You miss 100% of the loaves you don’t bake - Wayne Gretzky

There are some sayings I search for opportunities to use. Like nailing water to a wall, is one. Penny wise and pound foolish, is another. This bake proved to be an excuse for using the latter.

I generally prepare my levain by taking 10 g starter, mixing 50 g flour and 50 g water (or twice that much for doubles) and letting it rise overnight, however, after reading the article I linked in the previous loaf I wanted to try better to be precise about using a starter that was at the peak activity so I mixed my levain at eight am. Unfortunately the starter seems to not have been near peak production, so the levain wasn’t ready until 13 hours later, how auspicious. For a number of reasons I was not in my best headspace to prepare a dough for a bulk ferment at nine pm, but I did, nonetheless.

I wanted 750 g of flour with a ratio of 85% bread flour to 15% whole wheat, then 100% hydration so I measured the flours and water and auto-lysed for 20 minutes. I then mixed in the levain and waited 10 minutes. I had intended to add salt during the first fold but the dough was so wet that I was thrown off and so concerned with whether I had made an awful mistake that I completely forgot to add any salt. I folded the dough three more times at half hour intervals then went to bed. I did not set an alarm for six am as I should have but I already assumed the loaf was going to be failure so what’s another hour and a half if it means I get the proper amount of sleep.

Because of how sticky the dough was, I decided to use a pyrex bowl, it afforded greater ease of moving the dough in and out between folds. I preferred the pyrex to the cambro and will be using it go forward when folding.

I got to the dough at seven thirty am the next morning and it had giant bubbles, definitely over proofed. Nonetheless I got it out of the cambro but found it both still very wet, I was able to fold it but any dough that contacted my cutting board where there was insufficient flour stuck immediately and I had to do a lot of scraping. After folding, the dough was too ungainly to turn so I simply put it in a bowl with a linen towel and a ton of flour. I wasn’t even able to use the banneton I bought because the dough was too big for it.

I didn’t even bother waiting an hour and a half for the final proof, I could tell the dough was so over proofed from the bulk I simply waited for my oven to come to temp with the dutch oven in it, then waited another 15 minutes to ensure the dutch oven was hot, then dropped the loaf in. Right before I baked I realized I hadn’t scored the dough so I gave it a half hearted slash with a razor. I baked for 30 minutes with the top on, 30 minutes with the top off.

The loaf is not good, it’s not terrible either, it will make adequate breadcrumbs. The crust is thin and tougher than it is crisp, the inside is soft but without any salt lacks much flavor, noticeably absent is any sourdough flavor. I don’t really think I need to review what I need to do next time but suffice it to say I will be returning to a 75% hydration ratio. I may try 80% some time, but not until I’ve baked a passable loaf or two at 75%. I should have called the levain sunk-cost when it was ready at nine pm, but I was pennywise and pound foolish and pushed ahead to produce an unimpressive loaf with 750 g flour for the 75 g I had invested in the levain.

Dough
637 g bread flour (King Arthur Brand Organic)
113 g whole wheat flour (King Arthur Brand Organic)
750 g h2o
100% hydration

Levain
15 g starter
75 g all purpose flour (King Arthur Brand Organic)
75 g water

What I did right:
Not much. The bread was decently proved. And I baked it the correct duration.
What I did wrong:
Nearly everything else, the hydration was too high, there was no salt, I forgot to score the bread, I couldn’t turn it after the final fold because it was both too large and too sticky.
What I learned:
If a levain is ready at eight pm, throw it in the fridge and come back to it tomorrow.