Sourdough 0.2

I have this never-ending battle to try to bake decent bread. Results are very inconsistent and mostly quite poor, but one persists. The latest chapter has been sourdough, using naturally grown yeast.

I think my first attempt was a bit premature as the starter hadn't settled down properly yet and I only used plain wholemeal baking flour. For this second attempt I had a much more active starter, but hit some cold weather which adversely affected the final rising. I got quite an active proofing although it took all night to run, and after making the dough it rose fairly well although it took all day as well. But I think I made a mistake in punching down the dough and expecting it to rise again - after a very long time it barely went anywhere and I was starting to worry the whole lot would go off so I just baked it.

It might look the part, but it's about 1/2 of the size it should be. You could build roads with this.

I had trouble getting the right moisture level using the wholegrain flour too which seems a perennial problem when I can't remember how it was last time I did it.