November 3, 2019 - 9:54am
loaf bursting on the side
So i've didn't bothered scoring anything back then because I feel like it didn't do anything, however there were tons of factors which influenced how bad my loaves came. Now that i've addressed a few issues, mostly bulk fermenting and shaping, I feel like I should give it a try again. I was wondering, is this what they mean when your loaves explode or burst randomly on the sides? Would scoring solve this or am I having a problem with shaping? I have to say though, i think i did botch up my boule a bit with the corner folds, but i think i could fix that somewhat easy.
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Scoring would have allowed you to decide where it would break.
well... when I look at my loaf and it looks like it's giving birth, it usually means the bulk fermenting could have gone on a little longer before getting... ...into a final shape and rise. This also looks like the top crust set in the hot oven before it was done oven springing. Outer skin might have been too dry too. Only you would know that. Could have degassed more evenly to avoid big bubbles around the edges. No biggie. Still looks pretty tasty! And yes, a few scores will direct the direction of the expansion. Dough will push out and rise into the cuts or places of least resistance.
Ok so I did increase the bulk proofing time by a bit, however I also did make sure to pinch any visible bubbles that appear right on the skin after shaping. I didn't degass thoroughly across the dough though. Tried scoring and it definitely helped with the shape. I only did a perpendicular central cut but my knife wasn't sharp enough, had to use my fingers as a counterweight and i think that's why i ended up with wrinkly skin crust at the slit. Also changed my corner folds a bit, starting off with an envelope fold before moving to the corners and I made sure to pick off more of the little protrusions when folding, not just the huge chunks. Not sure I would consider the previous loafs crust to be dry, however I did lower the oven temperature from 450f to 400f at the mid mark of 12 minutes, also rotated my loaf in the oven however i don't think that changed anything. I did notice that my crust is thinner everywhere and not just at the score. I can't tell what might have caused it. I also accidentally added a bit more oil than before, going from 20g to 28g.
ingredients were 400g flour, 248g water (62%), 6g of salt and 1.9g of active dry yeast.
I'm a bit disappointed at the crumb to be honest, with that much more oven spring I would have expected my crumb to be more open, It definitely ended up more consistent and I'm not sure if it's because of the slightly longer fermenting time or because of my shaping technique or because of the pinching of the surface bubbles. Also I'm expecting maybe the part of the loaf closer to the ends where the skin is to be maybe more open and irregular. Everytime I've had my loafs burst at the side, that part was less dark in color and the crumb was consistently close.
the final proof longer if you want larger bubbles. Try adding about half hour and then the next time another half hour until the loaves come out with larger crumb you desire.