On 2021-03-01 12:09 p.m., Boron Elgar wrote:
> On Sun, 28 Feb 2021 22:06:02 -0700, Graham > wrote:
>
>> On 2021-02-28 5:02 p.m., Boron Elgar wrote:
>>>
>>> Ran into this online about sourdough blistering. Now I get to poke
>>> around and see if it makes sense.
>>>
>>> "This is because acidic conditions created by sourdough breaks down
>>> the gluten near the surface. As the bread bakes, steam is created and
>>> it escapes through mini-chimneys all throughout the crust where the
>>> gluten has been weakened. Those mini-chimneys end up looking like
>>> blisters."
>>>
>>> https://wheatbeat.com/blisters/
>>>
>> My teachers at the local Alliance Française told me that they did not
>> like N.American style sourdough. The French equivalent, pain uu levain,
>> has a more subtle flavour, probably because the levain is kept at ~60%
>> hydration rather than the 100% hydration typical of sourdoughs. ISTR
>> that the high hydration favours the acid.
>> Therefore French boulangers see the blisters as a fault.
>
>
> Are these levains mixed for each bake and based on a mother starter,
> so that the mother starter is kept at 60%? Or are these levains
> started with a bit of commercial yeast? I have seen both types
> referenced.
>
> I bet the hydration of the final dough and the length of proof have
> some influence on it, too.
>
I certainly think the length of proof has an influence on the "tang".
AIUI, the French use lower hydrations as their flour is softer. A
Belgian baker set up in Calgary some years ago and he told me he had a
helluva job adjusting his recipes to Alberta flour. He told me that he
had to add a lot more water than he had in Belgium with the softer flours.
It used to be that the standard, and government mandated, recipe for
bread in France was 100:60:2:2 in bakers' percentages.
I'm not sure about whether it is standard practice in France to add
yeast to their pain au levain. However, there is a video of a baker in
the Poilâne basement preparing the dough for the famous miche and he
adds yeast.
I'll have to get the Appolonia Poilâne book from the library because I
think the recipe she quotes has yeast. I'll have to see if Calvel has
anything on the subject.
Dammit, there is so much folklore involving SD!!