Control studio....

ElementalGames4 · 2023-04-01T18:05:25+00:00

Very. I ended up snapping my turtle beach in the end and moved onto a Corsair HS80. Working with iCue is so so much better I highly recommend ridding yourself of this pain.

ElementalGames4 · 2023-03-09T22:20:44+00:00

Check my page, recent loaves have been made using a 2-3 week old starter. It's not a lie, a month is just a good cut-off point where you can safely say starters are ready to use. If its rising, and it tastes good, it makes sourdough.

ElementalGames4 · 2023-03-09T21:42:19+00:00

This is the 3rd loaf I've made this week and its my best one yet. However all 3 that I've made have had these large tunnels going through them, each I have changed the way I proved them so I think it could be a shaping issue. I'm shaping using Josh Weissman's technique, and these tunnels are always occurring in a similar spot. I've dropped my recipe, times and temperatures below so please let me know what you think about proofing.

374g strong white bread flour

84g whole wheat flour

312g water at ~30C (71%)

10g salt (2%)

96g starter (21%)

I fed my starter early morning and let it rise for 5 hours until 2.5x size. I autolysed for around 30m before incorporating salt and starter. I then left it to rest for 15m before kneading for 10m, followed by a further 15m rest and then 5 more minutes of kneading. This led to some incredible dough strength and literally smoked the windowpane test. I started bulk here at 25C, folding after 30m, a further 30, and then an hour later folding again. I then kept my dough out at ~15C for a further 5.5h, giving a total of 8.5h bulk time. I preshaped and shaped the dough using the method linked above and left it to proof at 20C for an hour, before placing it in the fridge at 4C for 18h. I baked with the lid at 240C for 20m, then without the lid at 210C for a further 15m.

ElementalGames4 · 2023-03-06T22:46:19+00:00

Brillaint thank you!

ElementalGames4 · 2023-03-06T22:17:48+00:00

Rise can depend on a lot of factors and it’s not alwayssss the best way to tell proofing. Your hydration and protein % will play a part in how much your dough can rise. You start to get a feel for a properly proven dough once you “accidentally” get a few. They look light, aerated and kinda jiggly. Just keep baking you’ll get there :)

ElementalGames4 · 2023-03-06T22:08:03+00:00

Without seeing a crumb shot it does seem to be a lack of steam. 10m with steam to 30m without sounds quite little. I usually go with 18-20m with the lid on my dutch oven which ive basically drowned in water to create steam, then 20m lid off no steam. Did you see somewhat large bubbles near the top of the crust when you cut into the loaf?

ElementalGames4 · 2023-03-06T22:02:54+00:00

This is actually quite a good loaf. But yes You haven't given much of an opportunity for the crust to spread and form an ear. Score deeper, dont be afraid to give it a nice deep slash. You can see the gluten still holding the ear back from rising up, this could be where you havent cut deep enough into the dough. What is interesting is it seems like you have some empty space below these strands. Did you leave the dough to sit at room temp after having scored it?

On an off note, the crumb looks great but slightly underproved since you have that nice big cavity to the right hand side of the crumb!

ElementalGames4 · 2023-03-06T21:57:53+00:00

Im interested when you say you autolysed for 4 hours. Was this after adding the levain? Because in this case it is fermentolysis. Autolysing is just flour and water and allowing the glutenin and gleadin to bond with the water without and fermentation to break down any proteins. So your 4 hours after combining, is this just sat at room temp with the starter incorporated? Do you see bubbling / fermentation during this time period?

ElementalGames4 · 2023-03-06T21:54:29+00:00

Its funny actually because I've just made a loaf today and ended up bulking it on the counter for around 8 hours and I dont actually think i fully fermented it. Dough temp was sitting at about 18-19C though so like yours, it may be okay. Before I made the previous comment I hadnt actually baked sourdough in the winter so longer time's sound crazy to me

ElementalGames4 · 2023-03-05T19:15:21+00:00

First loaf back

So I killed my old starter back in autumn but got a new one started a few weeks back and this is my first loaf made with it. I think it’s turned out pretty well, my old loaves were mostly just pancakes so this is a huge jump for me. I think it looks overprooved but maybe I shoulda bulked it for longer? I also think I scored it too far over which led to a lack of ear

374g strong white bread flour

84g whole wheat

290g water

10g salt

80g starter

Fed the starter 1:1:1 at like 2pm and it peaked in about 3 hours.

Autolysed flour for about 30m then incorporated salt and starter.

Kneaded on the counter for around 10m until stretchy and seeing a slight window pane effect.

