Sourdough Bread 1

Tried a new approach to making my sourdough this weekend. Thanks to my bro for pointing me in this direction. Thanks to Jack (Bake with Jack) for excellent instruction. Still working on my final shaping before going into banneton. Otherwise this is just time and technique.

Links
Bread Recipe for Beginners Sourdough Loaf
Bread Scoring Techniques
Yeasted rustic bread that got me started baking

I followed the directions and amounts closely with a few alterations at the end to suit my equipment and preferences. The results were great. These have a very crisp crust right out of the oven, and the crumb is excellent. The crust develops terrific flavor.
In my experience, I get little to know expansion while dough is in refrigerator overnight.

What I did differently...

• Shaped one loaf for oblong baker and one for cast-iron dutch oven using oblong and round bannetons. 
• Baked one loaf in a 4.5 qt dutch oven and the other in an oblong baker. Both in oven while it pre-heated to temp then 15 more minutes.
• First baked at 450° F. Covered 15 minutes, uncovered 30 min or until brown.
• Second baked at 475° F. Covered 15 minutes, uncovered 25 min.  Starter was better prepared for second bake and yielded better oven spring. 

450°F 15 min/30 min

457°F 15 min/25 min

Cincinnati-Style Chili

I made this recently and it was fantastic. Probably the easiest Chef-John-dish I've prepared thus far. Super easy. It yielded a wonderful chili to go over spaghetti, but it can do double-duty as a hot dog chili. Wow! We'll be making this regularly. I did a mix of grass fed and regular ground beef at 90% lean. Great Super Bowl half-time dish.

FoodWishes YouTube video
All Recipes for amounts and written steps

Difficulty: VERY easy. Cut onion, press garlic, and add other stuff to pot. Mash till smooth. Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer for an hour or so.
Cleanup: One pot, cutting board, knife, garlic press, wooden spoon, masher, ladle.
What I did differently:

• Added bay leaf after mashing ingredients together. Thought it might get broken up and would be hard to find the pieces to remove. 
• I reduced salt to two teaspoons instead of three. 

Ingredients

Need to work on food photography skills