High Inoculation Test 1
This loaf has equal parts #sourdough and flour.
Yes. Equal parts.
90% organic strong bread flour
10% @cotswoldflour 8-grain
100% sourdough (fed at 1:1:1)
50% water
I did a 1 hour autolyse to try and kick off some enzymatic activity because I knew it would be a race against the clock with how fast this would ferment at 100% inoculation.
I also did a 7 minute slap and fold kneading technique for the same reason.
The resulting bread was fully proofed in about 4 hours.
I then cold proofed overnight for about 15 hours.
The flavor was mild, nowhere near how acidic you may expect it to be at 100% sourdough.
I’ve been fascinated recently with the theory that one should avoid “acid carryover” or bringing in too much sourdough to your bread or starter as it will effect strength. However, as my last “4 jars” experiment shows, higher inoculation starters don’t seems to suffer from a reduction in rising power but they do seem to have a reduction in viscosity, which plays a part in its mechanical strength. In other words a culture fed at 1:1:1 may not peak as high as one fed at 1:2:2 but I think that has more to do with the 1:1:1 not having enough strength to hold the co2, not about the co2 production itself. More experiments to come.
I’ve also been looking at the idea of “total hydration” as in how much of the flour and water from your starter should you include in your hydration calculation, if any. If I include none, this loaf is 50% hydration but it’s obviously wetter than that. If I include it all, it would be 67% which also didn’t feel quite right. My hypothesis is that you can count some of the flour and all of the water, but , again, more experiments to come.
I’m going to rerun this loaf with a little more water to try and get a better spring. I’ll let you know how it goes.
For now, I’ve got some bread to eat 🥳
Cold proofed in @flourside_
Scored with @wiremonkeyshop
Baked in @brovn4bread
Link to Post