Following the success I had on the weekend with my last loaf, today I decided to reapproach the very first recipe in Ken Forkish’s “Flour Water Salt Yeast” book – the Saturday White Bread.
Having decided that my bulk fermentations have been too long, with this loaf I instead reduced the amount of yeast in the recipe by 25% – resulting in 1.5g instead of 2g. I also more accurately measured the volume of the dough which was about 700ml after mixing – my original intention was to let the volume triple over 5 hours as per the recipe – however after 4.5 hours the volume had increased by about 2.5 times to 1750ml and I felt that would be sufficient.
I pre-shaped and final shaped the dough into a boule and then let it proof for 45mins.
The loaf was scored and then baked for 50mins in my dutch oven (20mins covered, 30mins uncovered)
I was very happy with the results – defnitely my best looking loaf so far! Whilst the crumb could be more open, for a basic recipe using commercial yeast and taking 8 hours from start to finish it is perfectly acceptable!
