What can I do for bigger bubbles?

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Kaktus on 23 Sep 2025 at 23:24
Cut surface of bread

Hi! I am pretty new to sourdough and seeking some advise! Have done a few loaves and they come out good but I am trying to get some bigger bubbles/more open crumb. What should I try to change first? Have done increasingly longer fermentations and a little bit higher hydration, but they all look the same! Am I under/overfermenting? Too much rye? Too little gluten development?
 

Starter is mixed rye and wheat and very happy looking
Hydration 71-75%

50-65 g starter

350-370 g water

500 g flour (40-60 g coarse rye, rest wheat)

10 g salt


I autolyse 1 h, add salt and knead a little, stretch and fold 4-5 times.

Bulk ferment 4-6 h in room temp or 10 h in 16*. Cold ferment 12-24 h in fridge after shaping. Dough is rising very well to double volume and is easy to handle and shape without flour.

Baked in dutch oven 35 min w/ lid + approx 10 min withouth. 

I think it looks good the way it is. My preference is not to have large holes as, when toasted, the butter drips through.

 

Agree that it looks good already, but also get it about having those nice big gaps in the crumb associated with sourdough bread. 

One thing I have found is that when I need to retard the final proving in the fridge, the resulting crumb is more even and the alveoli smaller. 

Maybe try once without the fridge retardation and see what happens. 

In general I find that leaving the bulk ferment a little longer and reducing the proving a little while keeping the overall fermentation time the same can lead to larger alveoli.

"Well-fermented" seems to be the buzz phrase of the moment, whatever it actually means - I suspect it means whatever you want it to....

Lance (sounding like Davey)