Most bakers agree the first bulk ferment gives more flavor development to the dough. But in my experience, that rarely happens. So often I start a project bread dough on a whim. Then, half-heartedly looking at the clock, I have to rush or retard the dough.
With the bread, below, I did the opposite. A sourdough wheat formula from Alain Coumont's Cook + book, I was using my wonderful half white flour from Trumansburg. I baked it at home, during a break between my first and second shift. In need of a knead and a new loaf, I had a levain build at the last stages of a long ferment, and had just under two hours to make the dough. That was a short time for full bulk ferment; ideally an hour and a half to two for a kilo of miche.
Given my schedule, there would not be time for a preshape, just straight into banneton and a long final proof. I asked Daylesfords Organic's Head baker Eric Duhamel about my cunundrum regarding short bulk versus long final rise. He advised me to give it a longer bulk, adding that this is a subject about which "you could talk the beard off a billy goat if you like." Anyway, I went for it. In this first cut the crumb showed large holes. But as I sliced the crumb seemed more dense like the Miche I've had at Le Pain Quotidien. It worked.
Jeremy,
Nice pictures, especially the first. Although it’s tempting to get caught up in the aesthetics of bread with ridiculous open crumb, I believe that what’s most important is the flavour, not the “open crumb look”. For taste and user friendliness a more modest open crumb can make the difference between enjoyment and frustration. I have scaled back on hydration levels of some breads after several customers returned their loaves claiming they were too “holey”. Who am I to argue?
-David