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Can I substitute rye flour for some of the Whole Wheat?

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After Step 6 (end of bulk ferment) are you looking only to shape the loaf, or also to remove some of the larger bubbles?

Related question: do you line the banneton, or just flour it liberally? My first attempt with a banneton got pretty tacky....

Thanks!

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Thx....must admit I went straight to the recipe. My bad!

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Oct 1, 2020Liked by Andrew Janjigian

I start my weekly loaf in a cold oven, so I'm looking forward to trying this one this weekend. Maybe that's why you always have such a gorgeous dark crust?

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"12 hrs @75 degrees" for bulk fermentation. Can you speak to adjustments for higher (and lower temps). I assume hotter means shorter (& shorter window?) but how much shorter? Would additional hydration work to extend the fermentation under hot conditions? I live in the desert -- commonly 90 degrees -- and always have challenges both with starter & breads

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I am making this today. I have the dough in stainless bowl like yours. The surface of mine has darkened a little (I have a bowl covered by cotton kitchen towel). How do you get yours not to darken?

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Oct 2, 2020Liked by Andrew Janjigian

I am new to wordloaf, and have enjoyed your posts immensely. I found this technique from Martin Phillip’s blog post on the King Arthur website and had a batch of dough proofing in the fridge as I read your article. This was my 3rd try, 75% bread flour, 15% spelt and 10% rye, 75% hydration and it baked up beautifully using a Lodge combo cooker. . It is very liberating in terms of timing. I highly recommend trying this recipe and then playing with the flour %. I appreciated the additional info in your article regarding adjusting the recipe to account for temperature variations.

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Well I don't know what I'm doing wrong but my boule came out quite flat. Either my starter wasn't lively enough--but I fed it the day before--or something went wrong in the bulk fermentation stage. I even used a bread proofer--but took it out early because it had more than doubled. I'm really frustrated. No matter what recipe I follow, I get very little oven spring. I've had a few times where it kind of worked though I never get a loaf that looks like the ones pictured. Actually, my current boule looks kind of like the 50% whole wheat one, but I only used 20% per the recipe. Does it matter that I used bread flour?

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What vessel should I use for the second proof if I do not have a banneton or basket? Will a metal mixing bowl work? Should I cover with a towel instead of plastic in that case for more ventilation?

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I swear every time I think I got my sourdough recipe down and perfect it, I discover a new method that’s better than all the other methods. It happened with autolyse, wheat berry bread, coil folding, and many more. As I said in the Focaccia recipe, this method is like respectus panis and i’ve been considering adapting to that method but in the end, I decided to stick to my usual method of 20% levain. Now that someone that’s more qualified than a random french guy on boulangerienet.fr has posted this with an actual reason to do it, I’m changing my recipe!

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Along the lines of Jack’s inquiry, would you consider breaking down the approach to bulk fermentation in a post down the road? This is the step I find the the most challenging. For my first loaves during the Quarantiny days (aka with my then very young starter), I had no issues with 12 hours of bulk fermentation. This was also spring in New York City - mild temps, low humidity. As we got into summer temps and high humidity and my starter matured, I found 12 hours was far too long - my dough was way over proofed, yielding a “puffy” and very closed crumb. In the heat of summer in August, I finally cut the bulk proof time to about 4.5 hours and my loaf was perfect. Looking at other sources online (Bryan Ford’s blog, the Perfect Loaf blog by Maurizio Leo), I found that 4 hours a pretty average bulk ferment time for their recipes, though their formulas also call for 20-30% levain on average. I would love to understand the logic behind the relationship of levain percentage and the impact of temperatures/humidity when approaching bulk fermentation timing so I’m better equipped to know when and how to adjust it.

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Oct 11, 2020Liked by Andrew Janjigian

I just made this yesterday, & baked it this morning --I used 50% WW and baked it a few extra minutes for a strong dark crust, which this household likes. It has a good crumb & great taste! And good shape, something I have been struggling with. One question: is there any reason not to double this recipe? I usually make 2 loaves (using 1000g of flour) so I am comfortable with that amount of dough. I like to be able to give away a loaf and still have plenty around.

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Oct 13, 2020Liked by Andrew Janjigian

By far one of the best if not the best-tasting loaf I’ve made. Unfortunately not very attractive (turned out a little flat and weirdly lumpy on top) but still delicious which is what counts.

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I am baking this loaf today! There is one detail I don’t see in you recipe, and about which I have read conflicting opinions. Should I bake the loaf immediately after removing from the refrigerator, or should I let it get to room temperature first, or somewhere in between those? Thank you.

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Thanks so much for all your post, super interesting and great recipes!! Been following you since the quarantinystarter days!....I was finally able to get a proofing basket instead of S/S bow, my question is that if I need to put the whole thing in a plastic bag inside refrigerator for final proofing or just cover the top of banetonn with a shower cap? Thanks again!

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