sourdough loaves 2 and 3

Puffed with confidence after my first loaf, I decided to alter the recipe. I did some research about baker’s percentages and was able to scale the recipe down just a bit, so as to make an ever-so-slightly smaller loaf that might fit better in my Dutch oven. My new version of the Hobb’s House Bakery No-Knead Bread has the following ingredients:

240 g starter, at its peak
272 g water*
80 g King Arthur Flour Whole Wheat Flour
320 g King Arthur Flour Bread Flour
8 g salt

* I’ve since read Flour Water Salt Yeast, and that book details at length that final dough temperature is the most important thing; he alters the temperature of the water to achieve the right final temp. I used room-temp water and had great results. Then I tried using slightly hotter tap water to see what would happen, and the final dough temp was much higher than he detailed and the final loaves were, to my mind, not as great—perhaps because I used water straight from the tap?

I set out to make my second and third loaves because, so pumped up with my achievements as I was, I determined to make a loaf as a host gift for my friend’s parents, who were hosting us the coming weekend. While I know that the Tartine recipe calls for mixing up the dough and then splitting it into two loaves, and thus I knew that doubling it would have been straightforward, I was feeling tentative and decided to mix each loaf up separately. This meant I could do more stretch-and-folds, though, so I was not complaining; I love that part of the process!

I started the process around 9 am that day, feeding Constance a huge meal so that I would have at least 480 g of starter to use at the end. Around 2 she was more than doubled (I’d had an unexpected work call that meant I couldn’t check on her at 1), so I started the autolyse. I let bulk fermentation go for about 3 hours, and had no issues forming the loaves to put into the vessels for proofing.

Back when our starters were just wee babes, I bought Caro and me matching cane bannetons. I liked the longer shape and figured it would fit more nicely in my oval Dutch oven. After my shall-not-be-named disaster with a loaf sticking to the banneton, I did some research and settled on using a tea towel dusted with a 50/50 mix of bread flour and rice flour to prevent sticking. That has definitely done the trick; I’ve had no issues peeling the tea towel off after inverting. With two loaves in the mix and only one banneton, I employed just a normal ceramic bowl from Ikea for the second loaf. I’d give a round one in the DO a try.

I spent the evening once the loaves were in the fridge (they went in around 7) debating on my cutting patterns. I scanned Instagram and decided leafy shapes, rather than the stalks of wheat, would be what I’d try. The next morning I got one loaf out of the fridge around 8 and let it sit for 2 hours; for the last half hour I preheated the oven with my DO inside. Using a technique that was detailed in a cookbook I recently edited, I balled up my parchment paper 5 times or so in order to soften it a bit. This helped a lot for the parchment not interfering with the bread’s shape. Once I put the loaf in the oven I took out the second to come to room temp. For both, I remembered to sprinkle with flour before cutting. Cutting was not very easy; the lame dragged. But I persisted.

And I was decently pleased.

The long one was baked first, and the moment it came out I realized I needed to score more deeply, so I attempted that on the second. I love the rich dark color they got. The crumb was generally nice but maybe slightly “wet” feeling? And whoa talk about a big bubble. It was in the DO for 25, uncovered for 20 or 25.

Cutting the loaf straight out of the oven is like cutting down a tree with a switchblade—my serrated knife is clearly not up to the task. The next day the crust has softened enough that it’s not such an aerobic effort. We gave the round loaf away and it was much appreciated!

post-script: Jason helped me document the whole process, and Google later made me a video of it! It’s too big to upload, sadly, but you can see it here.