Hi Roger, most of my sourdough baking knowledge has come out of my professional artisan baking days and through hands-on experience, although Jeffrey Hamelman has been a great guide along the way, both through baking classes at King Arthur, and by way of his book, Bread. However, the observation about higher protein flour developing a stronger dough and tighter crumb structure comes more from my own baking experiences. I've found most artisan bakers choose the lowest protein flour that will still offer the required structure. This is partly because the level of protein and starch are inversely proportional in wheat flour, and starch contributes to flavor development in a way that protein does not. However, crumb structure is also a consideration. Obviously the dough needs adequate strength or the pockets of gas that make those nice holes will collapse, but an overly strong dough can lead to a tighter gluten network, and smaller holes. Of course, so many other factors go into developing an open crumb structure (such as hydration, proper dough development and proofing) that it's impossible to say that using all-purpose flour over bread flour will always give you a more open crumb structure. As far as developing a more tangy flavor goes, I recently took a class from Debra Wink, a microbiologist and sourdough baker, and discovered that the stiff starter alone will not contribute to more sour flavor in your bread. Look for future updates to this blog. In the meantime, we've found that overnight refrigeration of the dough, along with using a percentage of whole grain flour (particularly whole rye flour) in the final dough, is the most reliable path to developing more sour flavor in your bread. Barb

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