This was placed in the refrigerator three days ago in the shape of a ball. CO2 and alcohol caused the ball to become loose. The cold didn't stop it. It continued to grow nearly to the top of the bowl.
This starter is impressive. The best that I've ever seen.
Now, how to get this out of the bowl without losing too much stuck to the sides of the bowl?
Flour is drizzled around the edges and a flexible bench scraper used to shove flour down the sides. So that it drops out with a plop when overturned. That's the same thing as punching it down in regular recipes. The dough disc stretched on the work surface to redistribute the yeast and the edges folded on top of itself patty-cake style and the resulting blob stretched further as forming a boule. The stretched surface forms a skin that holds in the bubbles like a million tiny balloons and bakes to a crust.
Yeast has two ways of reproducing, by budding, doubling its DNA and creating a barrier between the two sets.
The second way is sexing it up with its complementary type. This is how it rises so quickly after the dough has been stretched. That places yeast cells near each other. Otherwise they're left to budding and that's a bit slower.
I don't know how to judge quantity. I have no judgement at all. Nothing is ever measured. Pffft. That's okay, I can use a small baguette for something else that I have in mind.
Man, this is good. I couldn't keep off it.
Not the best shape. I did something different and I didn't want to start over. This was baked at high heat along with the artisan baguette in a cloche. That changed things and I didn't want to dump it to re-proof. It will. Easily. The last one proofed three times. But I have a head cold right now. I'm wiped out and loosing it. What the heck.
At Whole Foods, immediately right there at the front door, BLAM, and you know that you're in food heaven. Now is the season. Take advantage. Grab them up and enjoy while they last. Life is too short for commercialized tomatoes. These tomatoes are for you.
You.
I feel tremendous pity for everyone stuck with ordinary bread. I mean that from my heart. It makes me sad. Because the solution is so incredibly easy. Even for very busy people.
These open face sandwiches are amazing. The best that I've ever tasted. And that is no idle hyperbole either. I would serve them to heads of state.
No I wouldn't. Those punks don't deserve anything this spectacular. I would be proud to serve them to you. You and I having sandwiches together. It doesn't get better than this.
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