Kevin's Sourdough ::

[rwsaunders]

I know what you mean about the boule vs traditional loaf shape, Dustin. I’m slowly converting my “bread eaters” to more of a whole grain mix by using the white whole grain flour with a blend of heavier whole grain. This morning I’m getting ready to make some coffee cake from starter discard and perhaps some bread later in the week. Pics of course will follow the journey.

[dgaddis]

This might be my best loaf yet, actually got some ears on it! Happy turkey day everyone!

[rwsaunders]

What to do with a little extra sourdough? Slice up the loaf, toss in a bowl with olive oil, salt, pepper, seasoning and parmesan cheese. Spread on parchment paper (baking paper for our English friends) bake at 350F on convection for 20 minutes. Turn over every 5-6 minutes or so and watch your adult children, and I use that term loosely in my case, eat most of the batch before the croutons make it to your salad bowl.

[rwsaunders]

Not my best boule but not my worst. Good, sour taste and not too heavy or chewy. I’m not happy with the oven spring, but is only a 500g (flour weight only) loaf. We’re having soup tonight so the jury (Mrs. RW) will cast her vote later.

[dgaddis]

I've found I get better oven spring when I do a shorter proof. But I don't get the same great tang. Gotta find the sweet spot in the middle somewhere...

[dgaddis]

Christmas is coming, so I'm gonna try adding some dried cranberries and walnuts into a loaf of sourdough. Figured I should give it a trial run once or twice before Christmas actually gets here, so, mixed up Trial 1 today.

Definitely makes for a more expensive loaf of bread haha.

[dgaddis]

Well this turned out awesome!

In the oven with a pot o'steam


Out of the oven. Decent spring, not as much as my last loaf, but not bad.


The sides could have browned up a bit more.


Damn good eatin'. I was worried I didn't have enough cranberries and walnut pieces, but I think this was perfect actually.

[rwsaunders]

Thanks for the tip Dustin...shortened the second proof and spring, sprang, sprung. I'll slice her up after she cools down some.

[dgaddis]

Thanks for the tip Dustin...shortened the second proof and spring, sprang, sprung. I'll slice her up after she cools down some.

Wow! It's kinda hard to judge the height of the dough in the first pic, but that looks like a LOT of spring!

Definitely report back on the flavor, and get a pic of the crumb.

I'm wondering if a short(er) initial proof + long retard in the fridge might be the magic bullet for good spring & sour tang flavor.

[rwsaunders]

Good enough for a grilled cheese and pastrami sandwich, Justin.

[jimi]

My first attempt at sourdough from homemade starter. It's not as sour as I'd hoped but it's pretty.

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[rwsaunders]

Alright Dustin, trying a boule made from a stiff starter. Essentially a starter made from discard and rejuvenated...not sure why this is unique other than it is very doughy and it needed to be broken apart like raw pretzel dough and mixed with water, flour and salt. Anyway, the dough is on its second fold with two more to go. Progress pics to follow of course and wish me luck.

[rwsaunders]

2nd fold, 3rd fold and off we go into the wild boule yonder to proof in the fridge for 16 hours. So far, so good and it's been a very active doughball. My latest trick is to let the dough rise in the oven with the light on and that seems to keep those little sourdough beastie yeasties perky.

[rwsaunders]

Hot off the press...nice oven spring and a strong structure...smells awesome as well. Slice photos will come later today so keep your fingers crossed.

[rwsaunders]

It's a wrap King Arthur and I'm now a Knight of the Round Table.

[dgaddis]

That looks great! How wet was the dough?

[rwsaunders]

That looks great! How wet was the dough?

Dustin...it was from KA Flour's stiff starter sourdough recipe and it looks to be 71% hydration if my math is correct (482/680)=70.8%... Super easy to work with perhaps because of the stiff starter? I used bread flour instead of all-purpose flour too.

Artisan Sourdough Bread made with a stiff starter Recipe | King Arthur Flour

482g room-temperature water
113g ripe (fed) stiff sourdough starter
567g Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
113g 100% Whole Wheat Flour
12.5g bread salt (or any finely ground salt)

[dgaddis]

Close...but to really nerd out you've got to account for the water and flour in the starter:

Their 'stiff starter' is 1 part water to 2 parts flour, aka, 33% hydration. Factor that into the flour/water numbers ::

Total water = 482+(.33*113) = 519g
Total flour = 567+113+(.66*113) = 754g

So the final dough was 68.8%.

And since bread flour (and whole wheat) is more absorbent than all purpose, coupled with the lower hydration, you definitely get an easier to work with dough. The sandwich style loaves I've made lately were all 65% hydration using either all, or mostly, bread flour.

[rwsaunders]

That's pretty nerdy but that's why we "go sourdough" in the first place, right? If it means anything, I use the KA white whole wheat instead of whole wheat as it tricks my kids into eating something that might be better for them.

[dgaddis]

Does the white whole wheat actually taste any different, or just look different?