A bread tin with the bread spilling out of the lid, which has popped off the top of the tin in the oven due to the bread rising more than expected.
First attempt at ‘kid-friendly’ sweet potato bread was interesting 😅. Need to refine those measurements next time. Still, made a nice crusty bit to suck on 👶.
A loaf of sourdough bread held up to a window. Bubbles on the crust are central in the picture.
Back to sourdough after a holiday… having a go with a 100% wholemeal levain which seems to be working well.
A sourdough batard on a chopping board. It has been cut into with the photographer holding a slice of the bread at the bottom of the picture. The slice shows a structure of holes in the bread that are around 0.5 to 2cm in diameter. There is a bread knife and another slice of bread in the background.
Finally, the recipe:
Shipton Mill no. 4: 50%
Wildfarmed T80: 35%
Gilchesters Wholemeal: 15%
Hydration: 77%ish
Firm levain: 15%
Salt: 2.3%
Autolyse 30 minutes, add levain and 50g water, add salt after another 30 minutes, 3 sets of folds 30 mins apart, leave to prove until 50% increase in height.
I inadvertently did a single and then a double ‘Caddy clasp’ in the wicker bannetons. As expected, the single clasp was longer and the double clasp was taller. If you’re not familiar with the shaping technique it’s a game changer! Explanation here: thesourdoughjourney.com/faq-shaping/
Stretching and folding a large weight of dough seemed to provide more strength with less input. Strangely I found it less tough on my arms mixing 6kg vs my usual 4kg of dough!
Strangely the bannetons seemed to matter… the cheap cane ones with a liner were a bit misshapen and also ‘flatter’ compared to the (also cheap) brotform ones and the fancy cane ones. They also didn’t brown as well.
My electric fan oven with a Lodge DO produced ‘flatter’ loaves than my gas oven with Challenger. Unsure if it was the pan or the oven but will try the Challenger and the Lodge in the gas oven for more of a side by side comparison.
5 loaves of sourdough on two cooling racks on a kitchen counter. 2 round boules and 3 oval batards.
Baked 6 loves today, which is the most I’ve done in one batch (I gave one away before getting to no. 6). Some interesting differences:
A top down view of a sourdough batard where the central score has split near the top, with another split to the left.
Perhaps a weird shaping error? No issues with taste though!
Wildfarmed T80: 45%
Molino Bongermino Lievitati Tipo 00: 45%
Gilchesters Wholemeal: 10%
Hydration: 67%
Sugar: 2%
Diastatic Malt: 1%
Olive oil: 2%
Salt: 2.5%
IDY: 0.05%
24 hour room temp prove, 300g ball for a roughly 14 inch pizza
An ‘upside down’ Margherita pizza on a cooling rack, with charred bubbles on the crust, cheese on the bottom, tomato sauce on top and basil leaves scattered on top.
A pizza held on a turning peel with tomato sauce, thin slices of aubergine, vegan cheese and pepper.
A couple of New York-ish pizzas cooked in a home oven on a baking steel. ‘Upside down’ Margherita (which needed less cheese next time) and an aubergine, lemon zest & juice, pepper and vegan mozz inspired by one I had at Omnipollos hatt in Stockholm. Still tweaking this but love the baking steel. % ⬇️
A top down view of a sourdough boule (round loaf) scored 4 times in a diamond pattern with oats on top. In the background is a cafe or restaurant.
This pic was taken at Tartine Manufactory in San Francisco and is the loaf I’m shamelessly trying to rip off here. The combination of thick crust, soft crumb and tangy flavour has been hard to replicate at home, though I should play to the strengths of the flour and ingredients found over here.
This version makes a porridge of oats, toasted wheatgerm and honey. I think by cooking the wheatgerm you end up with a gelatinised effect similar to a tangzhong or a yudane which softens the crumb. The honey doesn’t add too much sweetness… perhaps it gets digested by the yeasts during fermentation?
A top down view of a sourdough boule (round loaf) scored 4 times in a diamond pattern with oats on top.
2 sourdough loaves, a boule (round loaf) on the left and a batard (oval loaf) on the right on top of a cooling rack. The loaves have oats on top. In the background is a butter dish and a bread bin.
A cross section of a sourdough batard showing the ‘crumb’. There are two large holes with a network of medium holes in the crumb.
Further exploration of oat porridge bread & I think this is my favourite so far. Based on Vanessa Kimbell’s ‘Sourdough School’ formula with honey but with the hydration dialled down a bit vs the book, as it could easily end up in the high 90%s after adding cooked porridge!
A sourdough batard loaf in a cast iron pan.
A front on view of a sourdough batard on a cooling rack.
Two sourdough loaves: a boule (foreground) and a batard (background) on a cooling rack.
A cross section of a sourdough batard showing the ‘crumb’. A number of medium size holes are spread around the crumb.
