A Sourdough Novice | The Fresh Loaf

I just finished a loaf of sourdough from this recipe http://weightloss-slim.fit/node/4737/finally-100-whole-grain-hearth-bread-i039m-proud%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E

...And I think it turned out fairly well. I had to take some liberties with the development/rising times due to time constraints, but it seemed to work. The dough sat covered for an hour or so after mixing, then a stretch-and-fold, four hours in the fridge, stretch-and-fold, overnight (10 hours) rise in a cool-ish room (~62 degrees), a third stretch-and-fold, after which I shaped it and let it rise in a basket for just over 3 hours. Baking was 40 minutes at 450 degrees, on a stone.

The dough after mixing:

After a stretch-and-fold:

In the basket:

A Fresh Loaf:

The crumb:

Clearly I need to learn how to score loaves properly. Nonetheless, I'm pretty happy with the look of it. The crumb could have been a little more open, I think, but it was tasty! Not super sour; the spelt and rye go together very well. Many thanks to JMonkey for coming up with a superb recipe. As this is only my third or fourth sourdough loaf I hope to improve upon the results next time.

David Wilson's Blog
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I think your loaf looks terrific, David. One-hundred percent whole grain breads are challenging! You didn't mention whether you baked with steam. Using steam or a cloche really helps with oven spring because it delays the formation of a crust.

--Pamela

David! Nice looking loaf! As far a slashing..with the two straight slashes across the boule..it will make the loaf elongate! Three slashes would even make it a little longer/oval shaped. dmsnyder, David has some excellent instructions on how to slash loaves!

Sylvia

very nice looking bread! glad to see your starter is working!

TeaIV

yes I think there are some good scoring videos in the handbook, but I'm not sure. In my opinion, it's one of the harder things in baking :(

Hope I'm as fortunate with my first SD today. I have my doubts for sure. Dave