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Flat Tartine Basic Country Bread

Bencil's picture
Bencil

Flat Tartine Basic Country Bread

Hi All,

Looking for some pointers on my Tartine Basic Country Bread....

I've made a few loaves using the Tartine recipe but getting the same flat result every time. If anyone has any pointers or can forward me to any other posts dealing with this problem I would appreciate it.

I followed the recipe as accurately as possible and did all rises at ~ 29 oC (82 F) in the oven. As you can see from the photos the resulting loaves turned out very flat and thin. 

During shaping and bench rest I noticed they spread on the bench very quickly. I re-shaped and left for another bench rest but no real change happened. I also noticed that the dough was sticking to the proving basket despite loads of flour in there. Could this be due to too much water in the mix? 

Thanks! Ben

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

And what flour are you using?

Bencil's picture
Bencil

I'm based in the UK. 

I'm using Waitrose very strong canadian wheat flour (90% white 10% wholemeal)

It's 15% protein 

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

I was going to place you in the UK or Europe and say it's the weaker flour. But you're using Canadian very strong flour so this is not the issue.

So my next two guesses are...

1: You have miscalculated the ingredients

2: You haven't developed the gluten properly

Even though this recipe should suit the flour you're using there is no harm in lowering the hydration until you get used to it. So I find while using weaker flour the Tartine recipe works very well if you don't add the extra water when adding the salt. Just sprinkle and incorporate by folding and kneading.

Perhaps you can incorporate an extra 8-10 minutes knead when adding the salt or a few extra folds when bulk fermenting.

And/or I'd actually bulk ferment at a lower temperature incase you're over doing the fermentation. At 80+°F it's going to move fast.

Here is a version of the recipe you're following by My Weekend Bakery which has been re-done with less starter and lower hydration http://www.weekendbakery.com/posts/our-version-of-tartine-style-bread/

alfanso's picture
alfanso

Abe,

Agree that a lot of new-ish bakers are working with hydrations too high for either their developing skill set, or due to differences in flour strength.  In this case, Ben can drop the hydration and still retain some water for a 2nd bassinage along with the addition of the salt.  The first addition of water at that lower hydration level should be sufficient for gluten development to start to take hold.

Although I'm not a "Tartine Guy" (I'll capitalize that "G" because that is actually my middle name), another issue might be that Ben has to develop better shaping and surface tension skills before plopping the dough into a banneton.  And dough that sticks mercilessly to the banneton upon "release" likely has tears breaking the skin open and releasing the surface tension before the dough ever hits the baking deck or DO.

The high hydration video by SFBI is a good primer on shaping skills with these types of doughs.

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

You learn something new everyday. Thank you Alan. 

A small mistake is a bigger mistake the higher the hydration. I myself have no issues in dropping the hydration of a Tartine so the final dough hydration is that of all the water minus the 2nd bassinage. It still works very well indeed. And if course it can be arranged to still have that second bassinage after the initial autolyse. 

I think the My Weekend Bakery version is a good one to start with. 

P.s. atleast I have one terminology correct now ;) 

Bencil's picture
Bencil

 

Thanks alfanso and Lechem, really appreciate the pointers. I've made 3 batches in the mean time and I feel like I'm getting somewhere.

I went for 65% hydration and subsequent 5% with salt after resting. I also worked the dough a little before the 1st rise. This made the dough much more workable and I felt like I could build some tension in the gluten when shaping. I also reduced the final rise which I think allowed for more oven spring. Quite pleased with the improvements.

Lechem's picture
Lechem (not verified)

Very nice indeed!