I've been autolysing for 3+ years, using standard no knead bread recipes, KAF AP or bread flour, sometimes with 25% ww flour. Today I did a batch with KAF bread flour and 25% spelt, first time ever for this. I have a flavor expectation for the spelt add so we'll see. This batch was autolysed 60 minutes, 30 minutes longer than typical, then letting the dough stand 24 hours at room temp, and into the frig tomorrow for a day or two. In my opinion the autolyse yields a different crumb, more open than if it wasn't done at all, almost like a sourdough crumb but slightly less open without sour notes. I'm baking no knead bread for about 10 years in a Dutch Oven since first seeing it on America's Test Kitchen, with failures scattered here and there. The process should be fun, the result being a magnificent loaf of artisan bread from my kitchen. I've done sourdoughs and I'm not a fan because the starter requires attention like forever. It's alive and needs nurturing to be fair. Yesterday I ventured into a new realm...yeast water. I'm following the KAF recommendation using dates as the starter. We'll see how this goes. It seems to require less attention and detail than a sourdough. We'll see. Wish me luck.

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