3-Day Sourdough Bread

3-day Sourdough Bread

I've been baking from Peter Reinhardt's Bread Baker's Apprentice for a few months now.  I've been getting fairly consistent results.  This week, I took the dough from the fridge about 3 hours earlier (3:30AM) and baked it around 6:30am.  And the results are spectacular.  By giving the dough a  slightly shorter cold proof and longer time to warm up before hitting the oven - I achieved those beautiful air pockets.  The crumb is super soft.  Even three days later, it's soft and incredibly delicious.  

I added a metal bowl with  water to the bottom while it was preheating (as always) but I also poured about 1/4 cup of water onto the bottom of the oven after putting the loaves onto the baking stone. so I got a huge pop of steam.  About 5 minutes later, I sprayed the side walls of the oven with a mister.  I took out the bowl at 12 minutes, turned down the heat and rotated the loaves, which resulted in a blistery, flaky, delicious crust.

I feed my starter once a week.  Usually 1:1.  This particular feed - I gave it 100gms starter, 160gms bread flour, and 140 grams water.  It was so vigorous and happy!  It still gave me a strong sour flavor in the final product that made for an absolutely delicious crumb. 

It's my best loaf yet! 

Crumb from 3-day Sourdough Bread