Tight crumb with large holes- overproofed or underproofed?
Hello,
I made a small loaf yesterday with a little under 25% whole spelt flour. It didn't rise very much at all, and it's dense with a lot of really large holes. I usually make loaves with entirely whole rye and whole spelt (except for my starter), so I was surprised that this mostly white flour loaf turned out this way. I did use a different brand of spelt flour than usual, but I doubt that's the issue.
I still have a hard time determining when a loaf has risen properly. It lrt it bulk ferment for 8 hours in an unheated house, and the final rise was only 1.5 hours. I did the poke test both times, and the indent remained in place, so perhaps it was overproofed? It just looked so small I couldn't imagine it was overproofed. I did some stretch and folds, but not very many to be honest. These were the proportions I used:
102 grams very active starter
265 grams all-purpose white flour
84 grams whole spelt
229 grams water
1.5 tsp salt
This is 15% starter, and 70% hydration. The rye spelt loaf I usually work with is 80%.
Also, my loaves never taste sour any more. I used to get a more sour taste when I first started- I'm not sure what I'm doing differently but I love the sour taste. Sometimes I retard my spelt rye loaf for a few days and it still doesn't taste sour.
I'd appreciate any comments!
This is definitely underproofed. I just wonder how, since you gave it such a long BF.
How cold is the house? There is a rule of thumb that for every 8°C more or less, you have to half or double the fermentation time (for example, if it takes 4 h at 20°C, at 12°C it would take about 8 h, at 28°C it would take about 2 h).
Thank you! Good to know, since I was thinking it was the opposite problem. I'm unsure of the temperature of my apartment, as I don't have a thermostat and use baseboard electric heaters. I'm guessing it was around 18 Celsius yesterday.
Strange...in that case there must have been something else slowing down the fermentation. I also don't see anything wrong with the recipe, too.
Thanks for taking a look at it. I wonder if the salt retarded the fermentation. I probably added more 2 tsp, and it was a small loaf
Yeah, that might have been the issue then. Try to stick to 2% flour weight, your scales should be able to pick that up.
temps and recipe, try adding a few hours to the existing total time, then shape the loaf for a final rise. The dough needs more time to ferment, both the bulk rise and the final rise need more time.
Hi Nostos,
I had this problem for over a year and just solved it. I don't know if this solution will work for you too, but you can see it here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/62120/open-crumb-breakthrough
Dean