An update on Jason's winter project of bread baking with a natural starter. The latest loaves are spot on! So here's what's changed, in Jason words (a cook who hates to measure precisely): I controlled everything a lot better especially the temperature and weights. I also worked my dough a lot more at the beginning to give it better structure. Most importantly I learned to watch the dough not the clock, just because it says it should be 3 hours that could vary greatly.
Thanks for all the suggestions on places to warm the dough. I put the dough into a cold oven with a pan of boiling water added to the bottom and that did the trick. I get twice as much oven spring as I did before!
 |
| Before: Bake #2 , After: Bake #7 |
For those of you that requested the recipe, I am using Chad Robertson's famous country loaf from Tartine Bakery. Rather than putting the recipe here, I’ll link to the article in Martha Stewart Living where the basic recipe was featured. The recipe is simple, it's all in the procedure which is several pages long. For a lot of my bread baking questions I have been visiting www.thefreshloaf.com for videos & troubleshooting tips from serious bread bakers.
For the Dough:
- Water (80 degrees), 750 grams
- Leaven, 200 grams
- White bread flour, 900 grams
- Whole-wheat flour, 100 grams
- Salt, 20 grams
I have the luxury of time right now so I am baking bread daily, tweaking ever so slightly here and there keeping notes on everything.
:.