Open crumb

Wanted to share my latest success. I’ve been striving for a lacy crumb for a while. This is the closest I’ve gotten. Hoping to get even more lacy and delicate eventually.

300g white flour 12.5% protein
232g water
150g levain (1:1:1 + 0.1 rye)
7g salt
3g diastatic malt powder

It’s very cold where I am at the moment so this one took ages. Average dough temp was probably 17C.

2.5hr autolyse with 222g water. Added levain. Rubaud mix. 1hr after, added salt and remaining water. Rubaud mix. 4 sets of stretch and folds. Laminated. A couple of coil folds. Total bulk ferment 20hr on counter (dough temp around 17C average). Overnight cold proof.

Tips I’ve learnt along the way to achieve an open lacy crumb:
1. Build lots of strength at the beginning of bulk ferment. I would have done more stretch and folds until the dough felt stronger but I had to go to sleep lol. Also, I’ve stopped timing stretch and folds. I’ve learnt that once the dough looks like it’s relaxed it’s time to do another fold.
2. Push bulk fermentation. Visual cues like jiggliness/airyness and bubbles on the surface are the main things I look for. In hindsight, I could have gone a bit longer for this one.
3. Starter health – I do one refresh from the fridge before making my levain. I use to just make levain with starter straight from fridge. 1 refresh makes a huge difference
4. Stopped trying to “build tension” when shaping. Unless you’re trying to get a tight crumb, don’t over-handle your dough at final shaping. A simple gentle fold with slight tension is sufficient, so that you retain all the gas you worked so hard to get!

If anyone has any other tips I’d love to hear them