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banneton causing bread splitting?

andykg's picture
andykg

banneton causing bread splitting?

the last few loaves ive baked have resulted in the side splitting and hardly any opening from the score I do, so at a bit of a loss as to what is causing it

starter is strong and active.

dough is 70% hydration (wholegrain spelt and white flour mix) Ive always used this amount as I prefer a closer crumb.

dough is bulk fermented until ready and then retarding in the fridge 12 hours plus.

The dough is definitely proofed enough, poke test before retard, nice light crumb not rubbery after baking.

Plenty of steam in oven when baked.

Dough scored (possibly not deep enough although its at least .5 inch)

Banneton was pretty gunked up with old flour, and dough would be a bit tricky to drop out before baking so its been really well cleaned.

Anyone experience splitting because of the banneton? im thinking as its not absorbing moisture from the dough correctly it might be causing weak spots in the dough causing the splitting?

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

"... have resulted in the side splitting and hardly any opening from the score I do,.."

Most cases of that happening are due to using a convection/fan oven with top heat.  The upper heating element (or the moving hot air) dries out and "sets" the upper crust before the sides/bottom, preventing the score from opening up -- and therefore the expanding dough bursts out the point of least resistance, or the softest part that has not crusted/set.

(A picture or two would confirm this.)

I think it can also happen with a gas oven.

It you are using a convection/fan oven, there are a couple ways to fix it.

- if you can, use a baking stone, or a large cast iron skillet or griddle with a layer of parchment paper, and bottom heat (no top heat, except for maybe a minute or two at the end to darken the top crust) and fan off.  I realize not all convection/fan ovens let you do that.

- a closed baking vessel, such as a covered casserole, cast iron dutch oven, cloche, clay baker, etc.

- "Tenting" the loaf with aluminum foil might help, keeping off the movng air, and preventing direct radiant heat from the top heating element.

--

if you still need to steam the oven (not using a closed vessel), be sure to add boiling or near-boiling water, not room temp water, to the pre-heated steam pan.  Otherwise, it takes too long to generate steam.

--

If you're using a gas oven, you pretty much need a covered baking vessel.  Or... bake in a bread pan (tin) and tent with aluminum foil.

--

Hope  this helps.  Good luck, amigo.

 

andykg's picture
andykg

ive uploaded a pic. 

Yes i got a fan oven and i cant turn it off. I use an iron baking sheet that sits in the middle pre heated for at least 30 mins. I normally have the shelf dead centre but I did try dropping the shelf a little so its 3/4 lower than the fan but this made no difference.

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

Yeah, that's a classic fan/top-heat effect. 

If tenting with aluminum foil doesn't help, you're going to need to use a loaf pan/tin (still tented) , or a closed/covered vessel.

One more idea, as a last resort before spending money on a closed/covered vessel...

You could try putting the steam pan on a rack above the bread, to shield the dough from the direct top heat.  However, the moving air is still going to "tend" to dry out the top crust.  So there is still some risk, but it may be worth a try.

The closed vessel doesn't have to be fancy or expensive.  It can be two identical steel pots, one inverted and put on top as a lid.  Or a cheap glass casserole dish with lid from the 2nd-hand store.  Or a thin metal inverted roaster pot, like a "Graniteware". Some use thin stainless steel oven-safe mixng bowls.  I've seen pics of a stainless steel food tray from a buffet table being used.  Any thing that can shield the dough from air currents and from direct radiant heat of the heating elements.

andykg's picture
andykg

thanks for the guidance. I'll see what I can find

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

and most simple.... is to heat up the oven a little higher than needed, put in the loaf in quickly and turn off the oven for the first 15 minutes and then turn it back on to the desired heat temp with the fan running.  Or something along those lines.

andykg's picture
andykg

thanks i'll try that if i cant make a foil tent

andykg's picture
andykg

Next attempt - I used a foil roof and sides for my oven this time to stop the fan blowing and too much top heat which was successful as there was no side split but i left the steam in for too long and the top didnt brown as much as I would have liked.

Long term solution, I found a perfect sized casserole dish which I can use as a cloche or dutch oven but amazon sent the wrong item hence using the foil this time round. 

bread

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

As others have mentioned, a little direct exposure to the top heating element can help browning at the end of the bake, regardless of the steaming method.

Even with a closed baking vessel, most folks take the top off during the latter part of the bake to get a brown crust.

That loaf looks nice -  good expansion and good "lift-off" on that ear. 

DanAyo's picture
DanAyo

Andy, the top bread looks a lot like the blow out was caused by improper shaping. Possibly the seam was not centered on the bottom of the dough of the dough was shaped in such a way as to have allowed a weak spot at the blow out.

If the above is correct, proper shaping would have produced monster oven spring and possible an outstanding ear.

See this post for an example. NOTE - the article may not pertain to your problem but the examples of blown out dough may help.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/51849/debunking-wives-tale-about-value-steam

If you continue to have this problem, post an image of the bottom of the loaf next time.