentage of levain in my short baking tenure.  I halfed the amount of levain for the long proof, because I have been disappointed with overproofing with that technique in the past. Also, I know that my dollop of cream cheese is unorthodox, but it's my little "secret" ingredient in sourdough...I just like to keep it interesting! 

Ingredients for Long Cold Ferment:

300g 100% hydration levain

300g AP flour

50g WW flour

250g water 

11g salt

Dollop cream cheese 

Ingredients for Long Cold Proof:

150g 100% hydration levain

375g AP flour

50g WW flour

325g water

11g salt

Dollop cream cheese

For both: I mixed flour and water and autolysed for 2 hours, then added levain and salt. Did 4 stretch-and-folds at 30 minute intervals, for 2 hours. I then let both rest for 2 hours at room temperature. I placed the long-ferment dough in the fridge to continue its journey, and I shaped the long-proof dough into a boule and placed it in a banneton. I forgot the pre-shape! Anyhow, it went into the fridge. 

Both doughs were refrigerated for around 16 hours.

I removed the long-proof dough and let it rest at room temperature for 1 hr before baking T 450 for 30 minutes with steam, 20 minutes without.

I removed the long-ferment dough, shaped it, and let it proof for 1 hr before baking at 450 for 30 minutes with steam, 20 minutes without. 

Results:

Long Ferment Left, Long Proof Right

Ovenspring almost identical!

But, once sliced...the long-proofed loaf had a much larger and more irregular crumb. 

Long Proof:

Long Ferment:

Both were milder in flavor than I expected. The longer cold-proofed loaf was definitely maltier, had a thinner crust, and was possibly more complex than the longer cold-fermented loaf...but the flavor difference was really minimal. I still find long bulk fermentation more flexible and less nerve-wracking than long proofing (is it over-proofing? Is it over-proofing?!). I almost wanted a more drastically different result, so I could make a hard and fast decision! As it stands...I'm just gonna have to continue experimenting...