"Wcsjohn" > wrote in message
...
> Ok, I've mixed 500 gm 13.9% protein white flour with 400 gm water and 10
gm
> salt until smooth, about 8 minutes at speed 1, on my Kenwood, minimal
mixing
> by my usual standards<g>.
>
> I'll leave in the fridge for 48 hours, let it warm up then add an active
SD
> culture, mix briefly just to distribute the culture, and see what happens.
>
> The fridge rest should also produce the excellent flavour associated with
Pain
> a l'Ancienne.
>
> John
>
I agree with Kenneth's comments regarding 30 second mix. With 8 minutes,
you've already mixed more than I knead. To mix I just move the ingredients
around with a wooden spoon until I have a really rough looking mass, but no
flour that has not been exposed to liquids. Maybe a minute of hand mixing.
The stuff in the bowl is going to be really rough and shaggy and in heaps
and valleys--not mixed in the proper sense of the word at all. In order to
assure even distribution of all ingredients, I stir all the dry ingredients
together with a wire whisk and blend all wet ingredients, then it is just a
matter of stirring the two together.
Janet