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Wrinkled skin on rested bread

deliciousmalicious's picture
deliciousmalicious

Wrinkled skin on rested bread

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some troubleshooting advice, and as there is a wealth of knowledge in these forums, I thought you might be able to help!

I am making Hamelman's "Rustic Bread," which is a mix of white bread, whole wheat and rye flours. After bulk fermentation is complete, you split the dough into two, lightly shaped rounds and leave it to rest on a lightly-floured surface for 10-20 minutes. Easy enough! I split the dough into two and I let it rest ~10 minutes. One loaf turned out great, but the other had developed a crusty, wrinkled skin where the boule touched the floured counter and I have no idea why. It was a pretty loose, sticky dough that stuck to the counter a little bit (and I'm sure it doesn't help that we have laminate counters that are not great for bread).

Anyone have suggestions for why one loaf would wrinkle and crust after 10 minutes?

Thanks!

WatertownNewbie's picture
WatertownNewbie

The 10-20 minute period is known as the bench rest, and during that time you should cover the dough with a linen cloth or plastic (I prefer the linen) and perhaps lightly flour the top of the dough so that the cloth or plastic does not stick to it.  In the absence of any of this, air can cause a skin to form on the dough.  Sounds like that might be what occurred in your case.

deliciousmalicious's picture
deliciousmalicious

I’ve definitely made that mistake before! However, the weird wrinkled skin formed on the *bottom* of the loaf, where it was in contact with the floured counter, not on top. It was indeed covered with plastic and a dish cloth.