The Fresh Loaf

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Baking and Humidity

regina.larream's picture
regina.larream

Baking and Humidity

Hello,

 

I've been baking now for over 2 years and lately I have been having trouble with my breads. I bake with a sourdough starter, and in the last three recipes I've made the dough feels too wet and the dough feels "weak", if that makes sense. The bread has come out denser than usual, and this morning my shaped loaves overproofed in the fridge! These are recipes I have bakes successfully plenty of times. These are some of the things I think could be affecting my bread, but not sure if I am right or what to do about them.

 

1.I started keeping my flours in the freezer because there were moth in my apartment. I did not keep them in an airtight container. The bag did feel moist, so not sure if this is a problem. If it is, in the sense that it is messing with hydration %, what can be done about it? I really don't want to keep my flour outside for now.

2. I live in Cambridge, MA, and the weather has been very humid. Yesterday humidity was at 90%. I am sure this affected the process, and not sure how to tackle it. Just cutting rising time? Adding less water?

3. Do these two factors explain the dough weakness or stickiness?

4. Why did my dough overproofed in the fridge? What I did this morning was punche them down, reshape, and proof for like 35 minutes outside. I did get some oven spring, but the loaves are a bit raw, even though the crust caramelized ok. Is this related to over proofing? That has never happened before.

5. Could it be that my sourdough starter is not working properly? 

Thanks for your help!

Regina

 

phaz's picture
phaz

Cambridge - our fair city as click and clack used to say! Let's start with

1 - freezer tends to dry things out. But you'd probably notice it in how the dough feels. If it felt abnormally dry, add more water. And we can hit #2 while we're here. If it feels abnormally wet, use less water. And we'll get #3 here - too wet can have that effect. 

4 - are you sure it was over proofed? A well caramelized crust usually isn't a sign off over proof. If it was a pale grayish color with patches of brown, I'd say definitely over proofed. Although a slack/wet dough with little spring could be a sign.

5 - that would do it too. Which makes me ask - how is it maintained? A starter that's a little out of balance (to much acid/low yeast numbers) could also cause this. More details on this is better.

I will say, I'm in central Vermont and baked a loaf last week when we had those crazy warm and humid days. I keep my flour (KA ap) in its bag on the counter and did notice I had to add a little more flour to get the same feel as I normally do. I don't weigh flour, I measure water then add flour to get the right feel and I was adding more than usual. Not a whole lot, but some. So, humidity will make a difference, how much depends on how much or little humidity there is, and how long flour sits in it. Starter condition also has an effect. Give us more info - well get ya going again!

regina.larream's picture
regina.larream

1, 2, 3. My dough yesterday definitely felt more wet than usual! But the other two recipes I've done in the last month also felt more wet and pliable, but in a ay that would prevent proper shaping. 

4. It was definitely overproofed. The dough was above the banneton's line. Never happened before, and it completely collapsed when I took it out of the banneton. I punched down both loaves, or what was left of air, and re-shaped. I then placed them in the bannetons again and left them rise outside 35-40 minutes. Then baked them in hot dutch ovens. It also seems odd to me that the crust looks ok. Again, obviously not my best crust, but it far from pale (see attached photo).

5. My starter is kept in the fridge, and fed once a week and once before I bake. However, I haven't been baling a lot (lots of work), and I feel I have been feeding it maybe once every 8-9 days and before baking. I fed it Saturday evening, then prepared my leaven yesterday morning, and then made the dough in the afternoon. My leaven was also pretty bubbly after 6 hours (as opposed as the 8-10 the recipe requires). Aside from this last month, I have kept my starter with the routine described, and it has always been great... But maybe a bad month is all it takes...

I should have added more flour probably... In all of my recipes. Humidity has been crazy. Today is again 90%... I guess I am worried because ALL of my loaves have been under my own standard. I traveled to Mexico 3 weeks ago, and baked one of the recipes that have been failing, and it turned out great. Both times same flour. So, that is why I was narrowing it down to heat/humidity or the frozen flour.

Any thoughts?

Thanks for your response. I'm visiting Vermont this weekend! Hoping to see some nice foliage landscapes!

regina.larream's picture
regina.larream

 

 

 

regina.larream's picture
regina.larream

phaz's picture
phaz

They do look a little over proofed, but sometimes it's hard to tell in pics. The dark spots are what I noticed, but hard to tell if it's shadows. I guess the thing to do would be to add a little more flour next time it it feels to soft/wet. You could try this - since you bake about once a week - take a little starter and feed regularly add rom temp for about a week or so. If the trouble is just humidity, extra flour/less water should take care of it. If it is a starter issue, a week or so of regular maintenance at higher temps will get it back in shape and you'll be good to go. It just may be a combination of high humidity and a slightly off starter (sounds like it may not have had its normal feeding during the Mexico trip). Either way I think the above plan would be a place to start. Good luck, oh, foliage seems a little slow right now (at least where I am) but you know how that goes. Blink your eye and it's peak, blink again and all the leaves are down. Wish I could figure how to post a pic - I've got some nice ones from last fall at the golf course I play. Let us know how it goes!

leslieruf's picture
leslieruf

Leslie

phaz's picture
phaz

Vermont does have a certain charm I find irresistible. It really is my kind of place.