I've been baking for around 5 years now. My husband recently bought me a challenger bread pan for my birthday. I never would have spent that much money on it myself, but I've been using it as a reason to really push myself to improve my loaf.
I'm pretty happy with how my loaves have been coming out. They look great and they taste great for our daily eating bread, which is really all that matters. That being said, I always like to improve, and I've been wondering how I can make my loaf even better. I'm seeking your advice on my continuous improvement journey.
My recipe:
475 g flour (around 300 stone ground whole wheat, 175 KA bread flour)
300 g water
180 g starter
8 g salt
Mix everything together. Fermentolyze for about 45 minutes. Mix and stand mixer for about 10 minutes until dough begins to become elastic. Bulk ferment in my LG oven using proof setting for about 4.5 hours. Shape and put in baniton. Proof in fridge. Preheat oven to 475 for one full hour. Flip loaf into Challenger bread pan with several ice cubes. Put in oven and lower temperature to 435. Bake for 20 minutes covered, then uncover and bake until golden.
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by CheesePlease0808
7 Comments
Edit: I forgot to add that I also do between 3 and 4 stretch and folds at intervals of 30 to 40 minutes while the bread is proofing.
You could try increasing the amount of water. Looks like this is a predominantly whole wheat bread, and its currently sitting at 69% hydration. Thats quite low for a whole wheat bread. Try 75% or even 80%. KA bread flour is super strong. But the fermentation looks on point!
Edit: just as a reference, upping the water to 362g would be 80%
Your fermentation looks great! What LG oven do you have?
One thing you could try is to reduce your bulk time and after you shape, let it proof a bit before putting it into the fridge. You should be seeing a noticeable difference in how open your crumb is.
Change hydrations, use different flours, use different techniques (develop by hand, use coil folds, use stretch and folds, rubaud, lamination), bake different types of bread (pan loaves, baguettes, ciabattas), observe other bakers. Just explore everything that is not part of your regular routine, put yourself into the unknown, that’s the only way.
You obviously have a good understanding of fermentation, considering your posted loaf of 63% whole grain.
Hi. That is a beautiful looking loaf.
Well done, no advice to offer.
Not sure what you are looking to improve? Open crumb is great for looks but isn’t practical. I think you are doing an awesome job
Nowhere but downhill from here. It looks beautiful.