May 2nd experiment… 2 batch’s of dough mixed and gluten developed together but split into separate bulk fermentation vessels after gluten development was complete. Batch #1 will be risen to 35% and batch #2 will rise 45%. The flour is King Arthur bread flour and King Arthur whole wheat flour. King Arthur is not as strong of flour compared to the High Gluten flour I’ve been using. I think the high gluten flour is giving me a tighter crumb than King Arthur bread flour will give me at the same hydration. Formula: 100/75/2/20 DDT: 78°~82°f Recipe… 4 loaves 2000g bread flour 200g whole flour 1600g warm water… 100g held back to dissolve salt to be added after Fermentolyse 400g Hank 48g Total weight: 4248g 4:53pm: Hank met the flour. Mixed all flour, 1500g warm water and 400g Hank to a shaggy mass. Bench rest until 6:00pm. 6:00pm: added the 48g salt and 100g of water. Incorporating them using the Rubaud mixing method… just enough to fully mix everything in properly. Bench rest 30 minutes. 6:30pm: slap and folds until the dough became a smooth, shiny cohesive mass. Divided the dough into 2 equal portions and put them into separate bulk fermentation vessels. Both are 82°f. Moved both vessels to the heating pad thats set at 80°f. I tried to work the dough as little as possible to get it to the point of passing the windowpane test. This dough will not need any further gluten development folds during bulk fermentation. The fermentation process will take care of everything else while it’s raising the dough to 35% for batch #1 and 45% for batch #2. I’m expecting the 35% loaf to get a higher oven spring but a little tighter crumb than the 45% loaf. That I’m suspecting will be a little wider but have a more open crumb. I will bake 1 loaf from each batch today… same day loaves. I’ll put the other loaf from each batch in the fridge for overnight cold proofing. I like to see and taste the difference of same day loafs vs overnight cold proofed loafs.

So I tried to make a sourdough loaf using Henry's white bread recipe. It doesn't have an ear, and I'm noy sure what I've done wrong. My guess is I didn't bulk ferment long enough, even though I let it rise for 9 hours. It was cold in my kitchen, temp around 69 F. What do you think?

I’m modifying my process to try to duplicate their extraordinary crumb… I’m not there yet but I’m getting closer. I’ve reduced the inoculation to 20%. I’ve lowered the temperature of the dough during bulk fermentation. I’ve reduced the early gluten development. I’ve extended the bulk fermentation time. I’ve increased the percentage of rise before ending bulk fermentation. I’m cold proofing all Tartine like dough. I’m getting closer to having my version of their extraordinary bread. I need to open this crumb more. The crumb is softer now and feels like the Tartine loaf in my mouth. I just need to open the crumb a little more. I’ve been using my new High Gluten flour that’s a stronger flour than King Arthur bread flour. So I just got home from buying some KA just to see if that will help.

This was the most Monday-ish Tuesday I’ve had in a few weeks! Work is being very “worky” with me logging almost 30 hours in just two days so far. I needed some stress relief this morning after waking at 3:03 AM, so I decided to mix a SD discard loaf around 7:30. The plan was to add salt at 8:30, then four sets of stretch and folds every 30 minutes, at 9:00, 9:30, 10:00 and 10:30. Well…the bottom fell out of the day pretty early. I got the salt added at 10:15, a round of S&F at 10:45, the next set at 12:30. My dough sat on the counter until 4:00! This wasn’t going to be a loaf of bread, so I made the executive decision to shift gears. I had purchased a 14” cast iron pan from Walmart a couple months ago to use for focaccia, and today would be its inaugural use. This pan was less than $20. I added some olive oil to the pan, plopped the dough in it, dimpled and covered for an hour, preheated the oven to 425, added basil, oregano, Parmesan and mozzarella. Baked it for 30 minutes, and this is one of the best focaccias I’ve ever made. I could’ve baked it longer, but this girl was hungry. I grabbed a slice and headed back to my office. I’m so thankful I’ve learned to shift and pivot when it comes to baking. All of this to say, don’t give up your dough! It might seem like it’s all going sideways, but you can shift and pivot and end up with something delicious!! Happy Baking!!

Pretty good bread