May 26, 2020 - 2:16pm
How to eliminate extremely large air bubbles at the top of sourdough?
I am trying to achieve an even crust, and I often find very large air pockets at the top of my bread.
Recipe used:
- 70% KA bread flour
- 30% stone-ground whole wheat (I have this issue even when I use 100% white flour)
- 75% hydration
- 2% salt
- 20% starter ( I factor the pre-fermented flour into the formula)
I autolyze for 20-30 mins, then mix in starter and salt, and do a little kneading (slap & fold). Bulk ferment for about 4 hours, stretch and fold throughout. Pre-shape, rest for 30 mins and then shape and place in banneton for proofing. Proof for about 2 hours or until done and bake in a dutch oven at 450º for the first 20 mins, then open the lid and bake until done.
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Bubble size is proportional to the time the dough spent undisturbed.
Be aggressive in stretch-folding. This removes potentially large bubbles and develops gluten.
Reducing proofing time after shaping will be the main factor to reducing large bubbles.
Hmm that's interesting. I really thought it was going to be under-proved. Thanks for the help!
How long do you think the proofing should be, then? I know this is affected greatly by many factors, but guidance is always welcome.
As semolina noted, proofing for less long will help. The fact that your larger holes are nearer the top is an indication of over-proofing, though from your picture this is not an extreme example. Also, try poking down on the dough all over at the start of the shaping to collapse larger bubbles. I think some of these arise from air incorporated during manipulation of the dough (and so try to avoid incorporating more big air during shaping).
Alternatively change the recipe - one effect of adding butter or other fat is to get more even holes, I think milk/ skimmed milk powder also helps with this.
I really did my best to minimize air from shaping and/or folding because I thought that those might be a source of this air. I also have tried patting down the dough as a gentle degassing before shaping, and this is the resulting loaf.
Any tips on knowing when bulk fermentation is done?
I struggled with that. For me, I found a degree of enlightenment by taking DanAyo's advice to "trust in the oven spring" to extremes and pushing the under-proofing end of the envelope. Surprisingly, this worked in that I got a loaf that rose, though the structure was a bit odd and the flavour nothing to write home about. But in the process I worked out how to identify signs of proofing.
I always struggled with the poke test (I can do it, but the results don't seem to bear much relation to anything) and akso with judging by eye how much the dough has risen. What I do now is use a clear plastic mixing bowl and look for signs of bubbles through the plastic. There will be quite large ones from air incorporation from the start, but gradually pin-point bubbles appear in between those, and then those grow. When they are about the size of pinheads, some increase in size is evident and I think about shaping. After that, I either stick the banneton in the fridge for a few hours or let it rise a bit more before baking. I find judging dough size in the banneton easier as one can squint across and note how many canes are visible, and after using the same recipes in the same bannetons a few times, one gets an idea of what to expect. I rely more on an absolute measurement here - if it is already at a good height after putting it in the banneton, I will not leave it there long.
I keep notes of times and temperatures in a rather disorganised spreadsheet (I use a home-made proofing box which keeps a reasonably constant temperature) so timings are quite predictable, which also helps.
hth
TIM
This is textbook fool’s crumb (combined with some shaping errors). The dough is very underfermented. Your bulk was too short/your starter is not active enough.
What’s your starter routine like?
Interesting thought. I was looking at fools crumb as a possible solution for this loaf. It's also interesting that another commenter was identifying this loaf as being over fermented.
I would say my starter is very active, and doubles in 4-5 hours. I keep it in the fridge and build it up over about 20 hours and two builds until adding to the autolysed dough.
I love that your starter is active, that’s great
4 hours of bulk is not enough for 10% prefermented flour (for me anyway). If I were to try your recipe, I’d probably go for at least 6 hours.
You also didn’t mention what temps you’re dealing with here. If your dough was 80 degrees the whole time, maybe 4 hours could’ve worked, ya know?
I think judging when bulk is done is one of the hardest things for newer sourdough bakers. And almost everyone is under-fermenting at first. I think it might be better to purposely try to over-do it and see where you end up.. and then dial it back next time.
You’re more likely to get where you want to be faster than if you just push it slightly further every time.
I agree...it is underfermented. The first poster mentioned it is over-proofed, but if this was the case, the load would be more flat, and the alveoli much smaller and more in quantity.