I baked another batch of sourdough over the last few days. This time only two loaves worth. I targeted 60% hydration, and it seems to be about right. It was a little cold for the leavens, so I think the dough may have had a bit too high an acid load, which made it slightly too slack.

I used the stand mixer for the first half of kneading, but did the second half by hand. In the process of hand kneading I probably worked another little bit of flour in, bringing the hyrdration down a bit more.

Once again, I proofed in my ghetto bannetons. It seemed to go well. I let them proof in the oven after a warm cycle (the dough was at 75°F) for a grand total of 2.5 hours. The last half hour was out of the oven, while it preheated.

I put the stone and the bread on the second from top position, so that it got radiant heat from the oven ceiling. The cast iron went on a lower rack. I think next time I might put it on the oven floor again. It gets much hotter there, although that does mean it throws off more fumes as it heats up. Hopefully after a couple cycles of that without reseasoning it will be done burning.

The loaves did not get quite the loft I was hoping for, possibly from the aforementioned high acid load. Still, they came out pretty reasonably shaped.

Neither the crust nor the crumb were perfect, but overall I'd give the loaves high marks.

posted: Thu, 30 Nov 2006 04:24 | permanent link to this entry