The overproof zone - 3 loaves in various stages
Well dangit, pretty bad weekend for baking. Not sure if it was a symptom of being really busy and trying to fit a morning ritual into evenings but I thought I would post this failure as a good illistration of overproofing and, what's so interesting about this disaster is that we get to see overproffing in progress and also drive home the point that it happens lightning fast.
Since i often bake three loaves at a time and usually at a predictable temperature in the morning, I began this bake in the evening at a point when tempabwere a bit lower. I didnt however take too much notice of my dough rise during bulk which in retrospect was a bit higher than normal. So in reality i was adjusting for temp (adding time) but not considering a slightly more active dough. I added about 5 minutes to the normal final (40 becomes 45 minutes and actually i usually jump in at the 35 minute mark to avoid wasted time in case i forgot to prep the countertop). So as I casually prepare this time to bake, I am now another 5 minutes behind thanks to poor preparation. Now as I observe the loaves doing their usual thing in the oven its becoming apparent within a few minutes that they jist dont have the oomph expected (or hoped). The first loaf I take out which was the last to be shaped is sagging in spots. The second is mostly sagged and the third, well total wasted potential - the entire loaf is flat with tell-tale 'unbursts'. The above photo, which i should have snapped as all three loaves in full view but didn't due to deconstruction efforts, shows left-to-right, oldest to youngest. The right-most the middle score mostly open but still not maximum potential. The middle is very sagged (the other unseen end had some burst) and the left-most looked like this across the entire length. The scores open only because the loaf gets wider and have a distinct sunken stretched appearance with no vibrance what-so-ever.
This seemed like a good post to show a. what overproofing looks like especially since is juxtaposes scores where there was still some potential to those that have completely lost their energy and b. To shoe that it happens before you know it and the fact thst we can see partially overproofed loaves is a testament to the speed at which it happens - a good educational bake but terrible practical one !
Comments
Kendalm after baking for over a year now, I still find the proof to be the hardest part of the bake. Despite of being pretty straightforward, I have not found a reliable way to measure the degree of proofing. Besides from trial and error, the finger dent test works ok most of the time, but is rendered useless when retarding a dough. Visual inspection also gives a good, though not very precise, estimate.
Furthermore, whenever one or more variables are out of place (as it was the case in your post) the schedule changes, and one must use intuition to try and bake the bread at the correct time. I guess one could say that the proof is the point where bread making stops being a science and becomes an art. At least for the time being.
This methid is a bit like the window pane. If you know a particular recipe and have performed it many times the window pane is just a formality, besides even partially glutenized dough forms a window to some extent and its nkt until youve baked a recipe many times that you know what it takes to max out the gluten strands. Similarly poking - if i poke 10 minutes before the loaf is at its prime I doubt id be able to recognize the tiny differences in bounce back. Ultimately you just gotta know when and i knkw for this recipe 40 minutes under normal temps is just right with some room for error (5 minutes either way). So really its more about repeating and repeating and even with that its easy to mess up the final as you have pointed out - the hardest part...well shaping can be a pain too !