Very pleased with this batch— it’s pretty much got everything I was looking to improve—nice open interior, light texture, great oven spring. Last time I said I’d change just one variable at a time but I ended up completely ignoring that and changing many things. In particular:
- Longer time for the leaven to ferment +4hrs overnight
- No whole wheat flour
- One additional turn and +30mins in the bulk fermentation
- New technique to build tension before the bench rest where I slide the dough along the surface of the board a few times until it’s taught
- Repeat the tension building movement again after shaping and before the final rise
One final change was that the power went out right as I was going to put the bread in the oven so I had to throw it in the fridge for about 3 more hours before I could bake it. Maybe the longer final rise helped things too.
Now I’m going to move on to more interesting breads. Thinking about doing something with buckwheat later this week perhaps.