December 23, 2012 - 1:19pm
Crumb gone mad
My first time posting after being a lurker for some time. I have been working withe Tartine Country Bread recipe and have made several loafs. This last one was one of the more beautiful ones on the outside, but ended up having GIANT holes which made the crumb look unattractive inside. Any ideas what would cause this? I actually refrigerated the dough during its final proof for 8 hours, instead of letting it proof on the table. When I started preheating the oven, I let the bread warm up on the counter for about 45 minutes and then baked in a dutch oven.
Being a lone baker, any feedback or ideas would be deeply appreciated.
Here is the crust, which I felt was great and I was so excited until I cut the bread and found the above crumb. Sigh.
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The source of your cavernous crumb is most likely a result of what you did, or didn't do, during shaping. In an effort not to overworwork the dough, sometimes if you treat it too gingerly during shaping you can get oversized air pockets that end up looking like mouse holes.
When shaping the boule, you must flatten the dough and de-gas it enough, but not too much. Then you need to be sure you form a uniform loaf while developing an outer sheath with surface tension so you end up with a good crust. Trial and error and practice. Next time, try de-gassing a bit more before shaping.
I hope that helps.
You're probably right. I will definitely keep that in mind next time I bake this bread. I do tend to be overly careful with the dough. I have baked this bread before, and didnt really have this problem, but maybe this time I didnt de-gas it enough. Thank you for your feedback.
Maybe if they were made of marzipan...
I recognise those cans of oranges. You must be close to me. Im in Syracuse where are you?
Ha...wrong hemisphere, but yes they are from Wegmans.