cracking loaves ………. again
It is very intermittent.
I have previously asked the same question here before.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/16635/still-cracking-loaves
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10661/cracked-loaf
Some say under proofed, some say over proofed.
Just curious if perhaps the dough was too wet or dry (didn't seem to me).
Or had too much yeast added as I do use 2c of white flour starter as well as 2 tsp of ady.
While under proofed makes sense based on what I'm seeing, I'm not making the dough any different then I have over the years. The recipe has changed, but the process is more or less the same.
My starter is now white and 100% hydration.
I use a mic of wheat and rye berries as well as choc malt.
I mix for 7 mins.
I have stopped oven proofing in steam, just counter proofing for 30.
I hot bake with steam (boiled water in a pan).
I am no expert, but my guess is you can rule out underproofed and too wet. There are two classic signs of overproofed - if you give it the poke test and it sighs instead of springs back, it will be overproofed once it cooks. The second sign is that as it bakes, you will see it drop in height - you are getting a crack which indicates it is rising as it is baking. If it was way too wet, which I have done a few times, the top will look like a crater - the sides of the dough nearest the pan will stay at an ordinary height, but the dough will collapse in the center during the bake time - if you cut it open like a normal slice of bread the outer edges will look okay, and as you progress to the center it will get compressed. As was noted in your other posts, the amount of rise varies based on temperature - I made a 12 hour sourdough bread one day and it barely rose to 1 1/2 times its original volume ( the house was probably around 70 degrees. A few days later a warm from came in and it was closer to 75 - 80, and the dough tripled in volume in the same time.
thanks for your input. very intermittent. Next bread I will be more care about proof time, just in case.
I doubt the dough is too wet.
Metropical, if you want to really precise, when you are finished kneading, pinch off a small amount, and put in a very thin glass and cover it.. When it is about doubled in height, it is time to form the main loaf, and take out the sample, and knead it for a minute, and put it back in the glass and again watch its height - the main loaf is ready to go into the oven when the sample has risen to nearly as high as it did the first time. If you keep the AC and or heat on year round so the temp in the house is nearly the same, then you can determine time for those stages - but as the temps vary, so will the time. If you do this test on a cold day and keep notes, and a warm day and keep notes, you should get a range of times to use.
is quite a bit of leavening. I'd just drop the yeast. Fill the pan slightly over half full and when the bread rises 1/2 to 1 " over the rim of the pan in the middle - bake it with steam for 12 minutes and then take out the steam. I think you just have too much leavening in there and it blows up.
thanks again. I'll try both.