PatrickT

@Acelestialobject OK - I'm feeling badly that nobody jumped in to answer your questions, so I'll take a stab at them. I am by no means an expert, so take everything I say with a grain of salt. 😉 Firstly, regarding the hard crust, several things can impact this in my experience. I'll start by saying that most sourdough bakers actually like their loaves with crisp, crunchy, mahogany-colored crusts and spongy crumbs - and most of the recipes you'll find will pretty much attempt to deliver on that. You said you used a King Arthur recipe. Can you please provide a link to it? That will help a lot. Some factors to consider: The flour(s) used. Higher protein flours (like strong bread flour) and whole grain flours can sometimes contribute to a harder crust. Some bakers use a lower protein white flour (like a good all purpose flour) and have great success with it. The baking temperature and time. Higher temps can cause harder crusts to form, as can over-baking. Judging by its appearance, I suspect that one or both of these factors contributed to the hard crust in your loaf. And something to mention here that might sound obvious - all ovens behave differently. 450F in my oven vs. 450F in your oven might produce a very different result. You'll find your sweet spot with temperature and time with repeated experiences with your oven over the course of baking many loaves. Be patient and make lots of notes to help guide your next efforts. An unenriched recipe (one with flour, water, salt and starter only) will generally produce a loaf with a harder crust than an enriched recipe (one that contains eggs and/or some kind of added fat - like oil or butter). Enriched recipes also typically have a more closed, softened crumb. Compare, for example, the KA recipe you used for your loaf with their recipe for Sourdough Sandwich Bread. See how different the crust and crumb look for that recipe? Secondly, you asked about how to tell when your loaves are done baking without a thermometer. The standard answer to this one is typically: "Turn the loaf over in your hands and thump the bottom with your finger. If it sounds hollow, it's done." Again, experience with your oven is going to help you nail this. Stick to the same recipe for a while and follow it explicitly regarding baking temperature and time. Then, judge your results. If the loaf seems over-baked (excessively dark, dry, super-crusty, etc.) try either shortening the baking time a few minutes or lower the temp a bit the next time you bake. Alternatively, if the interior of your loaf is noticeably underbaked and gummy, try lengthening the baking time a few minutes or raising the temp a little next time. After a few attempts, you'll find the right combination that produces the results you're after. You can then use that information as a starting point for the next recipe you try. And don't discount getting an instant thermometer at some point in the future. They're a bit pricey but you can use them for all sorts of things. Hope this helps! Happy baking. 😃

Having just baked a loaf with a seed mix, here’s what worked great for me. Toast the seeds if you want to (not necessary but doing so can provide a nicely enhanced flavor). Soak the seeds overnight in a covered container. I measured out twice the weight of the seed mix in grams of water and didn’t adjust anything else in my dough - just added the soaked seeds (which had absorbed all the water). Worked perfectly for me. Just enough crunch in the seeds in the final loaf. Hope that helps! Can’t wait to see your result!

Agreed! I’m going to try that one for sure! Good luck with your bake!

@ElsieD Here’s another yummy looking multigrain recipe that might contain good elements and/or process steps to add to your final recipe version. Plus - her tip for slicing the final loaf is genius!

Excellent! Her results look pretty great. Hope you have success!

Well, I’ve never had the pleasure of trying this but now I’m intrigued. Maybe try this recipe and see how close it is? Let us know how it goes. Would love to try it if you think it’s a reasonably good clone.

Lovely! Will have to try that one for sure. Thanks for sharing.

I love trying new sourdough recipes and here's one I tweaked from a Facebook post I saw recently. This is 90% KA bread flour and 10% Khorasan, 80% hydration, with 20% mixed seeds (flax, black and white sesame). Excellent flavor, crust, and a very pleasing crumb. I'll also make a plug for a recent bread making accessory that I absolutely love: a very stylish, roomy bread box from Home Depot. It comes in different colors, has a magnetic, easy-open door that falls down flat on the counter, and can easily hold more than two full-sized loaves. The picture below shows a 500g flour weight loaf cut in half. It keeps my loaves fresh for days. Highly recommended!

Beautiful crumb! 😍

This was really fun. First time making Old Milwaukee Rye. Original recipe from the Poehlmann Bakery in Milwaukee, WI (first established bakery in 1853), published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in the 1960’s. Process includes a 3-day sour. Absolutely delicious - will definitely make this again. There is a “sister” recipe for Bavarian Rye using 100% rye and Brotgewürz that I’m going to attempt next. Give this one a try!

