I mixed up a batch of basic white sourdough with my San Francisco Starter yesterday. I allowed it to bulk ferment for eight hours. I shaped the loaves and put them into the refrigerator overnight for about 12 hours. This morning I took them out and let the dough raise for about 3 more hours. The bread came out great and after several hours of cooling the taste developed into a really sharp sour! I am very happy with this batch. Here are some pictures:
I baked up four loaves, two two pounders and two 1.5 pounders.
Here is the crumb of the first loaf:
The San Francisco Starter is at it’s best when you do the long slow proofing and retarding overnight. It is slow, but that is the only way you can get a really good sour. Any proofing too short and you will lose out on flavor.
question: how are you avoiding over-proofing, especially in these increasingly hot summer months? i’m assuming that things do get hot in the northwest….
your bread, as i’ve mentioned before, astounds me. the oven spring and bloom is better than any bakery i have ever seen.
I’ve been trying to make authentic sourdough for sometime now. I’ve tried many things but I ended up buying Classic Sourdoughs by Ed Wood and his San Francisco starter. It’s worked fairly well but I’m certainly not achieving anything near what this blog shows.
Looking forward to trying some of your techniques.