Quite Possibly, The Prettiest Loaf of Bread in the World

Oh yes, I've had my sourdough growing pains, many of which I've discussed in disturbing length here. The last couple of loaves were okay, but nothing to write home about. But tonight, I believe I've reached the first level of bread Nirvana:

And, like Shakespeare wrote, tis an ill cook indeed that does not lick his fingers, so Brent and I sawed off a slice. And it tasted very, very good. Very.

And so, after this loaf (maybe I'm at five now?), here's what I've gleaned:

1. Generally, a teaspoon and a half of salt is too much....but one teaspoon is too little.
2. The recipe I'm using calls for too much water.
3. As much as I'd like to serve whole wheat bread to my kids, using WW flour in the dough (even a little bit) is not suiting my taste and texture preferences right now.
4. The top must be scored like in the pic above. Otherwise, there's cracking on the sides.
5. 25 minutes is the right amount of baking time.

I'm thinking about forming my own band. The name? The Grateful Bread. Yar yar yar. Life is good.

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To Thine Own Self, Be Food

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