Dough breaks, doesn't stretch

[texassourdough]

Super!

I find that in many activities, people's approaches evolve over time, shifting a little here and a little there, an idea from another planet that seems to make sense, and things get out of whack and it can be very hard to figure out what it is because you often don't realize what you did different! About a year ago I had a couple of bread batches that lacked oven spring. First batch I questioned my new flour and hydration. Next one I got serious because they were worse so I was careful. Third batch I took a closer look at the whole process and decided my sourdough leaven was not fully active. Now, it was expanding fairly well overnight but it still lacked oomph. So... I fed it three times (every 12 hours) and it was the wildest I had seen it in years. Huge loaves on the next batch...
Looking back, my steal 100 grams to start the bread and feed the rest and refrigerate after about 30 min to an 1 hour was slowly "killing" it. Now I take it, feed it all the morning before I bake, Divide that and feed the starter portion/refrigerate it, and start the bread with the rest. Now I really don't need the double feed because what I pull out of the fridge is much more robust, but...I also get very consistent results.

Self diagnosis is really hard - even when you "know the rules" and what is "supposed to happen". Glad it worked for you!

I will be baking tomorrow - mainly my regular boules to give as Christmas presents. But I will be dreaming of Genzano!

Bake On!
Jay

[KEmerson]

I've had similar experiences. One irony here is that my original recipe has me mixing slowly for only five minutes. I think that as I changed from ADY to SD I made some other tweaks and sort of lost my way.

As I said, I can't wait to get to the WFO with this. Next week? Again, thanks.
Kim

[KEmerson]

Jay & friends,
Last night was the first time back at the WFO with the new, improved dough. I feel as though I'd been on a path and took a detour on my own into ungroomed trails and I simply lost my way and couldn't tell where I'd left the trail. Now I feel I've been helped back onto that familiar path and it took me home only a little off schedule but none the worse for wear. And of course, the experience, frustrating as it was, was also educational. I learned from my mistakes which can only add to the value of making mistakes in the first place. And like I've said before, making mistakes, even though I wouldn't want to live there, is an ok place to visit and may even be a required stop along the way.
So thanks for the input, Jay.

[texassourdough]

What to me feels good is to be back to the familiar! We all have "detours" and it feels good to be back to "normal"!

Thanks!
jay

[KEmerson]

Oh, Jay, I also did a dozen Genzano boules. Nice bake day all around. I was thinking of you as I made the first slice.

[texassourdough]

D
r
o
o
l
!