Weekend Loaf

Why my rye keeps collapsing (and what finally fixed it)

For most of the summer every 70% rye I proofed in the kitchen came out of the oven with a dent in the middle. I blamed the starter, then the flour, then the weather. The real culprit was simpler: I was proofing by the clock and not by the dough. With the kitchen at 27 °C, ninety minutes was already too long. Cutting the final proof to fifty minutes and baking the moment the surface showed the first cracks gave me a loaf with an even crumb and no cave.

Two other small things helped: a heavier dusting of rye on the banneton, and letting the loaf rest a full day before slicing. Rye needs the time.

A weekday loaf that doesn't need a schedule

Mix at nine in the evening, fold twice before bed, shape in the morning, bake after work. Same-day sourdough is a myth for people with jobs, but a 22-hour cold retard is not. This is the loaf I make most weeks now: 500 g bread flour, 50 g whole wheat, 385 g water, 100 g starter, 11 g salt.

Keeping a starter alive through a long trip

Three weeks away and I came back to a jar with a grey layer of liquid on top and a smell like nail polish remover. It looked dead. It wasn't. Two feedings at 1:5:5 with warm water and it was doubling again by the third day. Starters are far harder to kill than the internet suggests.