Hello everybody,
First of all, I'm new in here and pretty much amazed that there's a whole community who shares my hobby of baking naturally leavened breads.
I've been baking for a couple of years now and then, using mainly sourdough, but only recently i've started taking this topic more seriously and started to study it thoroughly in my spare time...
to sum up the things i've learned until now: the approach to baking with sourdough can range between exact science (with timing, temperature and biochemical reactions necessary to be understood), and on the other hand, love, care and passion for the thing (which requires dedication of time and tolerance to failed attempts, alongside great successes...)
with that been said, i can only share with you my latest experiences with bread and sourdough and hope someone here can help me find answers to my many questions as a beginner... sorry about the long list but i'm pretty sure those are questions many amature bakers wonder about and dont find satisfying answers to:
1. ripe sourdough #1: considering i now have a ripe sourdough culture i've been growing, what is better to make bread with: the ripe culture itself, or a new one using 1/3 ripe culture and 2/3 flour and water mixture, fermented overnight prior to the morning i make my bread?
2. ripe sourdough #2: what is the main sign of a ripe sourdough? is there an optimal level of ripeness to make bread with? (i reckon an 8-hour-after-feeding culture would bring different results than a 14-hour one or am i wrong?)
3. over-fermented sourdough: my liquid (100% hyd.) levain probably overfermented, and it looked way "wetter" than it should have considering its hydration level. dough made with it was more sticky and hyderated that one made with the same culture, which i refreshed the night before (described in question 1). i have a theory about this: could an overflow of protease enzyme have weakened gluten structure to make the mixture "runnier", and could have liquids other than water (acids and alcohol) made it appear to be "wetter" although the hydration was the same? BTW, the bread made with this overripe culture was more sour.
4. bulk fermentation #1: with sourdough as a preferment, it should shorten the time necessary for the bulk fermantaion to develop flavor(1-1.5 hours on 80F), but i learned from experiece that even with that it is better off to leave bulk fermentation time between 2-3 hours with a 2 minute folding sequences in between to develop noticeable flavor (and proofing for another 3..). am i doing something wrong or is it that really great bread needs 8 hours of prep time?
5. bulk fermentation #2: is really 27C/80F the right temperature for sourdough-based dough to ferment and proof in, in aspects of flavor development and maturity? or can sourdough fermentation be more optimal in lower temperatures (not speaking of retarding, talking about lower room temp. such as 20C/70F)
6. improvised proofing couche: i tried to improvise a proofing couche for baguettes out of linen fabric i bought, but the fabric wouldn't hold the shape. so i tried again with a rather bizzare option (a mopping towel... lol) and it sort of worked: it held shape and the dough didnt stick except for the part with the seam which stuck a little bit and ruined my chance of getting the baguettes baked (i reckon the fabric wasnt floured enough...). do you have any tips for this issue?
thanks very much,
hope i'll log on soon enough
Aviv.
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