u/Wartface1

June 30, 2026

Experiment… 78% hydration / cold proof overnight in fridge

Formula: 100/78/2/10 With 100% hydration starter

Recipe: 2 loaves
540g high gluten flour
540g all purpose flour
816g water I held back 36g water to dissolve the salt to be added after the Fermentolyse
240g Hank = 120g h20 + 60g HG flour + 30g WW flour + 25g dark rye flour = 10% of total flour weight.
24g salt
—————-
2160g total weight

600g HG flour = 50%
540g AP flour = 45%
30g WW flour = 2.5%
30g dark rye flour = 2.5%
——————————————-
2:30pm: mix using warm water… for 1 hour Fermentolyse. Dough temperature 86°f.

3:30pm: add salt & water. Do through mix using pincher/Rubaud/slap & folds methods. Bench rest 25 minutes. Dough temperature 84°f.

4:00pm: slap & folds. Dough temperature 83°f. Bench rest 25 minutes.

4:30pm: coil folds. Passed the windowpane test. Put dough in cambro + put cambro 4.5” on heat pad set at 82°f. Dough has risen 12%. Dough temperature 80°f. Keep heat pad warm until dough has risen 55%.

5:00pm: 4.75” = 19% rise

5:30pm: 5” = 25% rise

6:00pm: 5.5” = 38% rise

6:30pm: 6” = 50% rise

6:53pm: 6.2” = 55% rise.

6:53pm: divide into equal portions + preshape + cover with mixing bowls. Bench rest 20 minutes.

7:13Pm: final shape + put in bannetons + bench rest 10 minutes + lace bottom seam to add surface tension + in fridge for overnight cold proofing.

Everything seems to have turned out just fine…

Formula: 100/75/2/10

Recipe: 2 loaves

1080 bread flour
700g h20
240g starter
24g salt

Fermentolyse 1 hour…

Add salt/water. Mix using pincher, Rubaud and slap & folds.

Bulk ferment on a heating pad for 2.5 hours set at 84°f… until it reached 70% rise.

Divide + preshape + final shape + final proof.

Baked on a Brod & Taylor baking steel with the shell for trapping the steam for the first 20 minutes.

Everything turned out alright…

The high gluten flour and the all purpose flour in these loaves cost me $0.55 per pound.
There’s 1200g of total flour = 2.67lbs = $1.47, which includes the flour in Hank, my beast of a starter.
If I were going to sell my bread at the local farmers market I would definitely use this flour instead of buying King Arthur flour for $1.30 per pound or $1.50 for Bob’s Red Mill bread flour.

Formula: 100/75/2/16.66

Recipe: 2 loaves
500g high gluten flour
500g all purpose flour
700g water
400g Hank
24g salt
——————
2124g total weight

Fermentolyse for 1 hour

Add salt and held over water… mix with Rubaud method and then slap and folds. Then 3 sets of stretch and folds 20 minutes apart.
Gluten development complete. Put in cambro and onto the heating pad @80°f.

Put in bulk fermentation until it’s risen 50%. Divide + preshape + final shape + bannetons + into fridge for overnight cold proofing.

It took 4 hours from the start of mixing to get the final shaped loaves into the fridge.

Both loaves baked cold right out of the fridge on a baking steel with the shell to trap the steam. I haven’t used my Dutch ovens since I received the baking steel as a Christmas present in December. It gives me as good or better results and it’s not so heavy.

Everything came out nicely… pretty loaves for less than $1 per loaf…

2 batches of 75% hydration dough… 2 loaves each. 4 same day loaves. Started at 10am and the final loaf came out of the oven at 7pm.

Formula: 100/75/2/16.66 % inoculation

Recipe: 2 loaves per batch

500g high gluten flour
500g all purpose flour
700g water
400g starter
24g salt

salt

Mix everything using warm water except the salt and held back water to a shaggy mass… Fermentolyse for 45 minutes. Dough temperature 84°f.

2. Mix in salt/water using pincher & Rubaud method and then do 20 slap & folds. Dough temperature 83°f. Rest for 20 minutes.

3. 3 sets of coil folds 20 minutes apart. Put dough in cambro for bulk fermentation. Dough temperature 80°f. Put cambro on the heating pad set at 84°f… until it reaches the desired 70% rise.