Another resource you might enjoy: The Sourdough Journey (Tom Cucuzza) on YouTube. Tom is a very science-based, educational and entertaining guy. Check him out.

You can’t go wrong with either of those books. If you’re interested in another, check out The Perfect Loaf, by Maurizio Leo. It’s a James Beard Award winner and is a spectacular sourdough cookbook. Amazing recipes, as well as a very clear, meticulous approach to everything. His website is also a wealth of information. If you subscribe to it, you get access to additional recipes, as well as an invite to join Maurizio’s Discord channel for free - where fellow subscribers post their bakes, ask questions, etc. Maurizio himself is very active and you have direct access to him for anything you might want to know. Highly recommended!

Yesterday’s bake - a brown butter caramelized honey sourdough loaf with toasted rolled oats. I toasted the oats on a lined sheet pan at 400F, cooked them in water until tender and all the water was absorbed, browned the butter and allowed it to cool, caramelized the honey, then mixed everything together into a porridge and allowed it to cool. I added this to the initial mix after autolyse. Delicious, moist crumb and lovely crust. Will make this again! Recipe For Porridge: - 87g rolled oats - 263g water - 75g brown butter - 40g caramelized honey - 1/4 teaspoon salt For Dough: - 400g bread flour - 100g whole wheat - 389g water - 10g salt - 50g starter - 168g of porridge (there will be extra - it's delicious in a bowl with a splash milk or heavy cream 😋)

Did not know this - thanks for sharing! 😃👍

That’s right. We bought a jar in the store to make some whipped honey butter for an appetizer we made. Had some left over so I thought I’d give it a try with this loaf. Taste test in the AM! 😃

100% whole wheat with walnut oil and hot honey - just out of the oven. This is the first time I’ve ever attempted a 100% whole wheat loaf. The dough more than doubled in 6.5 hrs at 65F with only 50g of starter. Recipe: - 500g whole wheat flour - 375g water (likely could have used as much as 400g with this flour) - 10g salt - 50g starter - 25g hot honey - 25g walnut oil - Rolled oats for topping This loaf is very dense - think rye or even pumpernickel - and significantly more sour than any other loaf I've made. I can barely taste the honey but I believe the oil lends an almost creamy mouthfeel as you chew the bread. The crust is crispy but seems to chew much more easily than a typical loaf I would bake. I really love this one - so different! On a separate note - does anyone know why some images display as completely black when uploaded? I’ve tried several times to upload them but am getting the same thing. Weird? I’ve been doing this from my phone. Will try uploading from my computer later to see if that makes a difference. EDIT: Uploading from my computer worked. I'll follow up on that with the forum admins.

Thank you @Ann_T - busy summer with the usual yard work projects and outdoor diversions, so I haven't been baking as much. Hoping to rectify that now that most of them are finished. Always inspired by your posts here and on Facebook. Thanks for sharing them so freely!

Lemon poppyseed sourdough. While the crumb is definitely tight, the flavor is delicious. Not sure why I didn't try this before! - 400g bread flour - 100g white whole wheat flour - 375g water - 10g salt - 50g starter - 50g honey - 100g poppy seeds - Zest of one whole lemon, coarsely grated

I see nobody answered your question. I'm hardly a bread making authority, but I wonder if this could be a shaping issue - especially given the fact that it appears intermittently. Maybe try degassing the dough well before shaping and then ensure that there are no trapped air pockets as you're doing the final shaping. Hope that helps!

Love that plate (as well as the loaf 😉)!

Baked this Guinness Asiago loaf with Rosemary, Thyme and Sage - absolutely delicious. I love how the little shreds of Asiago turn golden in the toaster. 😃 I ad libbed off this recipe, using an 80/20 mix of bread flour and Khorasan flour and subbing all of the water with Guinness. This one is definitely going on my regular baking rotation. Give it a try!

I actually like the look of that crumb! Perfect sandwich loaf. How is the taste?

Thanks @Ann_T! 😍🙏

I recently tried a simple sourdough loaf with 3 changes from my typical process: (1) an overnight BF schedule, (2) adding a bit of honey and olive oil to the dough, and (3) using a cold, month-old starter straight from the fridge without any additional refreshment. Very impressed with the final bake! The overnight schedule is super convenient for me, the honey and olive oil make for a lovely, soft crumb with just a hint of sweetness, and the effectiveness of the old starter straight from the fridge was definitely a surprise.

Love this idea! 😍