Hey all! I’m just looking to perfect my technique (I’m a raving perfectionist, unfortunately). Does anyone have any pointers? How does this loaf look to you? (She tasted great!)
Process:
– 405 bread flour
– 45g WW flour
– 90g starter (fed at a 1:3:3 ratio, 70% AP and 30% WW)
– 340g water
– 11g salt
Mix together the water and flour well. Let rest for ~30min. Dimple and fold/knead the starter into this mixture, sprinkling in the salt little by little as you do. Slap and fold into a ball. Let rest ~15min. Perform 4-6 coil folds every 15 minutes for 3 rounds, and then every 30 minutes for another 3 rounds.
Bulk ferment covered in a warm place (aka my stovetop w/ oven light), minding the temperature. My dough stayed around 80 degrees, so after ~5.5 hours bulk ferment I called it good. Preshape: fold one side to middle, fold the other side over both, flip over and gently guide into a ball shape. Short bench rest, covered (~15min). Shaped (I used the “head, shoulders, knees, and toes” method, rolled up into a batard, push/pull to tighten). Then placed in the fridge for ~15hrs.
Preheat DO @500 for 1hr. I scored deep straight down the loaf toward me. Baked @450 for 40min lid on, 5-10min lid off.
Any pointers? What can I do to improve the crumb?
by coridoodledop
17 Comments
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Also, does anyone have any scoring tips? Do I cut once and call it a done deal, or do you cut multiple times?
Ugh! So beautiful!!! 😍
Beautiful. Great job!
Love the blistering and auburn color. Not sure how much more improvement you want on that crumb. Right amount of air pockets, looks soft and creamy. I guess it just depends on how many ‘holes’ you want in it. Imposter syndrome is a real thing, I suffer from it greatly, you kind of don’t believe that you pulled it off, but I really think you did on this one.
In terms of scoring, don’t be afraid to get a lil deeper in there, if your dough is right it will hold its shape fine without deflating.
A thing of beauty and joy. I bow down to its greatness.
What is WW and AP mean? Water + flour? Also why 1:3 not 1:1, makes starter stronger?
This looks amazing
Looks great. Nothing to suggest.
We’re actually looking for your feedback. Perfect
Beautiful!
Beautiful. Keep doing what you’re doing!
Crumb looks perfect, crust is a bit thick for me. Especially the bottom. I use a very similar recipe, but after I preheat to 500 and am about to put my loaf in (after changing to 450), I put a room temp cast iron frying pan underneath the Dutch oven. I also add 2 ice cubes into the Dutch oven and bake for 30 mines instead of 40. Then uncovered for 10. But if you like thick crust then you are good.
Also if you are like me and want consistent results, I suggest measuring %rise during bulk fermentation so you get this airy crumb ever time.
Looks excellent. Probably time to start bumping up the percentage of whole wheat and looking to get into home milling if you want to continue challenging yourself
Only thing missing for me is the lashings of butter I would put on it before devouring it!! Looks delicious.
Um if anything we should be asking YOU for tips! This is everything I’m aiming to achieve! Perfect ear, perfect color, my ideal crumb, insane blisters, just all around perfection!
If this ain’t perfect, then I don’t know what is. It’s a gorgeous loaf on the inside and out. That is an ideal crumb in my opinion and the crust looks fabulous. I guess you could try to get a more pronounced ear, but a big ear has always been more aesthetic to me and kind of subjective at that. I guess you could experiment with scoring deeper or at a slightly steeper angle. I’ve seen redditors sugggest scoring again after it’s been in the oven for a few minutes but I’ve never tried that myself. But you got good oven spring here, so obviously however you scored this loaf worked well. Enjoy your success and ponder if “perfection” even exists or if it’s merely a construct of western/capitalist Christian philosophy intended to generate guilt and shame in us while you munch on that amazing bread you made!