Howdy,

I often bake my Poilâne loaves, and love 'em.

Over the years, I have noticed very significant changes in
the loaves over the course of a few days: After they cool,
they have just a slight hint of a sour. After two or three
days, the sour is more prominent, their taste is much more
complex, and more intense.

When I bake them for shipping to friends, I used to freeze
them after they cooled from the oven. Now, I prefer to have
folks taste them after two or three days, and so don't
bother with the freezing (which, in effect, got them to my
friends "fresh from the oven.")

Then, I read an interview with M. Poilâne in which he said
that he thought his signature bread was always best after
three days.

Perhaps some of you have experienced these changes, and can
help me to understand what might be happening to cause them.
I understand that the materials in the baked bread are not
inert, but certainly the LB are dead so I wonder what is
increasing the sour.

Sincere thanks,
--
Kenneth

If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."

That also happens with my unbleached flour sourdough bread. My son
likes it better a couple days old so the older ends of loaves never go
to waste. It really sours with time.

Mike

Kenneth wrote:
Howdy,

I often bake my Poilâne loaves, and love 'em.

Over the years, I have noticed very significant changes in
the loaves over the course of a few days: After they cool,
they have just a slight hint of a sour. After two or three
days, the sour is more prominent, their taste is much more
complex, and more intense.

When I bake them for shipping to friends, I used to freeze
them after they cooled from the oven. Now, I prefer to have
folks taste them after two or three days, and so don't
bother with the freezing (which, in effect, got them to my
friends "fresh from the oven.")

Then, I read an interview with M. Poilâne in which he said
that he thought his signature bread was always best after
three days.

Perhaps some of you have experienced these changes, and can
help me to understand what might be happening to cause them.
I understand that the materials in the baked bread are not
inert, but certainly the LB are dead so I wonder what is
increasing the sour.

Sincere thanks,

Kenneth wrote:


...Perhaps some of you have experienced these changes...




Yes, both the texture and flavor of the bread change with time. I
should have waited for Ticker to return from her hunting expedition, but
I will give my best guess on the causes.

One thing, on standing the aromatics permeate through the loaf to
improve the overall flavor. Also the loaf loses water so certainly the
salt, and presumably the sour taste is more concentrated. Just
increasing the salt concentration would dial up the intensity of all the
flavor. (to a point).

Regards,

Charles