30% YQ Population wholemeal in these. This was developed by the John Innes Centre and the team at Wakelyns from the ORC. They used 20 ‘parent’ wheat varieties to create 190 crosses and mixed the seeds. The increased diversity is more sustainable & led to greater ‘yield’ and ‘quality’ (hence ‘YQ’).
I think next time I’ll experiment with hydration levels (perhaps lowering to 70ish%), as well as salt and oil.
Shipton Mill No. 4: 60%
Wildfarmed T80: 30%
Merchants Mill Wholemeal: 10%
Hydration: 80%
Firm Levain: 10%
Olive Oil: 2.5%
Salt: 2.3%
Diastatic Malt Powder: 0.4%
24hr dough, overnight in the fridge
A rectangular pizza with cheese, tomato sauce and basil on a cooling rack.
A cross section of a pizza slice with some air bubbles.
A rectangular pizza with cheese, tomato sauce, mushrooms, sweetcorn, onions, jalapeños and basil on a cooling rack.
Ran out of yeast so made some sourdough grandma pizza. I always feel like you trade a bit of texture and lightness for flavour when you use sourdough rather than IDY for pizza. If anyone knows how achieve both with sourdough lemme know! Aldi vegan pepperoni is decent… watch it disappear after Jan!
A front on view of a loaf of sourdough bread on a cooling rack. To the left is the side of another loaf, which is mostly out of shot.
A front on view of a boule of sourdough bread on a cooling rack. To the right is the side of another loaf, which is mostly out of shot.
A cross section of a loaf of sourdough bread, showing the ‘crumb’. There are a few medium sized holes surrounded by small holes in the crumb. Out of focus below the bread is a golden cocker spaniel looking at the loaf.
20% Merchants Mill light spelt, 76% hydration. Definitely lighter than expecting so might play well with a wholemeal flour. Someone’s interested already! #sourdough #breadsky
I don’t think it’s a case of our flour not being as good: there are sooo many great millers and wheat farmers, some of which are pioneers of regenerative agriculture. Think of the rich history of bread and pastry around the continent! It’s just a case of adapting recipes to suit softer wheat.
Why roll it up like that?… dunno, just looks pretty, ennit?
….it seems to incorporate the ingredients well at least.
I find it very reliable and easy to maintain. Give it a go if you feel as though you aren’t able to replicate some recipes, particularly from authors in the US or Canada. Simply feed your 100% hydration starter at the new ratio.
A rolled up ‘stiff’ sourdough starter against a white worktop. There are digital scales in the background.
This is my sourdough starter/levain. It’s 50% hydration & made of a mix of white & wholemeal flour, which may surprise people who follow the Tartine playbook of batter-like 100% hydrated starters. Inspired by the Bread Code & Wayne Caddy’s experiments with lower gluten flour from the UK & Europe.
Toppings: confit garlic, rosemary, salt and olive oil.
Baker’s %:
Shipton Mill no. 4: 90%
Merchants Mill Wholemeal: 10%
Hydration: 80%
Salt: 2.3%
Extra Virgin Olive Oil: 2%
Firm Levain: 15%
Baked focaccia bread on a cooling rack with confit garlic, rosemary, salt and olive oil on top. Some bubbles are dark brown near the bottom.
A cross section of a focaccia. Some air holes in the crumb and dark bubbles.
Bread dough in a rectangular pan topped with confit garlic, rosemary, salt and olive oil.
Focaccia dough in a rectangular pan after being stretched and dimpled, topped with confit garlic, rosemary, salt and olive oil.
Sourdough focaccia v2. Lowered hydration a bit & it held its strength. It caught a bit on the bottom so a lesson from this one is to take it off the baking steel after 10-15 mins or bake at a lower temperature (I was thinking pizza and cranked the oven). Intentionally baked hard so not burned imo!
Dough in a pan with a few bubbles on the surface.
Dough in a pan topped with olive oil, confit garlic, rosemary and salt.
Dough in a pan after being stretched and dimpled. There are large bubbles in the dough. The toppings are confit garlic, olive oil, salt and rosemary.
Looks ready to go 🤞.
Stats:
60% Shipton Mill No. 4
40% Gilchesters Farmhouse
80% hydration
2.2% salt
15% firm levain
A top-down view of a loaf of sourdough bread held with a white oven glove.
Two sourdough loaves on a cooking rack. The left one is an oval ‘batard’ shape and the right is a smaller round ‘boule’.
A cross section of sourdough loaf, showing the ‘crumb’.
I had a big bag of Gilchesters Organics’ farmhouse light brown flour. Despite the ‘light’ tag this is is a high extraction flour. What you might lose in photogenic holey crumb, you more than make up for in flavour & you don’t get the dense texture often associated with pure wholemeal.
Bread dough in an oiled rectangular pan on a stovetop
In the pan & will be in a cold room (like 14°C) overnight.