The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Challah bread fault?

Amy.n's picture
Amy.n

Challah bread fault?

Hi! I'm a novice baker. I just baked a loaf of challah for the first time and I think I'm seeing some faults. The strands raised, they look stretched and almost like they are tearing from the loaf. I'm not sure how to describe it so I attached a picture of the loaf. 

I used the recipe for Challah from the book Professional Baking by Wayne Gisslen. The dough is incredibly soft, it was a little hard to roll the strands out because they were sticky. 

This was my first time making it, and the pictures I found online of Challah do not look stretched and tearing like mine does. Perhaps I proofed it for too long? Or the oven temperature was too high? I would very much appreciate it if someone could tell me the possible reasons for the "stretched-out" look and how to prevent it. Thank you!

AbeNW11's picture
AbeNW11 (not verified)

Is normally the braids fuse together. This is your first time and you've prevented this common problem from happening. Perhaps there's some tearing here and you're getting that "stretched" look but on the whole it looks very good for the first time. I've only made Challah the once so I'm no expert. Just a few words of encouragement :)

What's the taste like?

Amy.n's picture
Amy.n

yay! Thank you for the encouragement! 

It doesn't exactly have a sweet taste to it. It's more like a balance of salty and sweet, which I guess is nice. I have never tried store brought challah, so I don't know what it should tatse like. But I'd prefer it sweeter I think. 

The outside is not hard but just slightly crunchy. And the inside is nice and soft. I just wish I could have made it look nicer.

AbeNW11's picture
AbeNW11 (not verified)

Challah should be on the sweetish side. It is an enriched dough so leaning towards a cakelike bread. But having said that there are many variants. Here's one I did a while ago and my problem was more with the braids fusing together. But it did taste delicious.

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/40218/challah

Amy.n's picture
Amy.n

Your challah looked great! I have to try your recipe next time I make challah. 

Mine is slightly sweet. Now that I look at the pictures I took, I realize that the braids might have fused together as well. I did a 4-strand braid, but it really just looks like 3-strand. 

AbeNW11's picture
AbeNW11 (not verified)

I need to work on the braiding myself but it's a nice recipe. Makes one small loaf. Double up to make 2 or one large loaf. Looking forward to seeing the results.

Try looking for tips on braiding. I believe some comments on my blog includes some advice on how to stop the braids from fusing together.

Let me know how you get along.

Amy.n's picture
Amy.n

I'm reading all the comments and advice to better prepare for the next challah project. I will definitely tell you how it goes! 

Isand66's picture
Isand66

Try braiding looser next time.  If you make them too tight or you under-proof the loaf this can cause the splitting.

If you want a sweeter Challah you can add some honey or sugar but you may want to cut down the yeast slightly to prevent it from rising too quickly.

Amy.n's picture
Amy.n

Thank you for the advice! I will try braiding it looser. I think I was tugging and making it too tight, I was scared that the strands would come loose and seperate in the oven. 

 

pmccool's picture
pmccool

There are two possible causes for the appearance of your challah, Amy.  One is that the dough was braided tightly enough that the only room for expansion during the final rise was outward.  The second is that the dough wasn't proofed quite enough when it went into the oven, and the resultant oven spring produced the results you see.

Since none of us were in the kitchen with you while you made the bread, you'll have to review how you handled things to puzzle out which mechanism, or possibly both, is at work here.  For your next attempt, leave the just-shaped braid rather relaxed instead of tight.  Then let the shaped loaf go almost to full proof before baking so that the oven spring is limited. 

Your bread came out quite nicely, so we are talking about small adjustments in technique, not a complete overhaul.

Paul

Edit: I see that Ian responded before I finished typing up my response.  But, hey, you got two TFLers to agree on the diagnosis, which is no small thing in itself.

Amy.n's picture
Amy.n

Paul, thanks for the diagnosis and advice! 

After mixing, I let the dough double in size, punched, then divided it to 4 pieces and let them bench for about 30 minutes. Then I started shaping them. I pressed out the air bubbles that formed during the benching period before I shaped them into strands. The pieces of dough were pretty elastic and hard to elongate, they kept shrinking back. I couldn't really make long strands, and so the braided loaf looked rather fat and short. After braiding, I let it proof for an hour. I actually did a 4-strand braid, but after baking, the loaf looked like a 3 strand braided one. The top expanded so much that it almost completely hid the bottom strands. Below are the pictures of the loaf: braided & proofed, baked, crumb. I think the strands look like the fused together as well. 

