Looking at all the years I've been baking, I still haven't baked half the breads of which I dream. But this weekend, I was able to produce a loaf that made me very happy. Of great quality, still it was so simple in basic profile. The pain au levain below is primarily white flour, save a few grams of whole wheat. This bread tasted so good and looked so beautiful, I had to share this picture, as that was all I had left after breaking in to it with my wife, then sharing the rest with my neighbors!
Pre-ferment
First build
Starter:
9g
Flour:
9g
Water:
14g
Second Build
Starter:
32g
Flour:
27g
Water:
42g
Third build
Starter:
100g
Flour:
53g
Water:
56g
Total=209g, return 9g for next bread.
Final Dough:
Flour:
510 (I used 95% White flour, and 5% whole wheat)
Water:
278g
Salt:
12g
Levain:
200g
My levain was fed in approximately 8 hour intervals, and the final dough had about a two hour bulk ferment. The dough was shaped and really took off, I think it must of been perhaps an hour of rising and plop into the fridge. After about 9 hours I baked the loaf in a Creuset pot for a total of 50 minutes, 25 with top at about 470 F, and opened at about 450 for the rest of the baking.
This is going to Susan at wild yeast for Yeastspotting on Friday....
Hi Andrew,
hmmm, your sounding a little bit like me, a lazy baker not doing the math...I used a sourdough calculator I found on line. Haven't really delved into the reason what and why the different hydration do or don't matter, but I can say from the way the bread turned out, I am pleased!
Posted by: Jeremy | March 06, 2010 at 07:03 PM
Jeremy -
Beautiful bread, well done.
What is the final hydration of this bread? (Sorry, I haven't had enough coffee yet this morning to do the math.) And what is the rationale for doing multiple levain builds at different hydrations (155%, 155%, 100%)?
Andrew
Posted by: Andrew Janjigian | March 06, 2010 at 09:16 AM
Nice crumb!
Posted by: Mimi | March 05, 2010 at 05:07 PM
Susan and MC, without your knowledge, support and fantastic bread I wouldn't be the baker I am today, merci!
Jeremy
Posted by: Jeremy | March 05, 2010 at 09:51 AM
Simply gorgeous... Bravo!
Posted by: MC | March 05, 2010 at 08:27 AM
Your loaves are getting better and better all the time. It IS beautiful!
Posted by: Susan/Wild Yeast | March 05, 2010 at 12:04 AM
Shiao-Ping,
Coming from such a serious and wonderful school mate,blogger and baker, thank you!
Jeremy
Posted by: Jeremy | March 02, 2010 at 11:08 AM
Well, Jeremy, you know what they say about what loves does to your bread? Well, beautiful bread.
This post is short, but lovingly writtin. Your bread is lovingly presented, and what can I say, it is beautiful!
Shiao-Ping
Posted by: Shiao-Ping | March 02, 2010 at 10:14 AM