A few days ago, I made a desperate post “What is my problem with bulk fermentation“, as I’ve been struggling for the past 2,5 months to not end up with gummy, sticky bread.

Did we finally get there?

Somehow, I ended up with this absolutely delicious loaf. She’s not gummy but just the pleasant amount of slightly chewy, feels airy, not too sour and I finally have hope that my crouton stash of failed loaves will stop growing.

Recipe

• 100g of starter mixed into 325ml of 27°C water

• 20g honey (advised to help me with a glossier crumb and shinier but also softer crust)

• Added 500g of 14g/100g of protein bread flour (out of which 35g of whole wheat since I ran out).

(Which marked the start of my bulk fermentation at an internal dough temperature of 27°C)

• Incorporated into a cohesive dough, followed by approximately 5 minutes of slap and folds.

  • Rest for 30 minutes.
  • Two sets of stretch and folds 30 minutes apart, dimpling and incorporating 11g of pink salt in the first set.
  • Two sets of coil folds 30 minutes apart.
  • One set of coil folds 20 minutes later because the coiled dough just didn’t look “tight enough” to me.
  • Bulk fermentation took 5,5 hours (picture 4). It wasn’t sticky and pulled away from the bowl very easily so I just went for it.
  • Pre-shaped into a boule (flattened into a rectangle and then folded corner-to-center),
  • Left it to rest for 20 minutes (held shape satisfyingly well) and shaped again before going into the floured banneton and into the fridge for 20 hours (I’ve been busy).
  • Went into my preheated cast iron pot at 230°C with four ice cubes for 35’ minutes, covered (also new for me to use ice…).
  • 15 minutes uncovered, same heat, because I’m starting believe my oven runs a little colder than I thought.
  • Transferred to a cooling rack and cut into 5 hours later, then sliced using my new electric slicer (not specifically for bread).

So please, any more advice? What about the honey? Some slices have slightly discoloured patches that feel the same as the rest and taste the same. Is it because of the honey?

As for the crust, I honestly don’t like hard crusts so I’m glad if the honey softened it a little.

Thank you!