I had another go with the pain au levain style bread this weekend, following my hunch from the first time and making a much lighter loaf with more wheat flour and less rye starter. I was very pleased with the result. It rose really nicely and pretty vigorously for a sourdough. The trick of wrapping it in a floured cloth and leaving it to rise in loaf tins to stop it spreading out too much worked well again, although I still haven't quite got the hang of what's required to stop the dough sticking completely.
The recipe this time was:400g Rye starter
450g Water
800g All-purpose white flour
1tbsp Salt
As before, whisk together the starter with the water. Add the flour and salt and mix to a dough. Knead for 15 secs, leave for 15 mins, knead for 15 secs, leave for 30 mins, knead again, leave for one hour, knead again, leave for a couple of hours.
Divide the dough into two. Knead into balls and form into baton loaves. Place on floured cloths, roll up the cloths and put the loaves into loaf tins. Leave for 3-4 hours until doubled in size.Heat the oven to 450F. Spray the loaves with water then bake at this temperature for 5 mins before reducing to around 375F for a further 30-40 minutes until done.
Smashing.
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