Quick school night sourdough loaf

caliking

I had been thinking about some posts made in the Wild Yeast thread recently, specifically one member who used his KA to knead the dough since he had a few loaves to bake, posts about the importance of shaping the dough after the bulk rise ( @SciAggie ), and a comment by  @NPHuskerFL about gluten structure. 

I had some leftover levain from a week ago in the fridge, so decided to try things a little differently. 

Dough: 
AP 450g
Water 338ml
Salt  10g
Levain 185g

levain came straight out of the fridge. I used that much because a) didn’t want to waste any b) I needed the dough to bulk rise in a few hrs since it was a school night. 

Mixed the AP and water for a few minutes in the KA, then let it rest for 30mins. Added the levain, then kneaded for 10 or so mins until the dough became silky and pulled away from the bowl easily. Sprinkled the salt on it and let it rest for 30 mins. Then folded every 30 mins x4. 

The about doubled after 4 hrs and felt right, so I shaped it. This time I paid attention and rolled the dough towards me with my hands, to sort of tighten the dough. Did this a few times then, plopped it in a loaf pan. This makes it easier to take bread to work and make sammiches. Refrigerated overnight for 8 hrs. 
  This morning, preheated the oven to 475F for 45mins, then  placed the cold dough in the oven. Tented HD foil over the top. Ice cubes in a hot CI skillet for steam.  Baked for 30 mins covered, 10 mins uncovered. 





This was one of my best loaves yet, in terms of oven spring. Haven't sliced it yet, since it came out of the oven just before I had to leave for work. 

And I really dig the convenience- make the levain ahead of time, bulk rise 4 hrs, refrigerate 6-8 hrs, then done within 1.5hrs of waking up the next morning. 

lkapigian

Looks Like A Winner!

blind99

i've been using loaf pans and overnight fridge, as well, with a couple of problems - sometimes the dough rises too much and gets stuck to the plastic wrap I put on.  and i've gotten the dough stuck to the pan.  (second problem I mostly fixed by putting a piece of parchment on the bottom of the pan; the sides I loosen with a knife.)

thoughts? great looking loaf there!

caliking

blind99 said:

i've been using loaf pans and overnight fridge, as well, with a couple of problems - sometimes the dough rises too much and gets stuck to the plastic wrap I put on.  and i've gotten the dough stuck to the pan.  (second problem I mostly fixed by putting a piece of parchment on the bottom of the pan; the sides I loosen with a knife.)

thoughts? great looking loaf there!

I've had the same happen in the past.

I dust the bottom and sides of the pan with flour. No oil, as it will scorch with the high temp.

After shaping and dropping it in the loaf pan, i dust the top of the dough with some flour, and place the pan in a plastic grocery store bag. Loosely knot the ends, and tent the part overlying the dough. This lets it all breathe a little, so you don't get condensation between bag and dough, which minimizes the plastic sticking to the dough. 

I also found that removing the loaf from the pan seems to be easier within a few minutes of it coming out of the oven vs. waiting for it to cool in the pan. 

blind99

excellent, thanks, i'll give that a try.

SciAggie

That’s a beautiful loaf of bread. 

NPHuskerFL

Nice!!!
Oven spring ✔
Those blisters tho
Sliced yet?

bgebrent

That looks wonderful man!

caliking

Thanks @SciAggie . I made a few improvements based on "listen to your egghead friends" as mentioned above. Another thing I got right with this one, was not burning the crust. The loaf has a particular aroma at the right moment when it needs to be pulled, and I usually haven't paid attention to it. I think @20stone passed that on to me. 

Next up is honing my lame skills,  to control how the loaf expands as it bakes.

It never ends!

caliking

Thanks @NPHuskerFL . Can't wait to slice into it when I get home.

The crust turned out nice and crispy. I leave a CI skillet in the oven as a heat diffuser, and dump 2 cups of ice cubes in it immediately after the loaf goes in. Charges the oven up with steam very nicely. If baking in a covered DO, I pop 2-3 cubes inside the hot DO, between the parchment paper and dough. 

caliking

Here you go:


The crumb turned very very much to my liking- not too open, and soft. Perfect for sammiches!

Dyal_SC

Perfect!  Looks awesome!  I gave up on sourdough. Never could get it right.  Might hafta try it again after this post. 

SciAggie

Open crumb is cool and all that - I think it’s fun to develop the skill set to make a loaf with really open crumb. That said, open crumb sucks for sandwiches; butter, jelly, and the like leak through terribly as well. What you made is a very practical and useful bread.