January 17, 2017 - 7:40pm
Help, how do I get big air holes in my bread?
Hi everyone I have been baking some higher hydration breads but can't seem to get those big air holes or pockets, my bread has a great over spring but none of those large air holes. This is definitely on the overproof side of things any other bits of advice? 
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There is a fermentation spectrum that affects both texture and taste. On the latter end of the spectrum (fermented longer) you get what you got. On the earlier end of the spectrum, you will get a milder taste and more sturdy crumb, which will (usually, depending on shaping) have those larger, more sporadic air holes.
Concrete example: Chad recommends bulk proofing time for 3-4 hours for Tartine bread. Assuming the environment and temperatures and starter viability are the same as his, 3 hours will yield the classic Tartine loaf whereas closer to 5 hours will yield more of what you got. I don't consider either case to be flawed, but that is the difference in the acceptable fermentation spectrum.
This sounds counter intuitive but try lowering the gluten content by mixing it down with cake flower (try 15-20%). Also kneed longer to develop what gluten there is. This is from "The Bread Builders" one of the must have books for those in the Holy Order of the Levain...,
Wild-Yeast
All white flour will also yield bigger holes.
difference? Bread vs all purpose for the dough?
I think the crumb of your bread looks perfect, actually. When you say 'high hydration', how much are we talking about? If you make, say, an all-white ciabatta, with 85% to 90% hydration and minimal handling (after bulk ferment, just nudge it into a rough rectangle and/or maybe letter fold it gently once), you'll probably get really big holes with a very webby crumb. If that's what you want, that's what you should try. For a nice sourdough I'd say what you've already accomplished is just right. :) You might try a minimal shaping technique with your current dough and see if that gets the results you want.
for an all AP flour bread, 11% protein max and fold it a couple of times at the most otherwise don't touch it at all. Mix it and let it be - no machines. Glass Bread has the largest holes at 110-125 % hydration with ciabatta a 2nd at 95 - 100% hydration Forkish a 3rd at 80% hydration. Do not over ferment or proof either .
Your bread looks perfectly fine by the way.
Happy baking
around 80 to 87 percent hydration, can't remember how much water I put in it! When I tried making this recipe with All purpose KA flour it was so much worth, the dough would not hold its shape during the pre-shape and there was barely any over spring. So this is definitely a step forward. The structure of my bread is not as open as the recipe I follow so just wanted to improve even more.
The taste was superb!
will be wet but manageable when your skill level meets the hydration level. Over those amounts would be a challenge for anyone so keep track of our hydration and don't just wing the water and then try to move forward and improve without knowing exactly where you came from.
Happy baking
I tried doing KA AP at 87% hydration and the dough just would not hold it shape during the pre-shape.
For the KA bread flour I cut the recipe in half from 755 grams of water to 377.5 and then subtracted 25 to add during salt. So I can't remember if I added 352.5 grams or 377.5. The dough was very easy to work with for this batch, and the dough would hold its shape beautifully compared to the above.
Don't worry about holes taste is more important
keep doing what you are doing
Chefscook