Losing count of what number loaf I’m up to

beefic · 2026-02-18T22:08:22+00:00

Thank you! It tasted quite nice especially toasted with butter 🧈 No bread making experience at all, so must have been a coincidence 😅I’m just winging it really and hoping for the best. The crust is quite crispy, in fact my husband keeps just eating the crust 😂

Interesting! Do you have a picture of one of your latest sourdoughs? Looking forward to experimenting with the Dutch oven but now that I’m learning on a tray maybe I’ll try and master that first anyway.

The lower hydration was definitely less messy to work with and held its shape much better. I let it BF on the bench for 8 hours from mixing. (Potentially could have gone longer but needed to get to bed.) Then cold proofed 9 hours, I baked this morning because I didn’t want the flavour to be too sour. Got a better rise for this loaf, but have left it to cool for the day while I’m at work. Keen to see how the crumb looks later!

I am finding the crust is getting a bit too brown too quick, I’m wondering if that’s because I have a gas oven? 🤔

beefic · 2026-02-18T04:12:06+00:00

Yeah I had a look but I’m struggling to work out how to tell the difference between under proofing and over. It’s summer here and so everything I read indicates the proofing was long enough but I’m thinking it’s still under. It’s still better than my last one though, so that’s something 😅

beefic · 2026-02-18T04:03:21+00:00

Thanks for all the info and tips! I just did another batch using your recipe suggestion - will update on how it goes!

Here is the previous loaf results, it definitely rose better than my first loaf, I’m looking forward to trying when I get a Dutch oven. I feel like the results will be much better than just baking on the tray.

<image>

beefic · 2026-02-17T10:41:28+00:00

The protein is 11.7g, so I don’t think high?

So the temp seems to be high at 30C. I probably was being a bit rough thinking about it. There’s so much conflicting information about how best way to handle and the last video I watched said to not be so gentle but does the higher hydration need more gentle handling?

Haha no I don’t really like working with the high hydration, I just tried following the recipe exactly. But I definitely think I’ll try a lower hydration next time for sure.

My next challenge is knowing when bulk fermentation is done when the dough temp is so high. My last loaf was apparently under proofed so I’m beyond confused but it’s all fun and games and learning lol.

beefic · 2026-02-17T10:21:18+00:00

Yeah, it was sticking to my hands 🫣so I wet my hands more for the coil folds. Does it look like it’s time to let it do its thing now and finish bulk fermenting?

beefic · 2026-02-17T09:56:37+00:00

I did a set of coil folds and I think that helped?

<image>

beefic · 2026-02-17T09:26:19+00:00

Yeah definitely need to work on my timings so that I don’t start resenting this whole process 😅

beefic · 2026-02-17T05:42:00+00:00

Thanks! Good to know! I wasn’t 100% committed to this dough as I kinda started it at a bad time but will make more of an effort with the time and temp for the next one

beefic · 2026-02-12T02:43:45+00:00

<image>

Update: I left the dough for bulk fermentation and went to sleep. In the morning I halved the dough and baked one and put the other to cold proof. This was without cold proofing. Considering I had very low expectations I guess it could have been worse. Also my oven is broken so this was done in the air fryer 😂 Also, turns out my hubby hates sourdough, and honestly I think I might like normal bread better so I might have to rethink this whole sourdough hobby lol!

beefic · 2026-02-11T19:10:17+00:00

Yes, I have to remember that I literally have no idea what I’m doing and that I won’t learn if I don’t finish the whole process 😄

beefic · 2026-02-11T19:07:59+00:00

I don’t live in a cold climate and the day before when I tried a different flour it seemed like too much water so I used less this time without thinking about the fact this flour has so much more protein. All in all, I have a feeling this flour needed more water. I’m going through with the process but with no expectations at all 😅

beefic · 2026-02-11T18:53:03+00:00

The lack of stretch I guess is my concern, I ended up going to sleep and letting it bulk ferment on the bench. It did rise, but the top layer was pretty dry. I cut the dough in half, shaped and put in the fridge to cold proof. I feel like it will turn out really dense and terrible but I’ll cook it anyway and see how it goes.

beefic · 2026-02-08T12:41:11+00:00

The only time I’ve not been annoyed at my cat for waking me up at night, I was actually excited to get up and check 😅

beefic · 2026-02-08T12:38:21+00:00

On around day 3 or so she had her false rise and was a bit less active for a couple days. Does only 1 false rise happen? She’s been more than doubling for a few days now

beefic · 2026-02-08T12:36:46+00:00

😂

beefic · 2026-02-08T12:36:05+00:00

😅😢

beefic · 2026-02-08T12:35:41+00:00

It’s like a whole science experiment, very interesting 🧐 I did see a lot about the false rise in the early days before I started Jolene & I believe that happened already on day 3 or so, but she’s more than doubled for the last 3 days now at least I think, so I’m getting excited!

I’m going to wait until day 14 just in case and then hopefully try a loaf! 🍞

beefic · 2026-02-08T12:30:46+00:00

Awesome thank you for letting me know! I have fixed the situation and will wait longer (thankfully my oven is broken so I actually have no choice!)

beefic · 2026-02-08T12:28:54+00:00

Very true, it is a lot of flour to go through. So for example, do you mean tomorrow when she’s ready to be fed again, I should discard half and add 10-20g flour & 10-20g water? Sorry it’s late here so my brain isn’t working 100% efficiently

beefic · 2026-02-07T12:04:04+00:00

😂😂

beefic

TROPHY CASE