Question: When shaping the loaves for the rustic or tangy sourdough, are you doing a gluten cloak first or just shaping it after plopping it out on the parchment? I made the extra tangy yesterday (tasted great BTW) but the dough was SO wet and sticky that I just patted it into a log shape, sort of. Wasn't the prettiest loaf I've ever made; I'm used to doing the envelope fold, etc. and getting a nice tight "cloak" on it. I did get lovely holes inside; I imagine if I add more flour the holes will diminish.
I do the gluten cloak if it's firm enough to do so; otherwise, just plop it out. Consistency of dough varies with the weather and season. And yeah, the holes may diminish a bit with more flour. Your best bet is to try shaping it with a lot of flour; in other words, don't add a lot of flour when you mix the dough, but shape it on a well floured surface. You can sometimes work a gluten cloak that way where you wouldn't be able to if you didn't have so much flour on your work surface, and thus on the surface of the dough. Good luck - PJH
August 2, 2011 at 2:00pm