Inconsistent crumb
I'm new to this whole sourdough baking thing. I was hoping to get some advice on my crumb. I made my first 2 loaves the other day and both were nearly identical.
I was honestly pleasantly surprised by the outcome, but would really like to improve on the crumb. The taste was as I'd hoped and aside from a slightly tough bottom, the crust was mostly to my liking.
The crumb was quite dense in the center, as you can see, with very large holes randomly here and there. I'd like to have a crumb that's more consistent throughout, with medium sized holes.
For your reference my method was as follows, I'll try to keep it brief:
650g Whole wheat flour (Bob's Red Mill), 350g Unbleached AP flour (King Arthur), 720g water. Let that to autolyse for about 40 minutes, then added 150g 100% hydration starter (active, passed float test) and 20g salt. I used stretch and fold until it was all incorporated, then did a round of stretch and fold every 30 minutes for the next 2.5 hours after which I let it to rise for about 3 to 3.5 hours. My house is around 69F. After the rise, I split the dough on the bench, gave a rough shape, and allowed each loaf to bench rise briefly for about 30 minutes. Then I shaped them and set into floured tea towel lined bowls and set in the fridge to proof over night. I baked them roughly 14 hours after putting them in the fridge to proof.
Hopefully someone has some tips on where I can make changes to benefit the crumb structure. I tried doing some research, but it was hard to know what would be best for my particular issue.
Thanks in advance, y'all!
EM, my best guess would be grossly under proofed. Fermentation timing is dependent upon the flours, hydration, the activity of the levain, and most important the temperature. 3-3.5 hr @ 69F is most probably not long enough. It is common for a dough to have a lag time (little to no visible fermentation) for the first 2 hours or so.
HTH
Danny
UPDATE - assuming your levain was 100% hydration, you used ~7% pre-ferment flour. I can say with confidence, you dough was not bulk fermented long enough.
Thank you for the tips, Danny! I do remember during the bulk rise that it didn't seem to change a whole lot - perhaps I should have trusted my gut!
I'm making another loaf this weekend, I think I'll try a longer bulk rise - maybe find a warmer spot in the house, too.
One question, when you say I used ~7% pre-ferment flour, is that too low? Another helpful individual mentioned I should increase the amount of starter and adjust the flour and water in the recipe for that change. Would you say that's also a fair point? If I don't see improvements with the longer fermentation would you suggest that route?
for the amount of flour at that temperature. Try doubling the starter amount and recalculate the flour and water, or just increase (build) the starter using flour and water from the recipe letting the starter ferment just up to peak.
There should be some rising before starting stretch and folds during the bulk rise. If the dough remains firm and dense, simply give it more time to ferment before folding to restore shape. Fermenting and rising happen at the same time.
I think this will be the next variable I play with after trying a longer bulk rise. How much do you reckon I would find the taste changing when doubling the amount of starter?
Well..... considering the fact that only 7% prefermented flour (starter) didn't get fully fermented which usually increases the sour flavor of the bread. I would guess that increasing or adding another build step to the starter would make the finished bread milder. Probably not too much different from the posted loaf.
The following known good recipes are tried and tested. They are basic sourdoughs and a great place to start your SD journey. Once you succeed with basic formulas you will gain the confidence and experience to tackle other breads. I suggest you consider one of these below.
1-2-3 SD - No Knead, Do Nothing Bread
Kristen’s Basic Open Crumb SD
Just one other thing to keep in mind is that from reading your ingredient list it seems that your bread was 65% whole wheat and that, generally speaking, breads with a higher whole grain percentage will have a more dense crumb. It would be unrealistic to expect a bread with 65% whole wheat to have as open a crumb structure as breads with 10% whole wheat (which is often what's pictured on Instagram). If it's a really open crumb you are striving for, then I'd recommend reducing the whole wheat at first. Of course if your goal is flavor/nutrition, do as you please!
I agree that your loaf was underfermented. There is another possible factor not mentioned so far: maturity and strength of the starter.
Did you create it from scratch? If so, could you give the number of days since you first mixed the flour and water for the start? And then the day # when it first rose, and then the day number when it began to consistently rise within 4 hours of feeding, and day # when you used it for bread?
Even if it looks like a starter/levain can raise bread due to the float test, it can take 2 weeks (from day 0 of mixing flour/water) before the starter matures and strengthens. "Making gas bubbles" is not enough, it has to "make gas bubbles fast enough" to work with the suggested timings of the most common sourdough formulas.
If your starter was already mature and strong, then DanAyo and Mini Oven are very correct, and you would need to do one of, or a combination of:
Just as an aside, it is pertinent to know that WW flour ferments faster than white flour. So if you are converting a mostly white flour recipe to mostly WW flour, fermentation can get out of hand quickly.