Flour types, bakers ratio, and experimentation... (and an update on timing)

Like most readers of this blog - I've been doing a lot of baking recently. I usually bake quite a bit, but with the global COVID-19 pandemic and associated shelter-in-place orders, I've had even more opportunities to bake and experiment.

Bakers Ratio - 72% 

Though because baking is so popular now, there are shortages of flour I usually use. I'm keen on using %90 King Arthur Bread Flour (450g) and 10% King Arthur While Whole Wheat Flour (50g) at 72% hydration (360g of liquid, which is usually about 320g filtered water + 40g starter) plus 10g of salt.

Note: It's essential to vary the amount of starter and keep the total liquid portion to be 360g to maintain a bakers ratio of 72%. If my starter is very active, I will sometimes go as low as 5g or as high as 50g depending on various environmental conditions and timing. 

Flour Types

While I had a large stockpile of KA Bread flour, it only lasted so long, and eventually, I had to find an available replacement. I settled on a 50lb bag of generic All-Purpose flour from Costco for $11.39.

To most people, these loaves look and taste great, but they aren't up to my standards. 

Experimentation

While I usually don't like YouTube videos with numbers in the title ("top 10" or "10 tips", etc...) this video is a bit of an exception - he goes over a great way to experiment and visualize how to get the hydration right with the water and flour you are using. 

Timing

Update on timing - I usually follow this schedule:

Friday morning - taking the starter out of the refrigerator to wake up.

Friday evening - 7 pm - mix the water, flour, salt, starter into a dough, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside on the counter. I also refresh the starter and leave out overnight.

Friday night - 11 pm (4 hours later) - Wet my hands and punch-down & rotate the dough ball, and then re-cover with plastic wrap. 

Saturday morning - 8 am (9 hours later, 13h total)) 

• Carefully transfer the proofed dough onto a floured surface, divide into the desired number of loaves (I usually do two) and gently shape. 

• Note: My sourdough starter is very active, so adding only 40g (and sometimes less) means my dough is very airy and filled with CO2 filled gluten pockets.

• Place the dough on parchment paper and place that in a cold dutch oven, cover with the lid, and set aside.

• Turn on the oven to preheat at 500-550F.

Saturday morning - 8:30 am (~20 minutes after shaping, pretty much when the oven is done preheating) 

• Remove the lid from the dutch oven, score the loaf with a lame, put the lid back on and place the dutch oven in the preheated oven.

• If necessary, lower oven temperature to 500F.

Saturday morning - 9:12 am (42 minutes after placing in the oven) 

• Carefully remove the very hot lid from the top of the dutch oven with oven gloves and get a feel for how browned the crust is.

Saturday morning - 9:22 am (10 minutes after removing the lid, about 52 total minutes of baking time)

• Check that the crust is sufficiently browned and then carefully remove and place on a wire rack to cool.

Saturday morning - 11:30 am (about 2 hours after removing from the oven)

• Cut & enjoy! 

Bake some bread! 😃
- Matt