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Sourdough bread tastes off, kind of tart / astringent

alefarendsen's picture
alefarendsen

Sourdough bread tastes off, kind of tart / astringent

Not sure how this taste translates, but there's a bit of a weird taste to my latest bread and I think it has to do with the flour I'm using and the expiry date... When looking for translations the Dutch word 'wrang' gives me sour, but it's more like tart / astringent that I'm looking for... I'm sure not, but the taste is definitely sour, but definitely not pleasantly so. The taste is not showing itself immediately, only after chewing for a bit. And it remains slightly off in the aftertaste as well.

So, the breads I've baked before this were simple SD breads and tasted just great. I made them mostly with tipo 0 and tipo 2 (roughly comparable to AP and bread flour I guess). The starter I'm using is at 100% hydration and is fed 50% tipo 2, 40% whole wheat and 10% rye.

The bread that's showing the issue has whole wheat in it as opposed to the other and that's where I think the problem is.

The flour I'm using is Italian flour (Molino Sobrino in the Langhe, nice place by the way) and I bought that last August. I'm finishing my last batch and the expiry date on the pack says February this year.

Could it be the flour has gone bad / the oil in it rancid and that this is causing the bad taste and aftertaste?? The flour is stone ground.

The formula is here and method below.

Method:

  • Made levain 8 hours before mixing final dough and let stand at room temp (20C)
  • Mixed final dough ingredients (except salt and water) and let autolyse 30 min
  • Added salt and water and hand-mixed for 2 min.
  • Stretch & fold at 30 / 60 / 90
  • Bulk fermentation at room temp from 21.30 (last S&F) to 7.15
  • Pre-shape and 7.15, bench rest, final shape at 7.45
  • 2.5 hour proof (at ~23C) followed by bake in DO (lid on for 25m, lid off for 10 to 15m)

 Any help is highly appreciated, if this is the taste associated with flour gone bad then I at least know what's happened...

thanks,

Alef

drogon's picture
drogon

Stoneground wholemeal flour has more oils in it than white flours and that's what can go rancid. Just try some flour - give it a good smell, then taste some - mix with water if you like.

Wholemeal flours typically have a 6-month shelf-life. Keep them cool helps - some people freeze it.

-Gordon