The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Troubleshooting my first sourdough loaf

sirpets's picture
sirpets

Troubleshooting my first sourdough loaf

Hello fellow bakers! I've baked a few sourdough loafs in the past without much success and I'm getting back to it now that I have a better oven and bigger kitchen 🙂 My first loaf was delicious, but I am not 100% happy with the crumb.. I hope you can help me improve it.

This was my process:

  • I used the strongest flour I could find in the supermarket here in Spain. It says 13% protein and W > 300
  • My starter is relatively new, only a week old, but it is already rising nicely and more than doubling in size every time. I used it at its peak
  • I started in the morning, mixed everything and aimed for ~70% hydration (difficult to tell because I don't have a scale yet)
  • I performed 4 sets of stretches and folds and overall. From mixing until shaping and putting in the fridge the total fermentation time was around 8h-9h
  • The temperature here was very warm. Outside was over 30ËšC, so in the kitchen it mush have been 25ËšC-ish
  • Rested in the fridge overnight and then baked the next morning
  • When removing the dough from the banneton, it stuck badly and I had to be a bit rough with it to get it out

The oven spring was moderate, with a decent ear and the crust was really crusty and flavourful. But the loaf felt very heavy for its size and the crumb slightly gummy. Those large holes also make me think something was not exactly right, but I don't know what!

Can anyone give me some pointers on what to try next? I really appreciate it :)

 

 

 

Ilya Flyamer's picture
Ilya Flyamer

Welcome! For a "first" loaf this is awesome. Probably your loaf is a little underfermented. With a young starter and an inexperienced baker this is totally normal :) Just give it a little more time. 8-9h is already quite long, did it rise a lot or not much?

For the starter, you say it doubles, but how much water and flour do you add and how long does it take to double?

Highly recommend getting a scale. Otherwise there is no way to have a consistent recipe and monitor improvements. Would be very useful to know how much starter, flour and water you used.

Abe's picture
Abe

Keep on giving it some TLC and it'll continue to improve. 

Nice loaf but a bit under-fermented. Nothing wrong with your starter. Keep feeding and baking with it.Â