Shaping Loaves per Forbish
Hello, Everyone:
I am using Ken Forbish's Flour Water Salt Yeast book at present to learn his methods. The step involving shaping the loaves prior to putting them in their proofing baskets completely evades me. I cut the dough in half, stretch and fold it, and then try to do that step where you put the dough ball on a non-floured surface and pull it toward you several times in order to tighten it.
For me, the ball never tightens up. The whole pulling process is messy, since the dough sticks to the countertop. The dough ball remains pretty slack, never making a nice tight ball as in the pictures in the book.
Does anyone have any theories why this is? Could it be that I'm working with over proofed dough? I am finding that my dough generally doubles/triples well before the times suggested in Forbish's book.
I would appreciate any advice anyone could give.
Thanks!
What are your proofing temperatures? And aside from the shaping, is the bread turning out well?
I'm not sure which Forkish recipe this is, but if there are stretch-and-folds before this point, how are those going? Ideally you can feel the dough firming from the first to the last stretch-and-fold.
Tip the dough out on a bare counter, sprinkle the top with flour and divide into 2. Round out the portions into rounds with a dough scraper and let rest a few minutes on the counter.
Do a final shape by flouring the rounds and flipping the rounds over on a lightly floured counter. Gently stretch the dough out into a circle. Pull and fold the third of the dough closest to you over the middle. Pull the right side and fold over the middle and do the same to the left. Fold the top end to the center. Finally stretch the two top corners and fold over each other in the middle. Roll the bottom of the dough away from you until the seam is underneath the dough. On a bare part of the counter, cup your hands around the dough and pull towards you, doing this on all sides of the dough to round it off. Finally spin the dough to make a nice right boule.
Try dusting the outside with flour, it helps immensely. I know he says not to use too much flour but if you watch the videos on youtube of him or anybody else, there is flour everywhere. Plus you are then putting it into a banneton with more flour. So don't stress about getting some on the outside of the ball, it's more the inside that you want to keep moist.
My times are faster than his as well, and I've seen others post about the same thing. Err on the side of less time until you are comfortable.
Thanks, everyone, for your advice.