Uneven oven spring in sourdough boules
Folks, I've been baking sourdough boules pretty much weekly since March, and have been happy in general with the results (sometimes great oven spring, crumb, and texture). However, I have been plagued by an occasional boule that seems "flattened" on one side compared to the other. This has happened when there was absolutely *nothing* different from the times I have had great results, and there's no obvious attributable cause. So, I was hoping that someone here might have had the same issue and could point me to something I'm overlooking.
I do 700g flour (625 bread + 75 whole wheat) to 525 g water. I combine starter with 475 g of the water then add flour, and autolyze (without salt) for 60 minutes. Add in the salt (dissolved in 50 g of the water) and BF with stretch and folds for 2.5 hours (until dough passes windowpane test) and then for an additional 2.5 hours (until it has risen by 1/3 volume, I can see bubbles forming on the top and bottom, and it "wobbles" when gently rocked). The dough temperature throughout this process remains at about 78 degrees.
I shape in the usual way, gathering the dough on the bottom and flipping over then rolling the boule downwards gently with my top hand and rotating until all the way around. 20 minute bench rest, final shaping, then overnight proofing in the fridge.
The starter was in excellent shape; in the feed before I made my levain it had tripled. What on earth gives?
are you rotating the loaf during the bake? Temp? Fan?
Got a crumb shot thru the suspicious area?
I'm so sorry I never saw these comments!
I didn't rotate at all. I'm baking in a dutch oven, 20 minutes at 500 deg, then 10 at 450 deg.
While I don't have a picture of this particular crumb, I continue to have this problem from time to time and can tell you when I investigated that the problem area has always been dense, with fewer holes than the rest of the loaf.
To me, the logical reason for this seems like somehow that one section was underproofed (?) but it just doesn't make sense how that could be, because this is happening in loaves that were made with a very strong starter and which were *incredibly* light and fluffy when I did the shaping (BF was done at around 80 deg. for 5.5 hours, with an overnight retard in the fridge). I would say that the dough seemed to be acting exactly the same as it had on some near-perfect bakes.
Could it be my shaping??
Maybe it's slightly overfermented. Maybe try proofing for 2-4 hours less.
Thanks - generally I don't do a super long BF (usually about 5.5. hours at 78 - 80 deg) but I guess I could try that.
Maybe you inadvertently smooshed the loaf a little with your off hand while scoring?
Otherwise maybe move 30-to-60 minutes of your bulk to a final proof after final shaping and before retarding. Thinking the dough may not have fully recovered from the final shaping and then not re-inflated during the long, cold proof before baking. My reefer is 38DF and my dough does not expand much at all during retard, even after 12 hours.
Best wishes. Dave
Thanks for the comment Dave. Can you say more about this process of recovering from the final shaping? I don't really understand much about that process.
Also, for clarity, here's exactly what I did: 75g levain + 525 g water + 700 g flour, fermentolyze for ~90 minutes (without salt, added in after). BF for 5.5 hours at 78 -80 deg with S+Fs for the first 2.5 hours until the dough has bulked up a bit and is fluffy/puffy. Initial shape, bench rest for 20 minutes, final shape, then straight into the fridge.
Are you suggesting that I do the shaping a little earlier (e.g. at 4.5 hours) and then let it proof on the bench for 60 minutes before retard?
One other thing I should also add, maybe.
I also have noticed some really (I mean REALLY) big bubbles when I've been shaping. Like, some surface ones that are about quarter sized by occasionally 1 or 2 that seem to be about the size of a third of the volume of the boule. Once or twice, I intentionally popped them, and the end result wasn't good, and probably what you'd expect: the crumb was meh, pretty close, not open and lacy like I prefer.
Any idea why there would be such enormous pockets of gas? The dough passed the windowpane test with flying colors so I don't think it's a gluten development problem...
bubbles when shaping otherwise you tend to underproof the dough. Think also about rotating the retarding dough in the refrigerator as often times the back is cooler than the front and be carefull not to lean the container all the way to the back wall where the cold temp could be unevenly slowing down part of the dough.
A crumb shot could surely help. Next time it happens, post a photo if you can.