Pushing limits

For this sourdough loaf I wanted to experiment by pushing each stage of the process to its limit. I began with a long autolyse extending it to 3 hours instead of my usual 1 to enhance the extensibility. For the mix, l used a peaked levain rather than one that had merely risen 1.5x, and continued mixing until the dough was just on the verge of losing elasticity. This created a very extensible dough, so I focused on building strength during bulk through folds and fermentation. I applied one strong fold followed by two gentle folds. After these, the dough held its shape well. I continued the bulk fermentation until the dough reached approximately an 80% increase in volume, which is the upper limit of what this flour can tolerate. After a 45 minute bench rest post preshape, I shaped the dough using the fold and roll method, then cold retarded it at 3°C for 14 hours. When I turned the dough from the banneton, it was visibly plump and well-structured.