Persistent Loaf Issues
Hi there,
Can anyone help?? I keep having similar problems with multiple loaves. They taste good, but rise really unevenly in the oven. There are huge holes some places and much denser areas elsewhere. The crust is also very tough and the crumb is a little too chewy, almost rubbery. Are there any red flags or dead giveaways I'm missing in the procedure and pictures below?! I'd love it if there were!
I've been doing 50g whole wheat flour + 450g white flour (a 50/50 mix of King Arthur bread flour & AP flour) and 350g water, 45 min. autolyse
Then 50g more water, 10g salt and 100g starter (100% hydration, fed the same flour mix as dough) all mixed by hand
Then a first stretch-and-fold in a bowl from 4 sides and a rest, covered with plastic, for 30 minutes, repeating this every 30 minutes for 2 hours
After 2 hours, I pre-shape into one round loaf and rest for 30 minutes, then final shape and upside down into a floured towel in a colander
I've been putting it straight into the fridge at this point, with the towel draped over top, for about 18 hrs
I've baked in a 6-qt dutch oven, (pre heated to 500F for about an hour then dropped to 450) for 25 minutes
Then the lid comes off and bakes another 20 minutes
Then I pop it out of the dutch oven and straight onto the rack to brown a little more
Is there anything here that gives me away?
Thanks!
P.S. The starter is relatively new, a matter of months. It usually rises a little over double about 5 hours after a feeding.
Loaf1.JPG