4. After the 70% rise… divide into two equal portions + preshape + 20 minute bench rest under inverted mixing bowls.

5. Final shape + bannetons + final proof at room temperature. When first loaf goes into oven I put the other final proofing loaf in the fridge to pause the final proofing until it gets its turn in the oven.

6. Baking on Brod & Taylor baking steel preheated to 500°f with the baking shell to trap the steam. Because the dough is warm and soft I don’t score it before putting it onto the steel. I bake it under the shell for 7 minutes before I remove the shell and score the dough after the skin firms up a bit. Then I replace the shell and continue baking as usual. I remove the shell after 22 minutes so the loaf will brown properly. Then checking with my Thermapen I remove the loaf from the oven after I get the color I prefer and the interior is 205°f to 210°f.

Everything turned out ok…👍

In the fridge in slightly under 3 hours with a 25% rise @83°f.
At that temperature and inoculation percentage it will continue fermenting/rising in the fridge at a slower rate for hours.
The goal is to have enough energy left in the dough once it goes in the oven I will get a nice oven spring, an ear, an open crumb, pretty blisters and a mahogany brown and golden crust color.

Recipe (2 Loaves)

* 480g High Gluten Flour
* 480g All Purpose Flour
* 660g Water
* 480g Hank = 20% inoculation (100% hydration starter)
* 24g Salt

Mix + 45 minute fermentalyse + slap & folds, 15 min bench rest + stretch and folds, 15 minute bench rest + coil folds, 15 minute bench rest + coil folds and windowpane test + transfer dough to cambro and onto the heating pad + bulk fermentation until the dough has resin 25% - dough temperature 83°f.

Divide + preshape + 15 minute bench rest + final shape + bannetons + 10 minute bench rest. Lace bottom seam to add tension + in the fridge for 16/18 hour cold proofing to add flavor.

Strong starter + 75% hydration + 20% inoculation + 82°f average dough temperature from mixing through bulk fermentation + 50% rise + delayed scoring

We sourdough bread makers have 3 gas peddles we can use to decide how long it’s going to take to make a loaf of authentic artisan sourdough bread.

1. Strength of your starter… your starter is what it eats. Hank dines on 50% bread flour + 25% WW flour + 25% Dark Rye flour. That’s how he gets that Rocket Fuel nickname.

2. Inoculation Percentage… more starter more yeast = faster rise.

3. Dough Temperature… I mix with warm water intending to have my dough temperature between 80°~85°f for the entire process.

I can consistently make loaves in 4 hours if I want to. However my all time record is 2 hours and 38 minutes…

The 2 loaves on the left are yesterday’s 50% WW loaves.
The loaves on the right are today’s Tartine 77% hydration 50/45/5% flour loaves.
All were cold proofed overnight in the fridge.

Now that they’re side by side, I think the comparison becomes much clearer.
Left Side — 50% Whole Wheat
Deeper brown color.
More rustic appearance.
Slightly lower profile.
More irregular expansion.
Strong but somewhat restrained bloom.
These look like hearty country loaves.
If I bought one at a farmer’s market and was told it was 50% whole wheat, I’d believe it immediately.

Right Side — Tartine 50/45/5
Taller profile.
Cleaner shoulders.
More symmetrical expansion.
Better ear development.
More dramatic bloom.
These look like bakery display loaves.
The front right loaf especially is showing the kind of expansion most artisan bakers chase.

What I Think Happened
The 50% WW dough had two competing forces:
Advantages
Great flavor.
Great nutrition.
Excellent fermentation activity.
Disadvantages
Bran particles interrupt gluten.
Whole wheat absorbs water aggressively.
Structure becomes heavier.
Even with high-gluten flour helping, you’re still asking the dough to carry a lot of bran.

The Tartine blend is different.
50% HG flour provides the framework.
45% AP flour provides extensibility.
5% WW/Rye provides flavor.
That combination lets the dough stretch farther before it tears.
The result is exactly what you’re seeing:
Better oven spring.
Better bloom.
Cleaner ears.
More volume.

