[Neelima Dandapat]

Doubts and Discussions

[Anthony Mascarenhas]

The levain feeding… Can I do it with whole wheat or regular maida?My starter is WW indie. At what temp is the bulk proof is carried out?

[Neelima D]

Hi Anthony! Yes absolutely. You can either build the levain over two steps and use maida (make sure it is preservative and bleach free) to feed or just build a levain with Indie (like you always do). The only difference being, if you choose to do the later, there might be some difference in structure of the focaccia (nothing major though).

[Roopa Midha]

Hi,

Can we use any other flours with ‘indie’ whole wheat levain?

[Neelima D]

Hi Roopa! Yes. As long as it is a wheat flour (maida, bread flour, atta), you can switch between different flours for feeding. Always make sure your flours for starters are preservative and bleach free. And always preserve your mother starter and feed that with a consistent flour and you can try different flour feeds for different breads and results.

[Roopa Midha]

I finally managed it!!!

[Neelima Dandapat]

Bravo!! Its Amazing 😀

[Poonam Nagpal]

Hi Neelima,

Baked sourdough focaccia with TWF flour X by following your recipe. Came out very soft but no large air pockets. Please comment.

[Neelima Dandapat]

Hi Poonam!

Thanks for trying the recipe! This looks great – the crust color, perfectly dimpled top, rise and crumb.

The over aesthetics of bread largely depends on the choice of flour. I had used a blend of Series C 8615 and 8318. Flour X is a strong bread flour but whole wheat which is why you do not see the air pockets. What was the hydration that you used for your focaccia?

[Poonam Nagpal]

Thanks🙂

Hydration- 79%

[Neelima Dandapat]

Hi Poonam!

can you try 82-85% instead? Might help open up the pockets a little more. Flour X is a thirsty flour and the higher hydration helps attain better fermentation and extensibility – that will help the dough hold larger air pockets.

🙂

[Poonam Nagpal]

Thanks a ton.

Will try by increasing the hydration.

[Neelima Dandapat]

Great! 🙂