Classic Artisan recipe - very sticky dough

Sourdough Cookbook for Beginners
1

Hello!

I’ve recently got the book and unfortunately had a mishap with the first recipe I tried, namely the Classic Artisan. I have a rye sourdough starter that I’ve been feeding and discarding from for a couple of weeks, and it is happily doubling in size after a feeding.

For bread flour I used Artisan Bakers Craft Plus from Central Milling. For whole grain flour, I used Hard Red Spring Wheat Flour from Camas Country Mill.

After the series of stretch and folds, it took about 18 hours for the dough to double in size (leaving the container on top of my oven to ensure that it was warm)…I poured the dough out onto a surface to preshape, and it felt impossible to form the dough into anything other than a mess on the work surface. It wasn’t tacky and pliable like the demo video for shaping a boule - it was to my uninformed eye like it lacked any real gluten structure.

Is there anything obvious that I might be doing wrong? Should I look at adjusting hydration? More stretch and folds? Are my flour choices simply crazy?

Thanks in advance :slight_smile:

2

Thanks for getting the book :blush: I’m sorry this recipe gave you a tough time.

If your dough didn’t start out feeling too wet, I think the problem stemmed from taking the bulk fermentation too far/long. Aim for 75% expansion of the dough next time.

Once stretching and folding is introduced into the equation, terms like doubling become less precise because people handle the dough with a different touch and might de-gas it more or less.

If the dough started out wet, it should have gained some strength with the stretching and folding…but lowering the amount of water is perfectly acceptable. Different flours do have different absorbency.

3

Thanks so much for the reply! :smiley:

That makes a lot of sense - after each round of stretch and folds, it had gained more strength. It also didn’t glue my hands together, so it definitely sounds like the over-extended bulk ferment was the issue!

Looking forward to giving the recipe another whirl next weekend. Even though I didn’t get a loaf out of this week, I’m excited to have learned a little more about baking and the process!

Thanks again!