A beginner who made a few loaves that always didn’t seem proofed enough. I think I’m learning but sometimes I’m not sure if I’m doing the right thing. The difference between my previous two loaves seems to be the cold proof I would try to do but the crumb always came out to be super dense. Decided to try to do a same day bake. How does this look? When I did the bulk ferment, I went off a chart I saw that had target percentage rise according to the dough temp instead of just the “double” in size. Was this the move? Any critique and advice welcome!

Modified the Tartine recipe.
Levain:
25g starter
50g bread flour, 50g wheat
100g water
leave covered overnight

• Mix all the levain into 650g warm water, 20g salt then add 100g wheat, 900g bread flour and autolyse for 45min
• 4 stretch and folds every 15min or so until it's good and jiggly (had to fit it in my schedule)
• Rest/bulk ferment for 4 hours.
• Pre-shape. Cover with a towel and rest for about 30 min.
• Shape. I did a boule and a bâtard. Placed in bannetons, let rise till they pass the poke test (I didn't retard them).
• Scored and baked with two Dutch ovens so they got done quicker. Oven was preheated at 500. 20m lid on and ~25-30m lid off until color was nice

by janusbe

6 Comments

  1. Brilliant-Ad-6487

    > I went off a chart I saw that had target percentage rise according to the dough temp instead of just the “double” in size.

    I strongly suspect the “double in size” business is a holdover from commerical yeast recipes, where the yeast is significantly more “energetic” and needs to expend more of that energy during bulk rise. 

    I don’t follow a chart, but just kind of have a general goal of 50-75% rise, which I’ve found by trial and error works best for me. That probably is based on dough temperature, I’ve just never checked. 

    Your loaves are beautiful, and that’s a great crumb. You’ve clearly hit on the right amount of rise!

  2. diz_lizard

    Looks great to me!! If you’re happy with how this turned out, I’d say practice with this recipe at least a few more times to dial in your preferences. And yes, going by rise and temperature is going to get you better and more consistent results than just waiting for it to double. Double in size might be fine if your kitchen runs cold, but for most cases, somewhere between 30-50% rise will work better.

  3. Superb_Dragonfly_288

    Looks soo good! Great job! 😊

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