Loaf Log 005

 

I NAILED this loaf - as someone who prefers airy and larger pocket bread - she's perfect to me. I did some things differently... I bulk fermented overnight (about 9 hrs) NOT IN THE FRIDGE after stretch & folds. I let it sit out on my counter and kept the screen door open (it was about 55 degrees overnight), so it wouldn't rise quickly. 

When I woke up I immediately checked on it and the dough was HUGE! The biggest rise I've seen yet for a loaf. I started shaping it right away, and then put it in the fridge for about 1.5 hrs before baking because I had morning meetings. I am realizing I need to bulk ferment way more than I think. I loosely followed a bulk fermentation chart. 

I was also in a rush to bake this in between meetings so I threw it in the dutch oven covered at 35 mins instead of 45 mins, and baked it uncovered for 10 mins instead of 15 mins. I think this helped to not crisp the dough so much. It was much easier to cut into. 

Overall Rating:

• Crumb: 9/10 - still think it's slightly over cooked despite not cooking as long as usual
• Pockets: - 12/10 - best I've seen 
• Rise: 100/10, finally starting to understand the basics of bulk fermentation

Loaf Log 004

I think I baked this one two minutes too long but the bread itself tastes great. It was SUPER hard to cut into. I used COLD sourdough starter and I think for whatever reason that may have helped with the rise? I was also super on top of doing the folds every thirty minutes, and letting it sit out for 4-5 hours to rise before shaping it and putting it in the fridge overnight.

Rating: 

• Crumb: 8/10 - slightly overcooked
• Pockets: 10/10 - larger pockets, dispersed evenly, just the way I like it
• Rise: 10/10 - I didn't go that deep on the scoring for either the main, or the decorative scores - for some reason that may have helped the ventilation???

Not crazy about how the scoring turned out, but it REALLY rose!!

 

Loaf Log 003

This may be my best one yet?!  I floured and tested the scoring and I think this looks bakery level - I gave it to my grandparents, so I wasn't able to cut into it.

I did overnight fermentation with this one.

Welcome to the Loaf Log!

You made it! This is my loaf log. Here, I record sourdough attempts and successes, what went well, what didn't and recent experiments.

Loaf Log 002

My first LARGE loaf!

Rating: 

• Crumb: 9/10 - I would say I pretty much nailed it
• Pockets: 9/10 - evenly dispersed
• Rise: 8/10 - I feel like it could have rose a little more? Maybe I let it sit out to long from the fridge before putting it in the dutch oven.

This was the first loaf I made with a 5 qt dutch oven and I believe it made all the difference to allow the bread to rise. I tested ONLY decor scoring so I think the bread got just the slightest bit gummy because of that.

Loaf Log 001

My first loaf!

Rating: 

• Crumb: 5/10 - really not much crumb on this one
• Pockets: 8/10 - pretty much evenly dispersed throughout the bread.
• Rise: 7/10 - the mini-dutch-oven I used for this mini-loaf was too small, so the bread was constrained

I waited about 1 hour to cut into the bread - I made 2 mini-loaves, and the second one I waited longer to cut into which I believe helped the structure.