Bread biga Poolish Artisan Artisanal photos discussions

	Three shots of a sourdough bread I baked on 10-31-07. It looks as if I may have finally figured out sourdough.


	Three shots of two one-kilogram sourdough breads I baked on 12-13-07. These are a lot higher than the ones above. In fact, if I had slashed a bit more, I might have gotten really good height. As it was, these more than doubled in the oven. I'll make this again and post the recipe with pictures.


	Here's the crumb of one of these loaves. Pretty good holes and a good, chewy crust. Gotta be careful with the jam, though.
Two shots of the sourdough loaves mentioned in my blog on Feb 1, 2008. I made this dough according to my usual recipe, but it did nothing during final rise. I put it in a container and let it sit on the counter overnight. The next day, it showed some signs of life, so I let it ferment some more, shaped it, let it rise and baked it. Here they are. Not a bad salvage.
	Here are the two loaves. The crust is pretty good and the loft isn't that bad, either, considering what they've been through.
	The crumb. I was pleased with the size and distribution of the holes.
	A first attempt at "Quintessential French Sourdough, Local Breads, Daniel Leader, page 124-127. The recipe called for about 67% hydration, which is pretty high. This got gread taste and goodly holes, but I was a bit disappointed with the overall height and roundness of the loaves. The dough was 67%. I'll make the next batch at 65% and see what happens.
	Here's the crumb on the above loaf. Excellent holes and good texture.
	Here's a batch made at 65% and with a tight control on the couch during final rise. I really didn't allow any sideways expansion, which may have been the answer to the spreading out.
	Another shot of the second batch, this time shot a little warmer; note the difference in overall photo tone. This is caused by the disparity between the color temperature that the camera is set for and what the ambient light color temperature is. Aren't you glad you asked?