I can't get an ear for the life of me
Soo I am new to the sourdough world, truly have been testing various recipes and local flours to see what comes from it.
As of now I have my starter locked in and healthy and I doubt my lack of an ear comes from that matter.
Here is my current recipe for a hybrid between a white and whole wheat loaf.
-300 g water
-120 g sourdough starter
- 150 g whole wheat bread flour (king arthur's)
-350 g white bread flour (local flour from my country)
-10 grams of salt
Starter is fed usually with 12 grams of starter ,60g flour and 60g of water. Twice a day.
I do want to mention my usual climate is very hot, lately ranging from 27 celsius to 32 celsius everyday. This of course makes everything go faster than usual. Online recipes indicate a bulk fermentation of 5-6 hours. Honestly that sometimes feels like overkill for my dough and climate. It usually takes around 4 hours for my dough to become extremely jiggly and full of bubbles, looking over-proofed almost.
I do worry that I might be over proofing my bread to certain extent. But then my latest loaves came out as if they were under proofed, but the dough was definitely ready when i pre shaped and placed in banetons.
My usual process:
Fermentalyse of an hour before adding the salt and 20 grams of water that I save for later.
I do like to work the dough very well with slaps and folds and I knead extensively until a decent gluten window forms.
I usually do 4 stretch and folds the every 30 minutes , 2 of the last ones are coil folds.
With my recent loaves i had to do only 3 stretch and folds as the weather was hot and the Dough had already almost doubled in size and huge bubbles and webbing were visible. The dough did hold its shape nicely after the pre shape though.
I do a pre shape and rest for 20-30 mins and then shape and place on banetons to cold proof for around 12-18 hours.
When it comes to baking and scoring I have tried different scoring angles and even scoring after 7 minutes on the oven (this dos give me a slight ear) but it felt like cheating. I sometimes bake on a dutch oven and sometimes do open baking. My oven is not a convenction oven btw. When open baking a do spray with water or add a hotel pan with ice at the bottom of the oven.
Please ask away if anything is unclear and give me some advice on how to master an ear and bulkfermentarion cues I should follow.
I will attach pictures of my latest loaves , one came out extremely flat and the other one looks decent. They do taste incredible dough and they toast very nicely.
Edit: I bake at 450 F sometimes on a preheated cast iron dutch oven and sometimes I do an open bake with a preheated cast iron underneath