Loaves like paving slabs

Some weeks the whole hobby comes down to one small thing, and lately that has been the bulk ferment. I now keep the starter in the fridge and feed it when I remember, and it seems to bear no grudge.

Where it stands

There’s a lot of strong opinion about this, and most of it seems to come from people with more time than me. To be fair, steam seems to matter more than anything else I have changed, including the expensive flour. Every time I think I’ve got the hang of the bulk ferment, something reminds me that I haven’t. After a couple of years of this, the overnight proof finally started to make sense.

Some context

It’s the kind of small job that I put off for most of a month and then finish in an afternoon. I read a lot about this in a well-thumbed paperback, then ignored most of it and learned the hard way. If I had to start again, I would begin with the bulk ferment and leave everything else for later. I don’t want to make too much of this, but it did make me happier than it should have.

Nothing is wasted if you write down what happened.

The slow part

One quiet Saturday morning I went back to the beginning and started again. A friend of a friend has a much simpler approach, and I suspect it’s better than mine. I’ve since gone back to doing it the old way, at least for hydration.

The honest answer is that I don’t know why it worked this time. I keep a note of these things now, because I forget them faster than I’d like. For a while I blamed the shaping, but that turned out to be unfair.

I’m in no hurry, and that may be the main thing I’ve learned.