Food In Many Forms

Now that I've made a few loaves, watched way too many Youtube videos and read a few blogs, here is what I've gleaned about sourdough so far: - The water in recipes is more of a suggestion than a rule - judgment and feel is everything - Add some of the water, and keep the rest to the side, adjust as needed - Bread flour has more protein than all-purpose flour, allowing for more gluten development - Whole wheat flour decreases gluten development, and should be used in combination with other flours - A levain can be the starter itself, or it can refer to the step where you soak flour, water, and starter together for a period of time prior to adding the rest of the ingredients - The autolyze step can range from 30 minutes to 4 hours - The dough should be sticky and wet in the initial phase - Proof the dough at room temperature for more sour bread, and at 80-90 degrees for less sour flavor - When proofing overnight in the fridge, make sure to lock in the mois...

On Monday, I said I would make another attempt at a loaf. After much debate on technique, we ultimately decided to try the "baking with babish" technique of using a levain but it kind of veered off of the recipe pretty quickly from there. After being refrigerated overnight, and multiple rounds of folding, we proofed half of the dough in the oven like America's test kitchen, and the other half we stuck in the fridge to make the next day. The first loaf came out short, but super airy, with a nice crunch - perfect for bruschetta, dipping in soup, with slices of cheese or tapenade. The second loaf was taller, and had the beautifully darkened crust, and sour flavor, but had fewer, smaller air pockets - more like a sandwich bread.