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my first sourdough bread using 5 days old starter raised in sunny Queensland, Australia

I am new to sourdough berad.  A big thank-you to Susan of wild yeast.  I followed her Overnight Ciabatta recipe loosely.  But as someone said, "it isn't the recipe that will make or break...so much as the technique used in dealing with the ingredients," it really isn't easy for a beginner especially when the ingredients are so simple - flour, water and a few microorganisms in the air.  As you can see from the top picture, the bottom of my bread is dense.  I was quite scared when I was folding the dough and as a result I probably didn't do as good a job in that.  Another reason for the dense bottom crumb could be that it didn't proof completely before it went into the bake.   It is very hard for a beginner to judge - the recipe might say, "proof one hour", how about my room temp, how well did the dough ferment before that... all of these play a mystical part in the final product unbeknown to the beginner.

And, thank-you, too, to cleancarpetman.  I read his "Freedom!!" before I finally decided I should put all the books and reseach aside and just do it.  One day I will get the ryhthm of the process. 

The flavour of the bread was beautiful though - mildly sour, soft, and full of life.  It has the complexity in flavour that factory white bread cannot dream of.  Both of my son and daughter loved it.  How do a 14 year-old and a 16 year-old know these things. 

Shiao-Ping

G'day!  I'm currently searching for a sourdough pizza base recipe.  I'd love to hear from those who have a tried and true recipe. I was just going to try one of my white sourdoughs and make a few adjustments. I'm also a newbie to the art and would love to hear of fellow afficionado's experiences.

Cheers! Marie.

I made a rustic white bread using Nancy Silverton's recipe from her Breads from La Brea Bakery book. This is my first time baking in cold weather and I'm thinking low fermenation temperatures might be the problem, since I've used this formula before with no problems.  I know my starter is healthy and performing well, so I am confident we can remove that from the equation. Here is what happened:

When it was time for the fermentation, the house was between 60F & 65F, and after two hours I could see no change in the dough. I then placed it in a room with a heater that raised the temperature to between 70 and 75.  After a total fermentation period of four hours the dough seemed to have spread out (the container was a bit wider than the dough) but not to have risen much, if at all. When I pressed on it it seemed rather firm, and my finger left an impression that lingered.  I didn't let it ferment further for fear of ruining the dough. I'm now wondering if I should have let it ferment longer.

I then shaped it and let it proof for about an hour as recommended but again, the rise I was supposed to expect was not discernable. Again I dared not let it sit out longer for fear of overproofing.  Should I have let it proof for a longer period at this point?

So next it went into the refrigerator overnight. Today I let it sit out for four hours in the warmed room as Silverton instructs, but the boule did not double in size as she describes (it barely rose at all) and when I pressed on it, the dough did not spring back as she says it should.  

Dreading the outcome, I baked per her instructions.  The result was a nice color and startling oven spring given the size of the dough (I hadn't expected anything at all!) but the crumb was stili denser than I was hoping for. My room mates praised the flavor and density so it wasn't a complete waste of flour, but I am wondering what I can do to make the dough less dense next time. By the way, I made a sourdough batard with this starter a few days earlier and it was also more dense than I prefer.  I would appreciate any suggestions/advice you may have.    Thanks!! Photos of the boule and the crumb are below.