As part of my ever-expanding project to increase my bread repertoire, I wanted to try something new, so I scanned through recent postings at The Fresh Loaf and found something old-ish.
This certainly looks interesting, and the formula is written in a way that’s new to me, so I get the benefit of a new technique and a different presentation.
We begin with a sodden, lumpy mess. I think at this point, I should have realized that my dough was just a wee bit overhydrated. What can I say, I don’t usually measure water in grams. Millilitres and ounces, no problem, but wtf with “400 grams” of water? I had to put it on my SCALE, people.
A little sticky and gooey after the first fold. I’m used to this, but I’m also used to oh… adding a load of flour when I do this too, so this was very very different.
Fingers considerably less in a Rolling Stones-type state after the second folding.
It grew quite a bit between the second and third folding. It was also developing a lovely yeasty aroma at this point.
Again, quite a bit of growth in that hour before the fourth folding. Lots of good, hearty gluten development, very stretchy and resilient. But, in my opinion, still too wet. Next time I’ll have to experiment with the water amounts.
I don’t have a basket for bread baking, nor a clay mold, so I really just had to go with a free form loaf.
A less hydrated loaf would have brought me a better bloom.
And fresh out of the oven, a nice internal temp of 200 degrees, the whole house smelling of fresh bread? Oh yeah, we’re golden, baby.
And this crust did sing for ages.
Can’t wait to have it with dinner tonight, and to see how the crumb came out.
Rise Bakery 