long rise sourdough HARD outside
this was my first time ever making sourdough. I wanted to make a traditional, long rise sourdough. It ended up going on longer than 24 hrs. Is this why? I got a good healthy starter going, and then did the following:
-1 cup healthy starter plus 3 cups all-purpose flour and 1.5 cups water. Beat vigorously for 1 minute.
- let sit at room temp for 4 hours, then into a bowl, loosely covered in fridge for 10 hours
- then added 2 more cups flour, 1 T. sugar, 2.5 tsp salt. Mixed & kneaded for a couple minutes
-into a bowl at room temperature for about 20 hours
- it rose a lot, got very puffy. I divided into two kneaded loaves and let sit for another 6 hours.
- baked at 425 for 30 minutes.
When I first took it out, it was very hard on the outside, but seemed undercooked on the inside... when I pressed on the dough it stuck and it had that sort of translucent-y look that uncooked dough has. I ended up slicing and putting back in for a little longer, worried I'd be eating undercooked bread. It way overcooked.
But even before then, the outside was hard and pretty thick.
Any ideas? too long of a rise? should I have made smaller loaves? too low oven temp?
Why the sugar?
My guess is to provide some easily converted nutrition for the natural leavening. This is a pretty long fermentation and I'd expect that the bacteria would eventually go after the gluten.
That's a lot of starter for 20 hours ferment. Then a further 6 hours final proof. I think you just made more starter and baked it.
Try this recipe: https://www.weekendbakery.com/posts/sourdough-pain-naturel/
First, congratulations on your first sourdough efforts. Many of us learn how to improve our breads through trial and error, and I hope you continue to develop a product that you like.
What are you hoping to achieve - a crusty hearth loaf or a softer pan loaf? Due to the low hydration level in the formula I would expect a dense crumb, the type you would find in a sandwich-style loaf. I also deduce that you desire a softer crust from your description. The long fermentation times will likely develop a more sour flavor.
Don't be afraid to use a probe thermometer to measure the internal loaf temperature. Typically I shoot for 190 - 210 F which generally provides a moist but finished crumb. You can always brush the top of the proofed loaf with milk or melted butter before baking and that will usually soften the crust. If the crust is developing too quickly you may cover it with aluminum foil to slow the development. I highly recommend that your research steaming methods on this site.
I also recommend you watch this video and read the commentary:
http://www.breadwerx.com/make-sourdough-pan-bread-video/