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"Dick Adams" > wrote in message
...


> ... to get more flavor/sour in my bread. I decided to push the starter to
> the limits.

I am not sure what angle you are attempting to work here, Ron, but there
seem to be a lot of numbers and times and times of day, not much about
temperature, and in the end you ask:

Not really working any angle, but I did assume that the reader would assume
room temperature as it was not stated. I do appologize I know assumption it
the mother of all foul ups. so to clarify 67 dergees whre not stated
otherwise.

> Now would some of you math wizards confirm or correct me on the
> hydration ...

It seems to me that the starter should be built to obtain high fermentation
activity. Manipulating the starter to make the bread sour/flavorful does
not make much sense to me. Bread that rises longer gets more sourdough
flavors.

Well it seems to me that to let the start ferment for 24 hours for most of
the steps I did acomplish a high degree of fermentaion. It is my
understanding that the fermentation is what creates the sour. You will
notice the long rise of 9.5 hours in the refridgerator and 5 more at room
temparature. Certainly qualifies, at least in my mind, as a long rise. Where
is the documentation on the long rise theory?

An easy way to determine the "hydration" is to keep track of the amount
of water used (and salt). Then, from the weight of the final dough, the
"hydration" can be determined by simple arithmetic. That is to say, make
the dough so that it feels right, and figure out the "hydration", if you
must,
when you are done.

I do not see what salt has to do with hydration. I was using what I
believed to be bakers percentage in figuring the hydration. And was seeking
confirmation my calculations were correct. The reason is to compare with
other hydrations I have used. This I supose an attampt to balance the abilty
to handle the dough and maintain a moist crumb with the hopes of those
elusive large irregular holes.

Once I worked in a research lab for a boss who was quite smart (and
famous, eventually). To ready himself to conduct a procedure based
on readings in the microbiological literature, he would make a sketch,
a diagram, on a single page of notebook paper. I guess it could be
called a flow chart though its nomenclature was unique to the discipline
of the institution. One piece of paper could summarize the result of many
hours of study and planning.

Most recipes are not even close to flow charts, but if one is seriously
interested in trying to succeed with a recipe, I think it is useful to
construct
a simple flow chart. Perhaps the information in the referenced post could
be presented in a form more like a flow chart?

If you wish to present that information in a flow chart be my guest, I have
neither the time nor inclination to do so.

Ron Anderson


--
Dick Adams
<firstname> dot <lastname>at bigfoot dot com