No knead bread #4

This is the Bittman/Lahey bread, using sourdough, with the corrected hydration. Instead of 1 tbsp starter, this time I'm trying 44g of my 60% hydration firm starter, which is close to 3 tbsp. Hopefully this will jump-start fermentation. Yeah I realize it's lower than the typical desired 15-40%, but I think it will do just fine; it's a pretty active starter. Added some wheat germ to see how it affects the nuttiness factor.

Remember, baker's percentages are all measured by weight! So if you're gonna bake, get a good scale! For the small ingredients (yeast/salt), you may need to get a micro-scale, b/c a lot of the larger kitchen scales just measure in even-numbered grams (2,4,6,8,10,etc)

Flour (100%): 430.77g
Water (80%): 344.62g
Starter (10%): 44g
Salt (1.8%): 7.75 g | 1.39 tsp
Wheat germ (1.4%): 6 g | 1 tbsp
Total (193%): 833 g

1. Measure out water
2. Dissolve starter a portion of the water; then add back into the main water
   
3. Add flour, then salt, then wheat germ
4. Stir to combine, until all raw flour is incorporated.
5. Cover tightly and set aside at room temp for 18-20 hours (start time: 845p, 18hrs=245pm next day, 20hrs=445pm; my rise was a little more than 21 hours.
   
6. Preheat oven to 500F, with cast iron dutch oven & lid inside.
   
7. Dust generously with flour, turn out and shape into a round. Cover and let rest 15 min.
   
8. Shape into a round, put on top of parchment, let rise in basket, covered for 45 min.
9. Remove dutch oven carefully, lower parchment & bread into pot, cover, and into the oven
10. Bake for 30 minutes, uncover, and bake for 12-15 more minutes.
    
11. Remove and let cool on rack for 1.5-2 hours.
    

Results:

See the photos!

• Good flavor, more sour than #1
• A lot more oven spring than #1, about the same as #2
• Texture is a little more heavy & dense than #2, but it's nice not to have that yeasty flavor
• Nice browning
• Crust thickness just like #2. #1 actually had a thinner crust I think.
  

For next time, I wish I could put the dough right on the dutch oven instead of parchment, which I think causes some steaming and extra thickness of the crust.