Young Leaven

Using a young leaven to prepare sourdough bread.

Young Leaven
For the country loaf 'Boule.'

Using a younger leaven lowers the sourness found in your final bread as your starter has not totally consumed the flour you’ve fed it, producing lots and lots of acidic byproducts that get mixed in later.  It is the way for you to prepare the sourdough bread, and you will get a better loaf.

The Leaven
 mix the starter and flour, water
 and let it stay in a warm place for
two hours.

Tasting the Leaven, it floats on the water.  The leaven is ready for making
the dough, ready for baking

Mixing the Flour, water mixed with the leaven

The look of the mixture after finished mixing the flour, leaven and water.

Mix the dough with salt and water, and start the Bulk Fermentation, do the Turn
every 30 minutes five times

The Bulk Fermentation

After finishing the bulk fermentation, the dough is ready to divide for the first shaping.
Divide the dough into two large sizes, shape into round, cover the dough  let it rest for 25 minutes

After the rest of the bench rest, the dough is ready for final shaping.  Here, place the dough on the lined and floured baskets.  Let them proof for three hours if you wish to bake them on the same day.
For the baking the next day, place the dough in the refrigerator to retard, cover the baskets with plastic bags.
The Baking
After retarding the dough overnight, baking the next morning was very exciting as always, Getting ready and score the dough before putting in the oven to bake.

After twenty minutes baking, take off the lid of the pot,  see the dough
has a beautiful oven spring.  Continue baking for 30 minutes.

Successfully baked with lovely colour.

Fresh Baked Sourdough Bread on a cooling tray.
It looks good, and it feels light on your hand.

Wrap in a cloth to keep fresh

Beautiful sliced, with an open crumb

Indeed, I love using the young leaven, I must do this way from now one  Not only save the time, but the bread has a better texture and flavour, a little hint of sourness is there,

Another practice of baking the sourdough bread, it's okay, and we got to taste and eat it.

A loaf that lasts.  The country loaf the Boule.  One of my best so far.


Thinking, why should I follow these sequence and rules about sourdough baking and the result still unsatisfactory.  Maybe one day, I have to be brave enough, just do it, follow your heart and do whatever fit enough to create a good bread.
I have been contemplating this, do or not do.  Well I did it, and the baked bread was good, and I did not have lots to refer to the recipe.  I must admit that I remember all the procedures, steps that I could not afford to miss, and preparing the perfect ingredients is essential. The baking day was enjoyable.

Here are the pictures.

Apricot, walnut,  Sourdough Bread

Another Baking Using the Young Leaven.  

Boule

Batard

Beautiful Bread
I believe it is the best way to bake sourdough is using young leaven.  It has a mild sour flavour, and the preparation of the leaven is only two or three hours.

The Young Leaven

62 g very active sourdough culture starter
75 g flour
75 g water
Mix together, and mature within three hours
The Float Test - Perfect

The Dough
900g white flour
100g wholemeal flour
700g water and 50g to mix with the salt
20g salt
180g leaven.
Mix the ingredients, except the salt and 50g water
Autolyse for 35 minutes

The look of the dough after autolyse for 35 minutes

Added the mixed water and salt to the dough after the 'autolyse.'

The dough after added and mixed with the salt.

Bulk Fermentation

The end of 30 minutes from the first Turn

The end of 30 minutes of the second Turn, divide the dough into two, the recipe makes two loaves.  One dough is added with the toasted walnuts too, and the other dough is going to be a plain sourdough bread - no flavour.  Give the dough four to five turns before the first shaping.

After the second Turn added walnuts to
the half of the dough

The dough with the walnut at the end of the Bulk Fermentation.

The dough of white bread at the end of the Bulk Fermentation

The Shaping - Final Shaping
Baking two loaves, a Boule and a Batard.
Rest for one minute  on the bench before transferring to the proofing basket

Add caption

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Proof the dough at room temperature for 2 hours, and followed by retarding it in the refrigerator overnight for the baking in the next morning.

The Baking-The Boule and The Batard

Boule, cooling on a tray.

The Bottom of the Bread

The best part is cutting the cold fresh baked bread, the boule sang it's a beautiful tune and showing off the opened crumb unashamedly.

Slicing the'Boule"

Beautiful Open Crumb

The Batard with Walnuts

From the look of the Batard, the scoring the dough has to be improved.

The Batard cut into two.

Beautifully sliced batard with walnuts

The Best Boule, Lovely and Light

It's was the best sourdough bread baking so far and thoroughly enjoyable.  The loaves were beautiful with an open crumb and crusty  So Proud!
However, the crust is hard for some people, so I had to try my best to have a crusty, crisp and brittle, all the qualities that the crust should have.  I will get there.




The Second Loaf - The Batard

The score, make a shallow cut 

Almost Perfect oven spring

I wanted the Batard to have pronounced 'Ears'.  Make shallow cuts at a shallow angle (almost horizontal) to the dough.  That was I supposed to do. Unfortunately, I had not mastered it yet.  Indeed there ears, but not very good!

Baked Batard, Beautiful
But the ears not quite pronounced.

Beautiful Open Crumb for these Slices of Batard.

I had beautiful loaves, baking the sourdough with a young leaven is agreeable, I must stick to it.  I had lots of practices and friends tasted it and giving me the assessment, what improvements have to be done. I am so grateful for that, and constructive criticism that what I want.

The latest baked was only today in the morning, but the bulk fermentation has gone too far for the preparation of this bread, the dough becomes very wet and very hard to handle the final shaping. The loaf was OK, the crumb was not light, airy and soft, and the crust was hard.  It has a hint of sour taste, which is good.  I am waiting for the report from the taster regarding this bread, she is a good friend of mine.  Indeed we had the fresh bread for our lunch not really fantastic but satisfied.

I thought I would be a weekend baker, but no, eventually, I will be a monthly baker, I think is alright, especially baking sweets, cakes on scones for the grandchildren are never taking place any longer, they are living so far away in Queensland.


Until
Next Post

Susy