I will definitely try brading looser and let the braided loaf proof more next time. Hopefully my next challah will turn out nicer.

pmccool's picture
pmccool

I think that a shorter rest between preshaping and shaping would be to your advantage; maybe 10-15 minutes instead of 30.  If they become too elastic during the shaping, cover them for another 10-15 minutes and finish the shaping in a second pass.  That should allow you to elongate the strands to the length you want.

From the photos, it appears that you could have allowed the shaped loaf to proof somewhat longer.  Did you use the finger poke test to gauge readiness, or simply go by the clock?  Proofing times are very much affected by temperature, so an hour on one day may lead to over-proofing while on another the dough will be under-proofed at an hour. 

Keep practicing.  You'll learn how to read the dough and be knocking out challot to your heart's content.

 

Paul

Edo Bread's picture
Edo Bread

Matter of taste and style I think.  That might be pulling away a little bit but I would agree with Paul that it is only small adjustments. I personally like a little more distinction in the braids. Here is a a challah post of mine:

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/40195/challah  The loaf shape has just pretty close to the separation I like to achieve. The advice above is exactly the way I got the round loaf to be more "connected" which for that shape I prefer. You should be able to nail this on the next go.

Amy.n's picture
Amy.n

Your challahs look perfect! And they were leavened with wild yeast! Definitely something I'd want to try when I get better at bread making.

Thanks so much for the advice! I prefer the braids to look disticnt and not flat as well. I'll have to make more challahs until I get the hang of it. 

Edo Bread's picture
Edo Bread

Thanks for the kind words. After seeing your other posts I would say try thinner strands and more braids. Good luck!

PetraR's picture
PetraR

I would suggest the braids where a bit to tight BUT it looks so beautiful.

I LOVE the way it has torn away, it is like a tear and share challah:)

Beautiful bake in my humble opinion.

The colour and the shine is perfect.

I do not like mine to sweet though, but my kids love it sweet.

I make a * Butterzopf * which is sweet.

Amy.n's picture
Amy.n

Petra, thank you for the compliment!

I kept comparing my loaf to the ones I found on google image, and they all look amazing, so I was pretty sure something was wrong with mine. 

I'll practice more and hopefully my next challah will look better. I just googled Butterzopf: "similar to challah but not the same"...is it because it's sweeter than challah? hmm now I'm really curious. 

PetraR's picture
PetraR

When I first saw a challah I thought it was a * Butterzopf * just with a different name.

Butterzop is made with a sweet dough , very yummy.

I alwyas thought of challah more like the taste of dinner rolls?

I never tried challah bread before.

PetraR's picture
PetraR

I am in the wrong thread, sorry bout that.

Windischgirl's picture
Windischgirl

for me, too! I have Reinhart's Transitional Challah from WGB currently in the oven and am also getting the pulled appearance.  I will admit to underproofing, as it's late and I need my beauty sleep.  However, ending up with pull-apart bread is brilliant as I am taking this loaf to work....it will be easy to share!

i know this is NOT due to tight braiding...this was actually a sloppy braiding job, and I've done tighter braids in the past and not had this problem. 

I goofed up the original recipe...used a liquid Levain rather than a firm starter and caught it too late.  Added more WW to make a workable dough but it was sticky and the strands mushed into one another.  Reinhart calls for only a 45minute second proof, which was too fast.  At least it will taste good; it's just ugly.

PetraR's picture
PetraR

You know, we are not professional bakers and I think it ist ok if it shows, it is true Artisan style baking:)

If it tastes good, why not, and tear and share is, in my opinion  a lot of fun,and why not?

I have sevral bread baking books but these days I only look for guidance and go by eye and feel when I mix and shape and proof, no flour is the same, they all sometimes need more or less liquid than it states in the recipe , more or less proofing...

I am pretty sure  your challah tasted great and looked fine:)

Windischgirl's picture
Windischgirl
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Windischgirl
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Windischgirl
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Windischgirl
WendySusan's picture
WendySusan

but I think if you made your strands thinner and looser braided they wouldn't stretch as much.  I've made Challah with good results making both a 3 and a 6 strand version.  I used a recipe from a class I took last fall which I think is from a book called "Baking Artisan Bread" that the instructor made copies of for us so i'm not sure exactly. I can share it if you like.  The recipe comes out with a sweeter flavor and is absolute heaven made into french toast with real maple syrup for breakfast!