Slightly overproofed?
I just baked a 20% spelt, 80% bf loaf. I let it proof a bit longer than I should have, and it was really difficult to shape. I know that spelt is more difficult to shape anyway, but still - this went too far. I did a cold retard for 2 days and it spread a little (again) when coming out of the banneton.
I baked it and it was pretty flat as I expected.
The crust is not as crunchy as it usually is, which is to be expected as well. However, the crumb doesn't look nearly as overproofed as I thought it would.
I've been baking for a while but find it so hard to diagnose 'failures' (or semi-failures).
I would say: it overproofed a tiny bit, preventing it to hold its shape and preventing a good oven rise. But it didn't overproof so much that the gluten structure couldn't yield a decent crumb.
Is that correct?
While the crust shows some non-uniformity in color, which hints at overproofing, I don’t see a zone of compressed crumb at the bottom of the loaf. Your diagnosis sounds sensible to me.
Paul
That's very interesting! I wasn't aware non-uniformity in colour was a thing. Where in particular do you see this?
Crumb looks great, I just wouldn't retard the dough for that long
Yes, overproofed.