This is my second loaf. I mostly copied everything I did from the deep dive guide here and got my recipe from one of the beginner guides.
My first loaf ended up slightly dense and just a little gummy but still tasted alright. Pretty sure it was because of overproofing but I could be wrong.
Second loaf I tweaked what I think I did wrong and definitely seen improvement.
Recipe is 500g bread flour 125g ww flour 450g water 150g starter 1 tbsp salt.
I mixed all in for the autolyze/fermentolyze and let sit for close to 4 hours which was longer then I meant to do but I don’t believe had any negative effects on it. After that I did stretch and fold every 30-45 minutes for 3 hours and left in microwave in between just because it is warmer then room temp in there.
I shaped and left in fridge uncovered for about 12 hours and the started the bake the next day.
I don’t have a razor so I had to use a knife and scissors to score.
I will admit the bottom crust is a little overcooked and almost burnt. I had pre heated Dutch oven to 500f but forgot to turn down to 450f during the 20 min lid on portion of the bake. I also baked for another 30 min lid off which might have been too long for it.
I found one of the hardest parts of sourdough is trying to get the timing of each process down and knowing when to start each step.
Please tell me what you guys think. go ahead and beat me up. Any criticisms or comments would be welcomed!
by meetbeker
4 Comments
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It looks good!
I am sorry to hear it was dense and a little gummy though!
Which recipe did you end up choosing?
For the bottom burning, just get a pizza stone or a heavy baking sheet on the rack below the dutch oven, it helps deflect the heat when the lower burners kick on.
It honestly looks like it could have used a bit more time to ferment and start doing your stretch and folds 30 minutes after adding the starter! Looks much better than my second loaf!
You can place a cooking sheet on the rack below the Dutch oven and that prevents the bottom burning.
I would also stretch and fold sooner after combining ingredients, 30-60 minutes is my norm. But it honestly looks great!