What went wrong with my sourdough loaf?
Title suggests a failure but the loaf is very nice to eat! Its a 75% hydration. Only been making bread for a under a year so bit of a noob
So its good! however its got a dense section next to the base. I just started baking on a breadstone. Don't know my gas ovens max temperature but I pre-heated on full (gas mark 9)for 1 hour with stone on middle shelf. I seem to recall a loaf I baked without the bread stone suffering the same fate once or twice.
The crust on the base is very pale, the bubbles are almost too big and then dense down at the base. I'm going to try moving the stone both up and down in the oven to see what's best for that but underproofed or overproofed could be the problem? I let the loafs rise in the airing cupboard as it was quite cold in the kitchen. They had about 3 hours in there. And I guess about doubled in size maybe just under. They certainly didnt puddle out too much when put on the peel. Maybe I need to be more gentle putting them on the peel? They were proofed seam side up in baskets
Anyway. Any pointers or tips would be great. Here's some pics of the loaf
Thanks for the help!