runaway levain

[cellio]

I made sourdough on Friday. On Thursday I already knew that my starter was especially enthusiastic that day, and the levain (the second feed, what actually goes into the bread rather than back into the jar for next time) bubbled up much more quickly than usual. This meant I made the dough at dinnertime, rather than around 9:30 or 10 like usual.

It filled the bowl and then some on Friday morning, but, as usual, deflated some when I turned it out of the bowl. After letting it rest I formed it into two loaves, which is what I usually do, and baked them a few hours later.

True to form, it expanded more than usual in the oven, too. It was light and airy and tasty, and I'm finally getting around to providing the photographic evidence.

I have no idea what was different this time. I mean, my bread usually rises pretty well (I'm well past those dense blobs from my first few tries), but the kitchen isn't as warm as it was in summer, and ambient temperature makes a difference. We'll see if it happens again. Otherwise, I'll just assume that the yeasties were as eager to exit 2020 as the rest of us.

Comments

[magid]

Your loaves look lovely, and I bet they'll taste at least as good as they look.

[cellio]

The first one was tasty, and I trust the second will be similar. Thanks!

[minoanmiss]

*frantically licks screen*

Bread...

[goljerp]

Yeah, that was my reaction, too.

(Homer Simpson voice:) Breaaaaad....

[cellio]

I wish I could send you bread and have it still be edible when it gets to you. Two-day mail isn't what it used to be, given how the postal service has been throttled. (Also recent heavy load, of course, but even without that, they're having trouble.)

[minoanmiss]

I SO hear you -- this is one of the reasons I send candy rather than cookies. Maybe next year after they shoot DeJoy into the Sun and put someone competent in the job.

[cellio]

Thank you for the entertaining image. Here's hoping the sun doesn't reject him!

[minoanmiss]

The Sun can digest all. :D

[shewhomust]

That does look good!

[cellio]

Thanks!

[dsrtao]

It might just be the photo -- but the two dark areas (one at the center bottom, one just above it -- look underbaked.

If those areas are soggy and dense, then it's real. Another ten minutes of baking would probably fix it in your next batch.

[cellio]

If you mean on the cut loaf, I think it's a trick of the light. It didn't taste underdone, anyway. The second loaf went straight into the freezer, so haven't tested that one yet.

The outside is not as dark as I'd expect, but since I've been baking rye I thought my baseline expectations might be off and I didn't want to overcook. But they might have benefitted from a few more minutes in the oven, yeah. Still learning to gauge things.

(I brushed the outsides with oil, not egg or milk. By the way, this is the recipe you helped me translate from dairy to parve. It's a little darker when I use an egg wash.)

[hudebnik]

I don't think I've ever tried an oil wash. I've tried water, which produces a crisp baguette-like crust; milk, which produces a somewhat softer, darker crust; egg yolk, which produces a golden crust; and egg white, which produces a glossy, shiny crust. I think...

Most of the time, I don't use any wash, just bake the bread in a soaked earthenware Romertopf to keep in the humidity.

[cellio]

A different recipe in a book that's been working well for me called for an oil wash, so I figured I'd try it. I've also done egg, but not just egg yolk or egg white. Thanks for those tips.

I don't have an earthenware Romertopf to experiment with. I've been baking on metal sheets (lined with parchment paper), using metal bowls as covers for the first half of the baking.

[hudebnik]

Woo hoo!

Was it by any chance raining outside? I noticed decades ago that my bread seemed to turn out better on rainy days.

And of course feeding the starter more often seems to give it more lust for life.

[cellio]

Huh! Yes, it was raining outside. I wonder why that would make a difference. Something about barometric pressure?

I try to feed my starter every week to week and a half, even if I'm not planning to bake then. (Usually I bake once a week, but sometimes I have extra, or we have other bread too, or we're just not eating it as quickly for whatever reason... Most weeks it's feed and bake, but sometimes it's just feed and maybe make pancakes to draw some off.)

[hudebnik]

Could be barometric pressure (reducing the amount of work the yeastie-beasties have to do to inflate the loaf), or it could be humidity (changing the ratio of flour, or softening the loaf surface so it poses less resistance to rising).

[damont]

Nom nom nom nom nom!!!