The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

That elusive open crumb

jmoore's picture
jmoore

That elusive open crumb

The first step is admitting you need help, right? I need lots of it. 

I've been trying to get a nice open crumb for quite a while, and have had little success. So I'm going to document my most recent bake with photos. I'm sure you guys will be able to figure out what I'm doing wrong. 

I'm fairly confident in my starter: I have 2 and feed them every 12 hours, +- 1 hour and they are kept in a proofer at 70 degrees.  Both are 100% hydration. One is KA AP, and the other is 80% KA AP, 20% freshly milled rye. I get similar result with both starters.

The formula I'm working with now is 79% hydration, including the starter:

  • flour is 68% KA AP and 32% Freshly milled Serventa (11.5% protein) sifted to 85% extraction
  • 19% Starter
  • 2% Salt
  • Flour weight: 320g, so the loafs are fairly small

I've been using a 1:30 - 2:00 autolyse, followed by 5 minutes of Rubaud, 15 minute rest, and another 5 minutes. 

I bulk for about 4 hours at 80 degrees.

Then I typically do 3 stretch and folds every 30 minutes, followed by 1-2 tension folds.

Then I pre-shape, followed by a 20 minute bench rest, followed by a clinch shaping for a batard.

The final proof has been in the 2:00 - 2:30 range.

End of bulk

Begin final proof

jmoore's picture
jmoore

I don't know why it posted twice. Mods: Please delete.

hreik's picture
hreik

but Trevor Wilson knows a TON about open crumb.  Go here for more: http://www.breadwerx.com/.  He has several really excellent videos with highlight open crumb (65% hydration btw) and even has an ebook about it. Take a look. And

good luck

 

hester

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

Banneton looks too big for the amount of dough.  Try a smaller one or more dough.  

One trick to make an existing fermenting basket smaller is to roll or twist a tea towel into a large donut shape and fill in the gaps between the basket and the cloth holding the dough.  See what you can do.  :)

seen the crumb shots on the other post...    try degassing slightly more before shaping as well.  Pop any large bubbles after shaping to get more uniform sized bubbles.  Good pics, the detail has me smelling bread.  

Melofeng's picture
Melofeng

Hi jmoore I’m hoping you can share your experience here. I am a newbie and still learning lots. I’m in the same boat as you were in February. Doing pretty much what you were doing and just cannot get that open crumb. Usually good oven spring and the load usually looks nice from outside (and also tasty) but just not the open crumb I’m after. I see that you eventually ended up with a wonderful looking loaf after taking the different suggestions. Can you share with me what modifications you made to get to the final result? Thanks so much