The Fresh Loaf

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Bread measures 95°C in centre but seems underbaked?

chocobo_ff's picture
chocobo_ff

Bread measures 95°C in centre but seems underbaked?

Hi,

Having some issues with the centre of my sourdough being underbaked. I use the 1-2-3 ingredient method so dough is just over 70% hydration, stretched and folded over 4 hours, then goes in the fridge over night. It gets another ~3 hours at room temp in the morning before baking on a pizza stone, preheated for ~45 mins at 250°C. After 35 mins the centre measures about 95°C, I then waited for about an hour before slicing into it. Two possible problems/solutions I can see:

  1. Preheat the oven for longer.
  2. Let the bread cool completely before slicing.

Is there anything else that might be causing the bread to be underbaked?

Thanks! ?

 

Jimboh's picture
Jimboh

You really should wait till the loaf is cool to the touch. I wouldn't slice until at least 3 hours after it came out.

Martin Crossley's picture
Martin Crossley

Apols if I'm wrong, but the load looks a little dense, and that dark patch in the middle at the base of the loaf looks a bit solid... perhaps it's worth looking at the proving time/temp or the amount and activity of the starter?

My loaves get stretch/folded for about 4 hrs too; but they then get 4/5hrs more in total at room temperature before they are fully proved and ready to go into the fridge for an hour before baking - so quite a bit more than your 3hrs from chilled...

At the end of the day, any sourdough bread is GOOD bread, and yours looks lovely :)

chocobo_ff's picture
chocobo_ff

Yep I'll resist touching the bread so soon after it comes out of the oven next time.

That part of the bread is the worst in terms of density, or at least the appearance that makes it look dense anyway, but yes I thought maybe it wasn't fully proved. I did the poke test and it seemed ok, that's why I baked it after 3 hours, but I'll give it longer this weekend and see how I go, thanks :)

 

Martin Crossley's picture
Martin Crossley

No worries - actually I think 3hrs is far longer than necessary to leave the bread before cutting (because the internal steam is still cooking the crumb): in my experience anything more than 45mins is fine to cut the end off and have a look.

Unless you particularly need the overnight proof in the refrigerator because of your timings, I would suggest letting the loaf prove at ambient temperature, and then refrigerating it once it's fully proved. I say that because when I have tried refrigerating part ways through, I found that it took the dough a LONG time to become active again, even after it had come back to room temperature.  I do like to refrigerate for at least an hour before turning out, slashing and loading the loaf into the oven though, because I find it really helps to stop the dough spreading before I get it into the oven :)

I've never really been too convinced by the 'poke' test - it does work, but you need to really know your dough to interpret it correctly. Personally I just go by knowing that my dough takes about another 4hrs at room temperature (20deg c) after the stretch and folds.

Keep trying and good luck - please do let us know how you get on

chocobo_ff's picture
chocobo_ff

Made another one this morning, this time I took it out of fridge 7 hours before baking. The poke test seems to suggest it could prove a bit more, but was definitely better than the last time. I think next time I'll give it a bit longer and see what happens - was restricted by time this morning.

Martin your idea of putting the SD in the fridge after proving is interesting, do you do this in the banneton? Also, any ideas why the holes are so uneven? The way I shaped the dough perhaps?

Heikjo's picture
Heikjo

Putting the dough proofed in the fridge is what I do, and bake it cold. My fridge is 0-4C (as it should), which pretty much stops all activity. If I need to proof it after retarding, it takes forever to warm up and start going again, so I prefer doing everything before retarding. Baking cold also has other advantages.

Martin Crossley's picture
Martin Crossley

 I love the colour of that crust :)

I feel your pain! This reminds me of trouble I was having when I first started with SD - my crumb seemed heavy, and the loaves would spread relentlessly after I turned them out - to the extent that my bread was like a rather thick pizza! I’m not saying that you have that same problem at all; just that I know it can be a bit frustrating when you’re putting the effort in and not getting the results you want.

I think that was when I started refrigerating the fully proved loaf (yes, still in the banneton) before turning it out to bake - basically just to stiffen it up and stop it spreading so much... but IIRC I also made some other changes, not least changing the brand of flour that I was using: paradoxically, to a less ‘strong’ one (lower protein level) but a higher mineral content.

i have to be honest, I never had much luck with overnight refrigeration of the dough during proving. I know it produces some great results for others, but for me the yeast seemed to get ‘grumpy’ and the bread took *for ever* to rise after I took it back out - and then (I think because the whole process had taken so long) the gluten seemed to be really weak and the rise was very unsatisfactory (and also had really big holes like yours). Maybe it’s because my fridge is a little too cold? Anyhow, after a couple of attempts I never really persevered with it :)

If it possibly works with your schedule, I’d encourage you to try a loaf straight through without the chilled proof - just to discount this from the equation. Personally what works for me is to mix the levain up just before I go to bed at about 10:30pm; then start the autolyse (using hot water) when I come down to make the coffee at about 6:45am. I also give the levain a bit of a stir at that point which perks it up a little. After about 15mins I give the autolyse a bit of a knead to encourage some cross-linking of the gluten. Then after another 15-20 mins I add the salt, give it a bit more of a knead, then leave it to relax for 10mins before mixing in the levain (these days I’m normally lazy and use the KitchenAid to do this, to save the mess). Then I do 5 or 6 rounds of vigorous S&F 20-30 mins apart, really stretching it as far as it will go. That takes me up to about lunchtime. Then I leave it alone to prove for a couple of hours before I carefully shape it (building up as much tension as I dare) and put it in the banneton. I know when it’s fully proved when it’s completely filled the banneton - usually about 4pm to 5pm - at which point I just put the whole shebang uncovered in the fridge for 45mins to an hour before turning out, slashing and baking :)

I’m not saying that will work for you, but what I mean is sometimes it’s good to try a different approach to see whether it gives better or worse results than what you’re already doing :) it certainly was a bit of an eye-opener to me to switch down to a ‘weaker’ flour and get stronger gluten.

chocobo_ff's picture
chocobo_ff

Thanks for the suggestions! I am just working on a spreadsheet/schedule now, hah. It can be a struggle with work and baby sitting after work and trying to keep the weekend free so we can go out, but I think I have something that will work... going to try refrigerating after fully proved and see what happens. My Peter Reinhart book just arrived in the mail yesterday so I'll be doing some 'light' bedtime reading too :)

Will update next time I bake, might be next weekend :(

 

chocobo_ff's picture
chocobo_ff

Finally got around to doing another bread, this time:

  • S/F for 4 hours
  • Proof in room temp for 8 hours (it was a cold night)
  • Put in fridge for 1 hour while I preheat the pizza stone.
  • Bake for ~35 mins, with a tray of water to generate steam in the early stages of baking.

Quite happy with the result! Now I just need to purchase a sharper lame and work on my slashing...