Cooking: Miller's Loaf Sourdough

On the weekend I baked another loaf of sourdough. This time I decided to use some of the flours I bought from Alfalfa House. Trying the Bourke Street Bakery's Millers Loaf, a combination of white wholemeal, rye and white flour.

I having had a busy week I hadn't put much thought into my loaf and was quite tired while baking so I know I made a few mistakes. However, I was pretty pleased with the results. The crust had a great sourdough flavour (which is where I've decided most of the action in sourdough is). The wholemeal and rye flour gave the bread a much earthier flavour. Overall I was quite happy.

Baking Notes
Having been away last weekend I put my starter in the fridge for the first time. I took it out on Thursday morning, giving it a feed Thursday morning, evening and then again on Friday morning before using the starter Friday evening. It didn't seem to have suffered any ill effects from being in the fridge.

I found the Miller's dough tougher to work with. It seemed to be a bit heavier and wetter. When kneading I didn't get anywhere close to being able to form a window with the dough. As with the previous two loaves I kneaded for longer than the book said and then just gave up! It doesn't seem to be affecting the end result too much though.

I decided to use my batard banneton for the first time. I'm definitely still struggling with the bannetons. My loaves look a little lost in them, like there isn't enough dough. I also seem to get slightly odd shaped loaves out of them. It might have been luck, but I had much better looking loaves when I didn't use them.

The crust was awesome, just like in my first loaf. Crunchy and full of flavour. I left the bread in the oven a touch too long and in places it was bordering on the burnt. Luckily I saved it just in time and was definitely still very edible.

The rye and wholemeal flour added more flavour to the bread. It's almost a shame to put anything on the bread as it distracts from the natural flavour!