Bosco where are your cooks?

lol I am still cooking away.  I have been spending some time perfecting my bread recipe and think I am finally where I need to be

Here was my latest loaf of sourdough bread

That last pic is awesome-

bosco0633 said:

sourdough is some crazy bread and makes for good photography!!

Are you happy we twisted your arm into baking. 

That shot is old, what have you been making lately. 

@bosco0633 Killer crumb on that shot. What was your hydration on that loaf?

NPHuskerFL said:

@bosco0633 Killer crumb on that shot. What was your hydration on that loaf?

The oven spring is great as well. That's a beautiful loaf. Is this from the egg?

@bosco0633 Thanks for the information. I would love to hear your workflow. I have an ongoing mission to perfect my loaf; it's great you have found a method that you are happy with. I still can't consistently get the beautiful open crumb you have. Sometimes I get it, but then I can't reproduce it on the next 5 loaves...
Again, thanks for posting. 

I have really loved learning bread making following the Josey Baker Bread Book.  He uses a simple method and I have learned a few things from mistakes that has wound me up with what is working for me.  

My starter is a whole wheat starter 
I have come up with the following
40g starter
105g ww flour 
120g of 15C water

I make this every other day and leave it on the counter.  One it has risen, I wait until it begins to drop before I take a sample for my pre ferment.  I have a very active yeast starter for SD bread.  It started out very slow, however, it is rises and gets active quickly now.  So I usually take a sample after 12 hours minimum after feeding.

Pre Ferment
I follow Josey Baker Bread for 1 loaf, double for 2 etc

15g starter
120g 15C water
105g of whole wheat flour

mix that all up and cover with lid over night 12 hours minimum

Dough

240g of 27C water mixed into the pre ferment
375g of bread flour (I like mixing white flour with my ww pre ferment)
12g sea salt

mix that all up so all the flour is mixed and cover.  This will be a thick mixture now to start.  Let it rest 30 min, then do a stretch and fold all around the bowl.  I do 10 stretch and folds.  Let it sit 30 min, then do another stretch and fold.  Repeat for a total of 4 stretch and folds over 2 hours from mixing.  I wet my hand each time so that it doesn't stick and it adds a bit of liquid to the dough.  

bulk rise
Now I cover my dough again and leave the dough.  I find when I put SD in the fridge it sucks and I have a dense loaf that doesn't rise well.  I leave on the counter and don't touch it for 8 to 12 hours, literally waiting for the dough to double in size.  I use a large cambro with measurements on the side to assist with the double.  Once it doubles you can go to the next stage.  

I add some flour to the counter, and pour the wet dough out of the bowl.  I then form my loaf.  I like round hearth loaves so I just use a bench scraper to drag it to me and turn, this creates a perfect round ball.  

After it is formed i sprinkle rice flour in a brotform and dump the rounded dough smooth side down.  Now I cover the loaf and let it proof.  Josey baker recommend 3 to 4 hours, but again, I like to let it rise a bit more.  I found 6 hours on the counter to be my magic number.  

Around hour 5, I heat a dutch oven at 475.  

Once the temp is good to go I dump the proofed loaf onto a piece of wax paper and slice the top and place into dutch oven for 20 min with lid on.  After the 20 min, I remove the lid and cook a further 20 min.  

That is what is working for me.  

I hope this makes sense and can help you out. 

Bosco, thanks for the recipe.  We love doing bread on the egg....Nothing better that butter slathered on fresh hot bread.

If anyone is looking at getting into bread making, I highly recommend the Josey Baker Bread Book.  I have purchased a few of bread making books and I find that this one is by far the most comprehensive to date!

As you go on, you will develop some steps that make the bread work to your liking, but this is a great starter book for anyone

Wow, Wow, and Triple Wow !!  I'm still working on Friendship and Flowerpot bread !!!  Still haven't succeeded yet !!!

I didn't find it too complicated, I haven't made a starter yet but using a poolish and leaving it overnight seems to work well for me.  

Have any of you experimented with 'wild yeast'?  That is, sit and let the yeast around us take over.  Thinking of getting more into bread and this method sounds interesting.  Will also have to check out that book.  Thanks!

SciAggie said:

@bosco0633 I bought the Josey Baker book and have some sourdough started right now (starting the starter). My bread is ok, but nothing as good as yours. Thanks for the information.

That looks good to me.  Next time let it proof a tad longer to get a bit more of an open crumb.