Monday Sourdough #2

As I've said previously, I'm generally posting bread I made a few days before. Such is the case with today's post. I've got a sourdough starter that's almost 2 weeks old now, and I've been using it every other day or so. The taste's changing over time, as it should for a starter this new. I might be making a longer post discussing it in a few weeks, when the taste's started to stabilize. It's yet to truly get sour, it's more of a nutty taste at the moment.

This weekend is when I'll make a properly kneaded loaf of sourdough bread. For now I'm doing no-knead so it minimally interferes with school. And it's working very well. I started with a cup of starter, a cup of flour and about a half cup of water. I mixed it together and let it sit for ~4 hours.

After it developed for a few hours, I added in the remaining 2 cups of flour, cup of water and teaspoon of salt. I mixed the dough thoroughly and put it into a greased container to rise overnight. A lesson I see to keep forgetting is to put the the container into the fridge overnight, not leave it sitting out! Both times I have, the result looked something like this:

See that fine dark smudge, about an inch off the bottom? That's where it was when the dough started rising. I woke up, saw that and of course was more then a little concerned the dough would collapse before I could have a chance later in the day to cook it.  Thankfully that worry was unfounded, and the bread turned out quite good.

The oven spring was decent, maybe giving a 170% increase in height in the dutch oven. I know the spring would be better if the top was scored. But frankly I like the way it looks when it splits. Gives it a authentic feeling. Of course once I get all other parts of the bread down and I acquire a proper sharp knife that can score well, I'll be scoring the bread. But for now I enjoy the way it looks. Bonus crumb shot! Not open enough for me, but it was quite soft.

GRADES:
Crust: B
Crumb: A
Taste: B
Overall: B+
Wednesday will probably be a loaf of honey whole wheat no-knead bread! See you then!