Attempted to bake my first freeform loaf today! I decided to do a little experiment by making two loaves out of the same dough, one baked in a Pullman pan (which is so far what I've been using for my previous loaves) and one (attempted) open bake boule.

Recipe:

* 500g King Arthur All Purpose
* 100g King Arthur Whole Wheat
* 360g water (60% hydration, much lower than I typically do to hopefully give me an easier time with the shaping. All of my previous loaves have been 75-85% hydration no/low knead)
* 50g ripe starter
* 12g salt

Process:

* Mix all ingredients
* Knead by hand for ~10 minutes until the dough becomes smooth and no longer sticky
* Let rest for 1 hour, followed by a set of stretch and folds
* Let rest for 1 more hour, followed by a set of slap and folds
* Let rest for 1 more hour, followed by another set of slap and folds
* Let rest for 1 more hour, followed by another set of slap and folds (previous 4 steps timing was approximate - I was timing my dough stretching around my work from home meetings... But I did check the time and total bulk ferment at the end of the folding was ~4hrs)
* Let rest for 4 hours, at this point the dough has increased in volume enough that I decide it is time to shape. Not sure of the exact percentage because I'm still figuring out exactly how to measure that on a round ball of dough... But it looked much softer and airier and had noticeably risen.
* Divide the dough in half, measured to ~500g per loaf
* Press each loaf out into a rectangle, fold in thirds and then roll up and seal the sides
* Pullman loaf dough goes straight into the pan, cover with the lid and rest on the counter
* Freeform loaf dough I placed in a bowl on a lightly floured flour sack towel. Stitch the seam and cover with the towel to rest on the counter.
* Rest both loaves at room temperature for 1 more hour. They have risen a little bit more and the Pullman is high enough in the pan that I decide it's pretty much ready to go. Total bulk ferment: ~8hrs.
* Place both loaves in the fridge for 1 hour while waiting for the oven to preheat.
* Prepare to bake the freeform loaf first due to higher bake temperature. The Pullman loaf will continue to remain in the fridge until the oven is free again.
* Set oven to 500deg F with a cast iron griddle pan and a baking sheet of water on the shelf below.
* Remove the boule from the bowl and towel, seam side down on a piece of parchment. Score with a paring knife - definitely not sharp enough for the job, this was a bit of a struggle.
* Once the water in the baking sheet is hot enough for bubbles to form, place the dough-on-parchment in the oven directly on the cast iron griddle. Turn oven temperature down to 450deg for the remainder of the bake.
* Bake for 10 minutes, then try a second scoring because the loaf is clearly struggling with some uneven oven spring with one spot visibly more risen than the rest. I probably should have done this like 3mins earlier in the bake but forgot. The water has all evaporated from the baking sheet by this point so remove baking sheet from oven.
* Continue to bake for 30 more minutes (total bake time 40 minutes). Internal temperature read 210deg, so remove loaf from oven, remove from parchment, and place on cooling rack.
* Turn oven temperature down to 425 and take Pullman loaf out of the fridge and straight into the oven.
* Bake for 46 minutes. I think the cast iron griddle was still hotter from the previous loaf, so this was a little bit over - internal temperature 212 and the bottom of the loaf is clearly darker than the rest. 
* Remove loaf from oven, immediately remove loaf from pan and place on cooling rack.
* Let both cool for 2.5 hours and slice

Notes:

* Room temperature: 85deg F
* Pullman pan is 4x4x4in
* Open bake choice was because I do not own a dutch oven

Thoughts:

* Yeah the scoring could use some work LOL 
* Low hydration was a wildly different working experience than my previous loaves. It required a completely different approach to mixing and strengthening and made it less familiar to gauge whether the dough was ready or not.
* It's really interesting to see how different they turned out even just in terms of crust appearance! The Pullman loaf is so much more golden, versus the cooler brown of the boule.
* The crumb is super different too! Honestly the purpose of this experiment was to see whether my typical loaves' relatively dense crumb was solely due to the pan or whether it was a wider issue with my dough/process itself. Results: bit of both?
* Boule flavor review: Bottom crust is a little bit on the burnt side but still edible. The crumb is a bit ... tough? It's not really that its dense, it's just SUPER chewy. The Pullman is also chewier than normal. Tasty though!!
* Does anyone know why the bubbles in the crumb are so long and stretched out? Shaping/scoring issue? Underfermented? Overfermented? Just a quirk of the dough and not actually a sign of a problem??

These are my 7th (and 8th) loaves so far :)

A beginner's boule vs Pullman experiment