Jekyll & Hyde bread...
With my Pain de Campagne, it's two steps forward, one step back - and probably three sideways as well... Every time I seem to solve one problem, something else goes wrong... I'm gradually improving it each time I bake, but I wouldn't mind some feedback from those of you wiser than I...
The recipe I used today is as follows:
450g strong bread flour
30g wholemeal bread flour
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
200g starter @ 100% hydration
275g tepid water
After Wednesday's frisbee that stuck royally to the banneton, I made a few small changes to today's bake. I reduced the hydration to 65% from the original 70-plus and I swapped the Leckford Estate strong bread flour to the Waitrose Canadian & very strong bread flour. Those were intentional. The unintentional change was swapping my white starter for my whole rye starter as the latter was threatening to escape its jar...
Made the dough as per usual, kneading by hand for around 10 mins or so until the dough was nice, smooth and elastic. At 65% hydration it was much, much easier to handle. Put in a couple of stretch & folds during the five hour bulk ferment at room temperature - that's around 22C (71F) here. Degassed, shaped into a boule, then into the floured banneton it went for the proof, which I always do in a plastic bag.
At around the 2 hour mark, the loaf looked to be about 80% of double, so was about 85-90% by the time the oven was up to temperature. Onto the greased baking sheet it went, no sticking to the banneton at all this time. The dough spread a bit, but it wasn't a splat like Wednesday's attempt. Quickly scored it and popped it into the oven.
Bake time was 45 minutes in total, 5 mins at 230, and 40 minutes at 190. Oven spring was absolutely insane, the best I've ever had, but...
From one side, the bread looked very presentable indeed...
But from the diametrically opposite side it had developed a bit of an issue...
And the bottom looked a bit... ragged...
Sorry, no crumb shot yet... That will have to wait till tomorrow lunchtime I'm afraid. But is this wonky Jekyll & Hyde loaf down to underproofing, shaping, my dodgy scoring or a combination of all three? I used the method for shaping boules that's in the handbook. Also, it was the first time I'd tried out this particular scoring pattern, I usually just do a cross on the top of the loaf, but was feeling adventurous... Any thoughts?
It smells great though, and has a lovely crisp crust. Can't wait to tuck in :-)
It would be interesting to see a cross section across from the high side to the flat side to see what it looks like inside. I'm not sure, but I would be inclined to think it was a bit over proofed and it collapsed on one side.
I'll slice it in that direction. ;-) It's almost lunchtime here so a shot will be forthcoming.
The other thing that came to mind is that my oven might have been a bit too hot early doors. I've just had the element and thermocouple replaced, and am still learning where I'm at with it.
Here's a crumb shot, Kathy - I sliced the bread in the direction you suggested. What do you think?
As regards to the taste test, it passed with flying colours. I much prefer this bread made with the rye starter than with the white. Has a lovely nutty flavour, shiny, chewy crumb and a firm crust - and it went down a treat with butter and Corsendonk cheese.
Interesting. See how it kind of exploded off to the left? But it looks fine on the right. The "flat" side doesn't even look flat. I think the flat side only looks flat in comparison to how it went crazy on the left. It's like a partial flying crust. I'll take a stab and suggest maybe it's a shaping issue? Other than that, the crumb looks very tasty!
the dough could have been gently degassed a bit more right before shaping to cure the flying crust . A blowout on the bottom / side is usually due to not pinching the seams on the bottom tightly enough allowing a weak spot and possibly a slight under proof.too. That bread has to taste great and I agree.... the rye starter will add a depth of flavor not found in white flour starters and levains,
Happy baking
Thanks, Kathy, dabrownman, I appreciate the insight. Looks like a few minor tweaks ought to (well, theoretically at any rate) reduce the incidences of wonky bread.
Now, I put my shaped dough in the banneton seam side up. If I were to put it seam side down in the banneton - which would therefore make it seam side up when it goes in the oven - would that help with the splitting issue?
At least my mistakes are still tasty - this one will not last long for sure. And I have to admit dabrownman, I'll definitiely be sticking to the rye starter for this one in the future :-)
You could bake with the seam side up. Ken Forkish does that with his country blonde. I don't think he even scores it. Just let's it burst at the seam. Looks really cool.
Sure does, these "Viennese" loafs came out of the oven this morning, beautiful bursting seams, perfectly smooth bottoms since that side was facing up during proofing
Those look fabulous - am definitely going to put my shaped dough in the banneton upside down from now on, I think.
I'll definitely try that next time and see what difference it makes. Splitting around the base is a recurring problem I've had with boules, and it would be nice to get to the... bottom... of the issue.
Somehow I think the real solution lies in baking lots of boules in order to get the hang of shaping them properly LOL
IF I figure right, the bulk rise was 5 hrs and the banneton rise was 3 hrs all at about the same temp of 22°C.
I would suggest, Keep everything the same and extend the bulk rise with another folding (to redistribute inside temp and pop the big bubbles) before shaping and then perhaps a shorter sit in the banneton. That would keep everything in the same total time frame, only the bulk rise has been lengthened.
Mini :)
I like your adventurous feelings with scoring, with the next loaf, try cutting with your blade at a steep angle to the loaf, like you want to peel off a section lifting a slit of dough. Curious to see what happens.
The banneton rise was around two and a half hours, Mini - my oven takes about 25 mins to get up to temperature, I give it five extra minutes and then in the bread goes.
I could certainly try another stretch & fold, extend the bulk rise and shorten the final proof. I did notice while I was degassing the dough prior to shaping that I had a lot of really big air bubbles, far more so than usual. I'm assuming those were down to the changes I made in the recipe.
Will probably be baking again in the next couple of days, and will be putting all the advice into practice, including the scoring. The tweaks suggested for my chicken brick loaf made such a big difference, so fingers crossed for this one. I don't think I've ever learnt so much in such a short space of time... :-)
If you have not tried an overnight proofing in the refrigerator I would highly recommend it.
It really reduces the chance of overproofing and makes for a smaller crumb
I hadn't thought of that... And I can see where it would have timing advantages as well.
"...a lot of really big air bubbles, far more so than usual."
Might want to keep vigilant, the dough might be fermenting faster with a robust starter. Perhaps the overall fermenting time might run shorter than 7.5 hrs. There is certainly enough starter in the dough.
I love the added flavours a rye sour brings to a wheat bread. :)
that baking bread involves far more variables than cakes and biscuits (cookies), and that the variables themselves, especially with sourdough, can vary... :-)
I recently discovered this lovely stoneground organic rye flour, and it's made a real difference to the flavour of my breads. Once I've got a better handle on this particular bread, I plan on swapping some of the white wheat flour for malted wholegrain in order to enhance the nuttiness and depth of flavour the rye starter gives me. Right now though, I first need to concentrate on getting it right, so I won't be tinkering with the recipe just yet... :-)