I have read Jeffrey Hamelman's book and Peter Reinhart' book on bread baking and still need some help, I just can't find a good answer to help me.  I apologize if this has already been answered, however I couldn't find the thread. After you have shaped the bread for it's final proofing what do you put on the cutting board to keep it from sticking? I'm having a very difficult time moving the dough onto the peel without deflating it. And them from the peel to the stone.

Thanks, 

Fred

Hi,

When using the no knead sourdough bread receipe, my round loaves are flat.  The bread rises well in a beneton but does not rise after placing the proofed loaf in the la cloche which has been heated to 450 degrees.  Loaves are baked for 30 min and after the lid is removed for another 10-15 min in a 440 degree over.

My take is that the bread is too soft and liquid and spreads out rather than raises.

Can anyone suggest how the loaves could raise higher?

Thanks in advance for your cooperation.

I'm a little dissatisfied and happy with today's bake. Yesterday I worked with my starter and proofing, and retarded overnight to increase my sourdough taste.

I've settled on Norwich's More-Sourdough recipe to develop my skills and techniques. Everything went fine, but I think I over proofed my dough in the refrigerator. When I removed my dough and lifted the cover, it deflated somewhat. But, the initial rise was excellent. the link for the recipe is: http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2008/11/05/more-sour-sourdough/

My other mistake was that after the initial preheat of 475 degrees, I put the bread to baked an steam at that temp for 10 minutes. I accidentally pulled my cleaning lock out some and found that the oven was off and the temp dropped to 345 degrees. Trying to save today's bake I reset the temp and kept baking the bread, adjusting the time, but was unable to capture any oven spring. The bread was baked before I was able to dry out for the recommended 10 minutes.

Here's the results, the bread tastes good and has a light textured. I lost the crumb's openness, but I may have overworked the dough slightly while working it into a ball and letting it rest for 20 minutes. However, once I formed it into a boule and put it in the fridge, it more than tripled overnight.

Thought I had the open holes but failed once again: Certainly not like the picture I'm trying to emulate.

Oh Well! Time to feed my starter and get ready for another bake.

Hello Everyone,

I have a question about my sourdough starter, which is now about 2 weeks old. I have been feeding it once per day, 200g starter to 100g room-temperature (~78F) filtered water, 50g KA bread flour, and 50g of a locally-grown, locally-milled whole wheat flour (which I keep in the freezer as per the farmer's instructions). I've been keeping the starter in a straight-sided pyrex measuring cup with a piece of tape to mark the level of the dough, and when I mix the old starter with new flour and water, it starts bubbling almost immediately. I'm usually gone for most of the day, so I can't track the starter's progress hourly, but based on the marks left on the side of my pyrex, the dough looks to have doubled in size and then deflated almost back to it's original level. The doubling must happen in the first 8 hours, because I am never there to see the starter at it's topmost point. There are always bubbles on the surface and sometimes it even gets frothy, so I know it's still alive.

My question is whether I will be able to use this starter to make sourdough any time soon? Should I be concerned about the deflation, and if so, is there anything I can do about it (I suspect feeding more frequently)? Also, if I want to store my starter in the refrigerator, can I do that at this point, despite the massive amount of deflation? Thank you for any advice you can give me.

-Samantha

I was recently given a recipe for WW walnut bread that contains the following instruction: "Cover the bowl with a lid and leave the dough to rise for 3 to 4 hours.  It will rise until it collapses.  At this point you can shape your loaf and bake your bread."  This bread calls for 1 tbsp. active dry yeast and 500g WW flour.  My question is this: Has anyone ever heard of letting dough rise until it deflates itself, and if so, how does this differ from letting it rise until double and then shaping and proofing?  Is it just a slower method since it takes 3 to 4 hours for this to occur whereas doubling with this amount of yeast usually only takes about 1 1/2 to 2 hours?  I can't see the advantage of letting the yeast eat itself out of house and home (or at least until the roof falls down!), but maybe I'm missing something!  Thanks in advance.

Summer

The typical bread cycle involves one or two rises, each followed by a deflation, then a final shaping and proof.

But sometimes my timing doesn't work out.  I've already let the bread rise twice maybe and I'm not ready to shape it; or I've shaped it into loaves and I'm not ready to put it into the oven.  I would then be inclined to just "punch" it down again for another rise.

So my question is about the pros and cons of repeated deflations and rises.  What's the downside of it?

Rosalie