Sourdough rye w/ caraway comes out FLAT....!
I have been having the WORST LUCK lately making sourdough rye w/ caraway seeds in our commercial wood-fired oven lately!
We have been trying to adopt Dan Leader's formula to larger batches (20kg) in a commercial environment. The sourdough starter is made over three builds, the last being about 10hrs prior to loading the mixer. During bulk fermentation the dough seems to rise quite nicely in the tubs, and this is repeated when the loaves (batard shape) prove in our make-shift proofing chamber. For these two stages we tend to adhere to 2.5hrs bulk fermentation and 2-2.5hrs proving. All seems to go according to plan until they are loaded into the oven chamber (on a typical conveyor). But then...
We dare to take a peek after about 30min of baking only to find that the breads have lost all that vigor that the dough and loaves showed during bulk fermentation and proving. Basically they just go flat - so much that the overall volume is LESS than that which was loaded onto the conveyor prior before loading into the oven. UGH!!! (And we're actually supposed to sell the things?!)
Any ideas as to what we might be doing wrong? Maybe the proving time is too long? Something else? We could sure use some ideas from anyone out there.
Note: In a home environment and using the same rye sourdough culture, the breads rise very nicely. Go figure...
Cheers
Jim