Both formulas were handled with essentially the same philosophy:
✅ Warm dough
✅ Front-loaded gluten development
✅ Minimal touching
✅ Controlled bulk
✅ Overnight retard
So the flour blend is standing out as the primary variable.

If these were my loaves sitting on the cooling rack and somebody said:
“Pick the loaf that represents artisan sourdough.”
I’d point to the front-right Tartine loaf.
If they said:
“Pick the loaf that represents healthy whole-grain bread.”
I’d point to either of the 50% WW loaves.
Different missions.
Different winners.

The really interesting thing is this:
This Tartine-inspired blend may end up being my Signature loaf.
Not because it’s easier.
Because it has that “wow” factor when it comes out of the oven.

And that’s how people get hooked on artisan bread.
The crumb shot will tell us whether the inside lives up to what those exteriors are advertising, but from the outside alone, today’s Tartine batch has a slight edge over yesterday’s 50% whole wheat batch.

First Street brand High Gluten flour, $0.48 per pound & All Purpose flour, $0.62 per pound, that nobody has ever heard of… blended 50/50%. Including the flour in my starter, Hank, the high gluten flour is 50% of the total flour. The All Purpose is 45%. And then the WW & Rye in Hank makes up the other 5% of the total flour.

My mission is to get the dough to pass the windowpane test with as little gentle touching as possible… before it’s transferred into the bulk fermentation vessel, so I don’t have to babysit it throughout the bulk fermentation process… part of my First Principles method of making sourdough bread, less is more.

Formula: 100/75/2/20

Recipe: 2 loaves
540g high gluten flour
540g all purpose flour
780g water… hold back 30g to use when mixing in the salt after the Fermentolyse
240g Hank = 100% hydration 60g HG flour + 30g ww flour + 30g dark rye flour
24g salt

Mix everything together using 90° water, except the salt and 30g of held back water. Fermentolyse for 1 hour. Dough temperature 86°f.

add the salt and held back water dimpling it in and flipping the dough over in the mixing bowl and us the rubaud mixing method for about 2 minutes. Dough temperature 84°f. Rest for 30 minutes.

Do about 10 repetitions of slap & folds to build gluten structure a little faster. Do the windowpane test, almost passes but not quite. Dough temperature 83°f. Rest for 30 minutes.

Do coil folds. Do windowpane test and it passed. Dough temperature 82°f. Transfer to bulk fermentation vessel. The dough is 4” from the bottom of the vessel and I intend to stop bulk fermentation when the dough has risen 25% so I mark the 5” level on the vessel.

Put the bulk fermentation vessel on the heating pad set at 84°f and leave it uninterrupted until it reaches the desired 25% rise at the 5” level. Dough temperature 81°f.

The dough has reached the 25% rise in about 90 minutes. Dump the dough on the bench and divide it with my 9” wide bench knife/dough scraper and preshape it with the bench knife without touching it by hand 🖐️ because I don’t want to pop bubbles. Cover with inverted mixing bowls and bench rest for 20 minutes.

Final shape both loaves. Put in plastic wrapped bannetons without any flour on the dough, top or bottom, cover the dough with another bowl cap plastic bag to prevent evaporation while in the fridge.

Put both bannetons in the 38°f fridge while the dough is 80°f. Knowing fermentation will continue at a slower pace for hours. While the enzymes and acid will continue building flavor all night.

Next morning, today, time to bake… baking steel @500°f with baking shell to cover the dough during the oven spring process. I haven’t used my Dutch ovens even once since a friend got me this baking steel for Christmas. It’s gives me better results, it’s much easier to handle, and safer too.🤷‍♂️

Everything turned out just fine. So it took me a few experiments to come up with the right percentage of the blend but…

The 50/50 HG/AP blend may actually be the perfect formula.
Because what they do together is very effective. The HG is too strong & the AP is too weak but combined they’re magic.
The HG flour contributes:

strength,
elasticity,
gas retention,
oven spring.

The AP flour contributes:

extensibility,
tenderness,
openness,
and less “rubber-band” resistance.

So together:
they moderate each other.

So in view of the fact that Bob’s Red Mill bread flour costs me $1.50 per pound and King Arthur is $1.30 per mound I see much less expensive bread flour in my future…🤷‍♂️