David S. Filippi, MD

Hobbies

Sourdough

I bake naturally leavened bread, mostly batards and boules from a well-kept starter, and now and then an einkorn miche. The ritual suits me: a levain built in the morning, a long autolyse, folds through the afternoon, a cold proof overnight, and a hot oven the next day. I keep a written log of each bake, with flour blends, hydration, and timings, and adjust from there. Lately I have been working on a high-hydration white batard made with half bread flour and half Rouge de Bordeaux, baked hard for a deep brown crust.

Two scored sourdough batards with golden crusts cooling on a wire rack on a steel counter.
Two batards, just out of the oven.
A round of dough dusted with flour, proofing in a spiral-patterned banneton basket.
A boule proofing in the banneton.
A large round einkorn miche, cut in half to show a dense, even crumb, with a dark crust scored in a diamond pattern and dusted with flour.
An einkorn miche, cut open.
A hand holds a slice of sourdough with an open, glossy, irregular crumb inside a thin golden crust.
The crumb I love: open, irregular, and glossy.

Music and making things

Music is on its own page: the West Liberty Dulcimer Revue. I also like to repair and build things at home, from guitar amplifiers to furniture. More of that may appear here in time.