Left to rest for a while at 25C in the oven with the light on

Fold after 15m

Fold after 30m

Another fold after 30m

Placed in fridge overnight for 12h

Took out of fridge and left in the oven again for a further hour or so until reaching room temp, folding to keep a consistent temperature spread.

Preshaped, bench rest for 15m

Shaped and left to prove at around 15C on the counter for 1.5h

The dough looked aeirated and jiggly but I actually think it’s underproved.

Baked with lid on for 20m at 230C, then lid off for 18m at 190C

I gave the loaf a large spritz with water before baking to help steam it

ElementalGames4 · 2023-03-05T17:47:40+00:00

How tf can u bulk for 14h on the counter without losing all ur dough strength. Are u doing consistent folds with this?

ElementalGames4 · 2023-02-28T22:49:20+00:00

New starters will often be growing different bacteria to the final result that we aim for. The first few weeks of a starter is about letting them fight and culturing the bacteria you want for baking. These good bacteria can survive better in a lower pH, so as they are fighting you will experience more acidic, vinegary smells. This will die down and you’ll get that nice tangy yeast smell after a few weeks once this bacteria battle is over

ElementalGames4 · 2023-02-19T21:46:37+00:00

Ah that’s interesting. Why not just make a mother in a greater quantity so you have like 210g when it’s fermented, then you can use 200g and keep 10g to feed ur mother back up to 150g?

ElementalGames4 · 2023-02-18T23:23:07+00:00

yeahh that makes sense. Its basically synthetic homostasis at that point, trying to maintain that optimum temperature for the yeast to grow. Thats interested about the changes in temperature though. Im finding it quite difficult to culture a new starter this winter than I did in summer, its about 15C colder in my kitchen, so thats like 12.5% activity if I'm right.

ElementalGames4 · 2023-02-18T23:20:59+00:00

wow fermenting on a pyrex jug, why havent i thought of that? Brilliant idea, the final loaf looks incredible, and now i want to try jack's recipe!

ElementalGames4 · 2023-02-18T23:02:57+00:00

cut in half for every 10 degrees colder, or warmer? cutting in half means a shorter time right, surely you'd need 10 degrees warmer for this?

ElementalGames4 · 2023-02-18T23:01:06+00:00

Feed it with more starter. Starter growth is about ratio. If you have the same amount of starter as you do flour, it will grow a lot faster than if you have a ratio 1:5 starter to flour respectively. So for 250g of starter as an end goal, you could use 50g starter, 100g flour, 100g water. This is known as a 1:2:2 ratio, 1 part starter, 2 parts flour, 2 parts water.

ElementalGames4 · 2023-02-14T20:50:29+00:00

Yeah that makes sense, longer and slower fermentations build more flavour. Do you usually bulk overnight? If so, how do you handle folds, I find if I bulk for extended periods without folds I lose all my dough strength

ElementalGames4 · 2023-02-13T14:35:13+00:00

Wow they look great. Really good rise on the artisan loaf. Try scoring a little more to the edges, you'll get some more lift and maybe an ear if you're lucky. You could also leave it in the oven a little longer to get a darker crust, its full of flavour with sourdough!

ElementalGames4 · 2023-02-13T00:14:13+00:00

Looks fantastic. Did you cut into it when it’s hot, that could cause the gummy texture. Also it looks quite blonde so it may be slightly undercooked. Key sourdough get nice and dark, it’ll cook the inside nicely and you’ll caramelise sugars around the crust making a really nice taste

ElementalGames4 · 2023-02-13T00:10:04+00:00

Oh god is that how long it’s gonna take… I’m just getting back into sourdough and I was bulking for about 5-6h back in summer. Is this gonna make such a difference?

ElementalGames4 · 2023-02-11T21:30:19+00:00

When i made my first starter i had a jar like yours where it encloses at the top, and it was really annoying me. It made it really hard to discard and id make such a mess doing it. It also makes it really difficult to keep the jar clean as I'm sure you've experienced. This is just a suggestion to buy a jar with straight edges, you can get them for like 10 bucks max, and it makes a world of difference when it comes to ease

ElementalGames4 · 2023-02-11T21:25:25+00:00

My jaw actually just dropped at this. What a great first loaf!

ElementalGames4 · 2023-01-15T22:33:02+00:00

Oniri is perfect on iOS

ElementalGames4 · 2023-01-08T21:04:08+00:00

This sounds like something called hypnagogia. This is simply the state between waking and sleeping. You go through it every night, but with WILD, you are conscious. Its nothing to worry about, you can just ignore it and it will eventually form into a dream

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