The Pearl's Walnut Levain (Again) // Maggie Glezer, Artisan Baking

This is my second time making this formula. (I can see, looking at the photo of the previous iteration, that I did not bake the bread long enough -- it's quite pale!) This time, although the finished bread was quite attractive, and tasty, I made a couple of instructive mistakes.

 

The primary mistake was in not refreshing the firm starter enough times before beginning the bread. Glezer's instructions are explicit: the starter should be refreshed "until it is again quadrupling in volume in 8 hours or less" (Artisan Baking 93). I did refresh it -- once -- but I've been so used to my wet starter, which is reliably enthusiastic, that I didn't take the trouble to check that the firm starter was equally active. Mistake! The dough was very sluggish in both its initial rise and proofing stages, and didn't really increase much even in the oven.

My secondary mistake (and I'm unsure how serious it was) was in forgetting to let the flours, water, and starter autolyze before adding the salt and walnuts. I was so eager to get going that I simply carried on ahead. Et voilà.

 (Apologies for the jagged cuts!)

This bread is much darker than my first attempt, and the inside is a richer color. I'm intrigued by the holes because it suggests that I've somehow become better at not degassing the dough -- if I have, I'm not at all sure how I achieved this!