u/Own-Look-3382

I’ve made two loaves from the same dough and the second one came out great! I shaped it with the letter fold technique and was very gentle with it. The crumb came out amazing in my opinion. It also cold proofed for way longer than the first loaf. This was interesting to me, because I thought it might overproof. My fridge is very cold at 3 degrees.

I’m a dedicated baker, as you can see, I’ve got an almost healed burn on my arm lol. Dedicated, but not very smart xD

Sourdough timeline 20/05

1kg flour, 700g water, 24g salt, 156g starter
Kitchen aid used, 23 degrees inside

9am fed starter
1.40pm autolyse 1 hour
2.40pm bulk fermentation start
Mixed 5 minutes on slow, 5 minutes on medium
3pm rest for 1 hour
Stretch and folds 30 minutes apart 2x
Coil folds 30 minutes apart 2x
Bulk fermentation done at 10pm
Pre shape, then wait 20 minutes
Letter fold
10.20pm cold proofing start

7am pre heat oven 30 minutes
1st loaf taken out of fridge at 7.30am (9 hours cold proof)
Baking at 250 degrees 40 minutes

Second loaf
Cold proofed for 17 hour and 10 minutes
Oven pre heated for 45 minutes 250 degrees
Second loaf baked around 3.30pm
40 minutes with lid, 10 without

This loaf was a bit experimental, because it was soooo full of cheese and oil! It soaked the banneton, which is permanently orange now haha. I prepared two doughs with different inclusions, so the process was the same, just the inclusions were different (the other one is my pandan loaf, which i also posted on reddit).

Sourdough timeline

23 degrees inside

Dough 1: 500g flour, 350g water, 100g starter, 12g salt

8.20am starter fed 1:1:1 (80g,80g,80g)

12pm autolyse

2.30pm bulk fermentation

Dough 1 in kitchen aid mixer; 5 minutes on 1, 5 minutes on 4

Dough 1 rest 45 minutes then stretch and folds

Dough 1 rest 30 minutes then stretch and folds

Dough 1 rest 30 minutes then coil folds

Shaped at 10.20pm

Cold proof start at 10.45pm (both loaves are boules)

Oven pre heating at 9.15am-10am

Baking at 250 degrees 40 minutes with lid on, then around 10 minutes without lid

The bread turned out absolutely delicious! It was packed with inclusions and was hard to shape. I wonder if I should have pushed bulk fermentation slightly longer, but I was worried it might over ferment in the fridge.

Sourdough timeline & recipe

23 degrees inside

Dough: 500g flour, 300g pandan water, 50g coconut milk, 100g starter, 10g salt, 10g honey

8.20am starter fed 1:1:1 (80g,80g,80g)

12pm autolyse

2.30pm bulk fermentation

Dough in kitchen aid mixer; 5 minutes on 1, 5 minutes on 4

Dough rest 45 minutes then stretch and folds

Dough rest 30 minutes then stretch and folds

Dough rest 30 minutes then coil folds

Shaped at 10.20pm

Cold proof start at 10.45pm

Oven pre heating at 9.15am-10am

Baking at 250 degrees 40 minutes with lid on, then around 10 minutes without lid

Hi everyone! Have you got any advice on how to get a more even open crumb?

I have used the following ingredients:

500g bread flour
100g starter
12g salt
370g water

The process:

I do an autolyse for 30 minutes before adding and working in my starter by hand. I add the salt as I go. Once it’s nicely mixed, I let it rest for 30 minutes. I then start my stretch and folds. With a higher hydration loaf, I usually do 3-4 round of stretch and folds (4x per round). I then add 1-2 round of coil folds (5-7x per round, depending on dough structure). I let it bulk ferment and my kitchen is usually around 24 degrees Celsius warm (about 5-6 hours). I pre shape it with a letter fold, let it rest for 20 minutes and do the final shape with another letter fold.

I let it cold proof for up to 20 hours, depending on my schedule the next day. I pre heat the Dutch oven at 250 degrees for about 30-40 minutes and bake the bread covered for 40 minutes before taking the lid off and baking it for another 10-15 minutes.

I don’t know if I should change my shaping technique? My loaves are usually quite fluffy, but I’d like them to be more evenly distributed, if that makes sense.

Any advice is appreciated!