The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Underproofed / Overproofed?

dpierce's picture
dpierce

Underproofed / Overproofed?

Currently following this recipe for sourdough which has given me pretty good loaves: https://foodbodsourdough.com/the-process/ 

Only change I’ve made is adding 50g more starter and 25g more water - I find the higher hydration & boost from the extra starter has helped a lot.

I’ve made 3 loaves with this alteration and they’ve all turned out pretty well, although not perfectly. They have a golden brown crust, but no ear (just an expanded area where I scored), a light but slightly sticky texture, and I suspect they could be taller. Wondering if I need to change the BF time? The recipe calls for an overnight BF and overnight fridge proof. I’ve been experimenting with different BF times and I’m not sure if I need to increase or decrease BF time. First pic is about 8 hours with each loaf increasing in time. Thank you all for your insight!

 

 

phaz's picture
phaz

Rougher handling is about it. Enjoy!

dpierce's picture
dpierce

Do you mean I need to be more aggressive when shaping/folding the dough?

phaz's picture
phaz

For a smaller more uniform hole pattern. Enjoy!

Benito's picture
Benito

Hi there, I’d say that crumb shows some signs of under fermentation.  This is how I assess a crumb and loaf to decide what I need to change to improve it the next time I bake the same formula.

To assess the proofing/fermentation ignore the big holes first.  What is the crumb like, are the alveoli in the crumb tiny and tight then more likely to be underfermented.  Is the crumb overall actually pretty nice and not tight then not underfermented.  Then the large hole characteristics next.  Are there large tunnels through the bread and not necessarily immediately under the crust?  This along with the tight crumb equals underfermented.  Are the large holes immediately under the crust?  Do these large holes show in them signs of gluten breakdown with thin broken gluten strands?  Then this points towards overfermented.  Then look at the profile of the loaf, decent oven spring or excessive oven spring is more associated with under proofing whereas flat profile is more associated with overproofing.

 

The bottom crust seems a bit pale to my eyes.  I’d also look at getting more heat into the bottom of the dough.  How low in the oven are you baking?  Are you using a baking steel/stone or a dutch oven.

Look at increasing the bulk time or temperature and getting your oven set up optimized, once that is done and the fermentation is on then look at your scoring technique.

Actually first, look at your starter, how active is it. Are you using it when it has fully peaked and the dome just starting to fall and the same with your levain.  Many new bakers the issue is that their starter isn’t ready yet and needs to be optimized by further feeds before using it.

Benny

Mark Stone's picture
Mark Stone

It's a bit confusing. The first pic looks to be the closest to idea fermentation of the three, but the next two pics look under-proofed.

The little bit of tunneling is one sign (but not that concerning). The dense areas with microscopic bubbles are the real red flag. The 2nd loaf looks the most under proofed.

They also look like they could use a bit more bake time. 

It's difficult to troubleshoot a recipe when we are modifying it. I'm the first person to be guilty of this, but I've also dealt with a great deal of frustration trying to figure out problems.