Proof Weekly — Issue 001

Quick summary

• Starter: 10g fridge starter → 50g water + 50g Canadian strong white; bounced back fast.
• Dough: 50g Doves wholegrain rye + 50g Waitrose wholegrain strong + 350g Canadian strong white.
• Bake: Cooler preheat, 20 min lid on / 20 off.
• Result: Modest spring; lovely, acidic flavor. Photos next time.

I’m back to daily baking after a travel stretch, the kind where the oven cools and the starter goes into hibernation. Mine sat in the fridge for a couple of months and grew a neat cap of hooch. When I stirred it in, the culture turned into a smooth gloop—no bubbles, no lift—just the look of a starter that needs coffee.

I pulled 10 grams into a clean jar, fed it 50 grams water and 50 grams Canadian strong white. Within hours it behaved exactly like the pre-trip days: lively rise, pleasant aroma, fine bubbles. A good reminder that most starters want attention more than drama.

For the bake I stuck to my usual mix: 50g Doves wholegrain rye, 50g Waitrose wholegrain strong, and 350g Canadian strong white. In the bowl it felt familiar—good strength from the Canadian, a hint of heft from the wholegrains—so I let muscle memory run the show.

Meetings set the timetable, so I went slightly shorter and cooler than normal: 20 minutes lid on, 20 minutes off, and I didn’t let the pan get ripping hot. Predictably, the oven spring lagged. Some of that is the schedule; some is the first loaf back after a hiatus. The upside: flavor. The crumb landed right where I like it—clean, tangy, a little more acid from all that hooch hanging around.

I didn’t plan on writing this, so there are no photos—consider it a baseline. Next issue I’ll run my usual hotter preheat and the full 25/20 and show the side-by-side. If you’ve got a favorite post-hiatus routine, send it in and I’ll try it this week.