I made Daniel Leader’s Sunflower Seed Levain today. It is a pain au levain (70% white flour, 24% whole wheat flour, 6% rye flour, 25% stiff levain, 60% hydration & 2% salt) with 14% sunflower seeds (soaked in 35% water overnight and then drained). The bread is too moist and sour for me. It also hasn’t got the taste of sunflower seeds. I wonder if it is because of my skills or the recipe. I’ll try some more sunflower seed recipes later to find out what’s wrong.
*** Today (the 2nd day) I ate the levain again. Surprisingly it was good and tasted different. It’s less sour and moist and has a nice balance of the tang, wheat and seeds flavors. Now I think it may because the bread was still a bit warm when I ate it yesterday, which enhanced the sourness and moisture. How important “cool down completely” is. Now the bread is much better. I like it.