Decent holes and rise but gummy crumb
Hi all,
I hope someone can help me out with this as I am at a loss. I'm very new to baking, I just made my third sourdough loaf after one very failed one and a second decent one. Both 2nd and 3rd rised and baked really nicely, but the crumb is soft and gummy. Not raw at all - but it feels tacky to the touch and it is very difficult to cut even with a bread knife (the loaf smushes down and then springs back up again).
I'm not too bothered because it tastes great and I tend to have it toasted (which helps drying it out a bit) but I want to know which part of the process I can improve to avoid this.
Here is my recipe and process:
600gr flour (75% bread flour, 25% mix of rye and whole wheat)
400gr water
200gr starter (active, passed float test)
12gr salt
My process is pretty much Alex's (French Guy Cooking): autolyse for a little under an hour with the starter, then add the salt and a splash of water to dissolve. Slap and fold for 10 mins until smooth. This time around I also added a few rounds of stretch and folds every 30min because I wasn't passing the windowpane test. Last time I just did the slap and fold and left it for the remaining time and the crumb was also gummy. Total bulk fermentation of 4 hours. Pre shaped, bench rest, final shape and basket, then into the fridge for 12 hours, plus 2hs at room temp in the morning (give or take 20°C both times). It passed the poking test. Preheated the oven for 45mins with the heavy pot inside, unmolded and scored, and into the decently hot oven for 25' covered plus 20' without. Left to cool completely before cutting.
Besides having trouble cutting because of the gummy crumb I think scoring is not as straightforward as I see in some videos - my razor blade is sharp and it still catches in the dough. Could it be that there's not enough surface tension?
I greatly appreciate any advice on this.
Stay safe!
Your loaf seems to be properly fermented, so fermentation times seem to be accurate.
My only guess for the flat profile is not enough strength in the gluten bonds. That would also explain why your razor blade gets stuck. Since you kneaded your dough enough, I guess the lack of strength comes from the whole wheat and rye mix. Rye gives basically no strength, but rather minerals and food for yeasts and gives tackiness (you know how sticky rye breads are). Whole wheat also has some difficulties forming gluten strands due to bran.
Next time I would reduce at least the rye content, shouldn't be more than 5%. And there is nothing wrong with giving the dough more stretch & folds if it needs it (as long as you don't deflate it).
Also I don't think you need to let it come up to room temperature after cold retard, I don't know why Alex says that. You might run the risk of overproofing. And baking it straight out of the fridge should give it a bit more oven spring since it doesn't have time to relax/spread and the yeasts have more time to work before they die (since they start at a colder temperature).
Hi BaniJP,
Those are all great insights, thank you. I'll consider baking straight out of the fridge next time - I have a hard time gauging how many hours of retard it needs and I'm afraid of over or underproofing...
Re: rye flour, I didn't know this! I saw a lot of people mixing different flours when baking and thought it would actually help with gluten. My first loaf was absolutely terrible because I used only bread flour and it was a gloopy mess all throughout bulk ferment (different recipe though) so I was trying to use other flours too.
Thanks!
Gummy means too much moisture.
Moisture can be dealt with three ways:
- reduce the water in the formula (reduce the hydration)
- increase the cooking time and/or higher cooking temperature for the same or longer time. The bottom crust is well done and the top appears pale. Please explain your baking equipment (oven, stone, rack, vessel, etc.) The "covered for 25 minutes" step may need examination.
- wait more time before slicing into the loaf, to allow moisture to distribute more evenly
Hi semolina,
This recipe is at 66% hydration which to my understanding is quite average, do you think I could go lower?
Cooking time: unfortunately I don't have an oven thermometer, I have an old gas oven and the temperature marks wore off, so baking for me is "low/med/high" temp based on the flame, ha. I think I'll bake for longer next time with the cover on - do you think 35 min would be too long?
I use a heavy cast aluminum pot - it's a latin-american brand so not sure if that's a clear definition of it. It's the heaviest I could find to stand high oven temperature. I don't use the lid it comes with because the knob is plastic (sigh) so I use aluminum foil as the cover.
And re: slicing, yes I did leave it to cool completely both times.
I also noticed the upper crust becomes chewy a few hours after (it doesn't remain crispy)
Thank you!
Cheers,
How long do you let the bread cool before you cut it.
If you cut to soon you disturbed the inner cooking process.
I guess that makes us birds of a feather...or great minds that think alike...or something like that . ?
?
Hi,
I did leave it to cool completely both times before slicing.
Cheers,
One of the hardest things to do, as a bread baker, is to wait until the bread has properly cooled, before cutting into it. Cutting bread, to soon, can also leave you with a gummy crumb. I have no way to know if that’s an issue, in this case. But, it is something of which to be aware.
Hi,
Thanks! It's been mentioned above too but I did let it cool down completely.
Cheers,
A loaf this size and with 25% whole wheat and rye can takes 8 ours or more before you can cut in to it.
Hi dbazuin,
That's interesting, do you know why that is? I'll consider it next time - these past two times I cut it as soon as I felt it completely cooled down (about 2hrs)
Regards,
https://truesourdough.com/when-to-cut-sourdough-bread-to-get-beautiful-even-slices/
That seems to amount to 71.5% hydration, if your starter is at 100%. That should be reasonable unless the flour is extremely weak.
For a 1.2kg boule like that I'd bake it 50~55mins, so that's something you can try to increase.
Don't wait for it to come to room temp as it may be overproofing. It also makes scoring more difficult.