Has anybody had just an insanely tough time finding flour throughout this process? And bread flour? Forgettaboudit. Luckily nobody in my area has realized that our in-state flour mill is still open for business. Takes a few days for delivery, but still more timely and reliable than Instacart.
Anyhow. I made boules. Here's what they looked like throughout the process.
Here's the preferment, started the night before:
Here's after I mixed the preferment with the remaining ingredients (this is the autolyse, prior to kneading):
After kneading. I probably should have worked it over for another couple minutes, AEB those jagged edges. Usually with a good knead, you get a very smooth, elastic end product, which indicates good gluten development:
After second rise:
Shaped into boules:
Finished product. A Little uneven.
The crumb was a little finer than I wanted. Next time I plan on doing a higher hydration ratio. Very tasty though, and the finer crumb made for a perfectly serviceable sandwich platform.
Reason #462 that I'm looking forward to this whole pandemic thing being done: I want to be able to just go to the goddamn store and buy some goddamn flour like a normal modern person goddammit