Clear eyes, whole wheat, can’t lose

Spoiler alert: the “What I learned” section in loaf 23 will not be heeded for this or the next loaf because I, unlike Leonard Shelby, do not tattoo handy things to know on my body. Instead I record them here, then take two months off and forget what I had “realized”. That being said, I have now written this tip on a sticky note on my desk among over twenty other sticky notes, so I assure you, the knowledge will exist at arms reach for the next loaf, here’s hoping I see the note.

Loaves one through twenty three were baked in a kitchen that got a lot of sun, going forward, loaves will be baked in a kitchen that is in shadow around the clock. I began the auto-lyse at 8:30 am, let it run until 9:30 am, then mixed in the levain and salt. I dutifully folded every half hour for eight hours at which point the loaf was still cold. I decided to let the loaf ferment at room temperature overnight and in the morning (7 am) it was rather active, big bubbles, these popped and disappeared when I gave the bowl a shake. Which made me afraid the loaf was over-proved. It was, but not a ton. The bulk ferment had gone twenty one and a half hours. I turned and folded the loaf and let it final prove for one more hour at room temperature, during which time I turned the oven to 500 with the cast iron pans inside.

I baked at 450 for 25 minutes lid on and 25 more lid off. I decided recently that I want my loaves to be slightly less brown. The loaf was a good color but I’d like to get it a little darker I think so I’m going to keep playing around with timing for a little while.

I consulted Rin about what might cause this sluggish fermentation, he asked how I add the levain and salt and I said at the same time, he told me to add the levain, mix it in, then add the salt, which seems like not that much time apart, but can have enough of an effect, the salt directly contacting the levain can stall the yeast.

I’m still working with a pretty rudimentary shape, just a round, which, there’s nothing wrong with, but I might want to get a little more creative with the shaping. Scoring the top of the loaf would a long way to making it more beautiful. I still find it hard to bring myself to waste a razor, but am willing to admit that results in a superior aesthetic outcome, even the au natural opening of the bread isn’t quite as nice as seeing a well scored loaf. Regarding cornmeal - I will hold my ground. I switched to a finer grain cornmeal and it is less noticeable (obviously) when eating, though the larger grain is easier to brush off.

Dough
300 g bread flour (Central Milling Brand Organic)
200 g whole wheat flour (Central Milling Brand Organic)
400 g h2o
80% hydration
10 g salt

Levain
10 g starter
50 g all purpose flour (Central Milling Brand Organic)
50 g h2o

What I did right:
Switching to smaller cornmeal has resulted in a better experience, and I think dialing the baking time down from 35 minutes was the right choice.
What I did wrong:
Adding levain and salt at the same time. And letting the dough ferment all night, though it was either that or wake up around 4 am, which is when I think it was ideal, and I was not going to do.
What I learned:
Take a beat between adding levain and salt. Bake for a little longer than 25 minutes.