How surprising to find this here. I've just started making sourdough bread. It turns out that I can't make it like the local bakery, but actually, that's fine. I had to really think? Do I like open crumb? Actually no! I want sandwich bread.
I've been exploring what I can get away with. Leaving the bread to rise overnight on the counter? Yep. It's fine. Leaving the starter for 2 days instead of feeding every day when it lives on the counter. Sure - no problem. Knock it back or just quickly shape. Doesn't matter. Bake at 1.5 or 2 or 2.5 the size. It doesn't matter enough.
Things that are not fine, shaping the bread, leaving it to rise in the oven which is on a timer and then the oven turns off but I'm not back for an hour to take it out. Crust too dry!
Your mileage may vary of course. But sourdough just seems so much more forgiving than a fast acting yeast.
I've yet to see if I care about a difference between a proper knead after the first rise or just a quick shaping. It's quite fun trying the different possibilities.
In my household we have "Starterday" for Friday - when the starter gets fed, "Riseday" for Saturday - when the dough gets kneaded, shaped and left to rise, and finally "Bakeday" for Sunday, when the bread goes in the oven early in the morning. A 1.5Kg loaf usually lasts until next Bakeday for both me and my partner.
How do you keep the bread fresh/edible for the entire week? I've been baking sourdough for only a few years now - but I find that after 2-3 days the bread is basically ready to become breadcrumbs no matter how I store it. Lately I've actually started slicing it two days after baking and freezing the slices so that they can be re-toasted to stretch things out.
We've tried multiple ways over time, and the one we settled on is to wrap it in a clean kitchen towel (of pretty thick cotton) and then place it in a plastic bag. With just the plastic bag it will grow mold, with just the kitchen towel it will lose too much moisture. Even like this by the end it gets pretty tough, but it is still edible as toast. :)
I’m suspicious that an open crumb has little to do with the dough per se and a lot to do with large air bubbles being trapped in the dough while it’s being folded and not getting popped.
I've been exploring what I can get away with. Leaving the bread to rise overnight on the counter? Yep. It's fine. Leaving the starter for 2 days instead of feeding every day when it lives on the counter. Sure - no problem. Knock it back or just quickly shape. Doesn't matter. Bake at 1.5 or 2 or 2.5 the size. It doesn't matter enough.
Things that are not fine, shaping the bread, leaving it to rise in the oven which is on a timer and then the oven turns off but I'm not back for an hour to take it out. Crust too dry!
Your mileage may vary of course. But sourdough just seems so much more forgiving than a fast acting yeast.
I've yet to see if I care about a difference between a proper knead after the first rise or just a quick shaping. It's quite fun trying the different possibilities.