April 27, 2011 - 6:01am
No-knead that sinks in the center
Hi everyone -
Would anyone have an idea as to why the no-knead breads I make sometimes sink the center? I can't say for sure, but I think it tends to happen when I use Lahey's Pane Integral recipe (whole wheat). It's happened once with flax seeds, and my guess was that the seed was too heavy; it's happened again without flax seeds, and nothing but the flours, yeast, and salt. If this factors in, I try to use more whole wheat than the recipe calls for. In the book - it's 2.5 cups bread flour and 1.5 whole wheat. Trying to aim for a healthier bread, I've used 2 cups whole wheat and 1 bread -- sometimes it sinks, but not always.
Thanks!
maria
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You have less gluten to work with when you decrease the bread flour, therefore less "scaffolding" to hold up the bread. You might try adding some vital wheat gluten--that may give the bread a little more structure while still allowing you to use more whole grain flour.
Also, do you change the amount of water at all when you use more whole wheat? I would think that you would need to increase the water some, and that may give you better gluten structure as well.
What's the internal temperature of your finished loaf when it leaves the oven?
I make the bread several times a week, using 7 oz of WW, 8 oz of bread flour, and 0.5 oz of rye. Always with about 1/2 C of seeds, either poppy and sunflower or flax. I let it rise 18 hours at room temp, do a S & F, form the loaf, let it rise for around an hour and a half. Bake in a dutch oven or under a bowl 40 minutes, take it out when the internal temp is 205 degrees. It never falls.
and I never use vital wheat gluten.
Jerry