What you are witnessing is a triumph for the "F*ckit Principal". In which your humble chef announced, "F@ckit. I'm doing it my way."
Steps to making the perfect loaf, according to Kraz:
- Precisely weigh the flour and water - 1 kilogram of flour and 700g of water
- Allow an hour between stretches and foldings because this was wholemeal and wholemeal is S-L-O-W
- Follow the steps up to the bulk rise, which was in our criminally cold minifridge
- Accidentally freeze the dough (not necessary!)
- Allow the dough to return to room temperature
- Allow the dough to get huge
- One last stretch and fold before putting all the dough into an improvised proofing basket [because 1.7kg of dough!]
- Prep the Dutch Oven
- Stretch, fold, and shape after this one proof, then transfer to the parchment
- Slice and place into Dutch oven and bake according to instructions
According to the instructions, this was all wrong. I still managed to produce a voluminous loaf that did not turn out to be a sod. I am taking this win.
I'm not making this big a loaf again, though.
I will be dividing my dough in future. One proof after the bulk rise is apparently the win.
Next bread day, I shall be experimenting with loaf pan versus no loaf pan. I have a good technique that gives lots of rise, so now I see if I get a flatty loaf without a pan to help hold it up.
The moral of this story is - every sourdough bread is your sourdough bread. You do it your way.