475 g water (2 cups)
2 t yeast
2 t kosher salt
Pre-ferment- none
Mixing- no autolyse, oops. Did activate yeast in microwaved water (30 sec power 5). Mix everything together in KA bowl and paddle for 5 minutes, which was when dough started to clear bowl sides. Switch to hook and continued 10 minutes, at which point dough felt about 80 degrees, and (!!) windowpane test PASSED.
Primary Fermentation- Transferred dough to plastic tupperware and marked with a sharpie. One hour later, dough had more than doubled, so I did two mini-stretch and folds. Almost exactly 2.5 hours from initial bowl transfer, dough had tripled.
Degassing- No punching, it degassed under it's own weight when I placed it on SUPER heavily floured cutting board.
Dividing- This was fun, the dough was so...smooshy and alive. Divided into 4 pieces with a wet knife blade, sprayed with oil and covered with plastic.
(no rounding, no benching, no real shaping, just folded the irregular parts over on themselves)
Proof- 45 minutes, should be puffy and wobbly. During this time preheat oven and stone.
Baking- Stretch dough and fold over like a letter so it is a 10 inch oblong. Place on parchment paper to make it easier to get into the oven. Bake in 2 batches using double steam method 15-20 minutes on 500, then 450, or until internal temp is 205.
Results:
Finally, a nice open crumb!!! I made 4 loaves out of this and kind of handled each differently, paramoid as I was about degassing. The first (above left) I stretched but didn't fold just prior to baking. The last (above right) I let proof 30 minutes more, while the first batch baked, and I did stretch and fold like a letter, then flipped upside down. The first doesn't have as much support from the crust, i.e. when slicing pieces of toast, it feels like the loaf could fall in on itself. I haven't cut the last loaf yet but I can tell from thumping that it is firmer. I also dimpled the first but not the last. Dimpling was a good way to hide lumps and imperfections, but next time, if I don't need to, I won't dimple.
The taste is pretty good. I toasted slices from the first loaf a little bit to melt butter and the toasting made the crust suberb- cracker crisp, which was great, becuase it was so thin. I think this is best slightly toasted. Not sure if that means it could've stayed longer in the oven, or if that's just personal preference. I wonder how much better it would be with a pre-ferment. Worth trying.
