July 29, 2020 - 1:00pm
Crumb comments please
Criticism please. Are the large alveoli air pockets from deficient shaping technique? Interesting to me is the fact that these showed up after much more shaping/handling than what I do in my usual loaves. Any other critical comments would be valuable as well (I know the ear is too thick).
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I think the crumb looks great. When you have open crumb, you're bound to get a large bubble once a while. just make sure to pop any big ones during folding/shaping and not trap any big air pockets during those steps. if you're consistently getting big pockets of air like that in the same spot, then it's a technique issue.
This is actually the first time I achieved this much of an "open crumb" (at least in terms of the largest holes). What puzzles me is that in previous attempts at it, I have been very careful not to degas in the preshape or shaping. I have tried all different and various methods of shaping...even no shaping...and have never managed a truly open crumb. As I noted, this one was manhandled in shaping and I fully expected a much denser crumb. Instead, I got this...and I can't really figure out why...it goes against everything I have learned. Therefore, I attribute it to just captured air rather than being a true open crumb...but I thought I'd post the pic and see what the pros had to say. BTW...this was at 69-70% hydration...even less of an expectation for an open crumb.
I don't particularly care for open crumb outside of ciabatta as I mostly bake for sandwiches, and my efforts to achieve it are mostly for technique/curiosity reasons.