August 31, 2011 - 1:33am
large holes in crumb
I am recently getting large holes in my crumb over a 50 cent piece size and am after any thoughts as to why this is happening it is only a recent problem and would like to get my breads back on track. the dough is a white sour with only white flour used and is refrigerated over night. Thanks
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A pic or two would be helpful... most artisan bakers strive for 'open' crumb like that, especially in sourdoughs, but that's of course open cumb relative to the overall crumb. It's hard to say without seeing it whether you did something good, or not... hehe
Wide holes are generally achieved by higher hydration doughs (not in all cases), not over-kneading the dough, and careful handling of the dough (especially while final shaping) to not de-gas it very much.
Underproofing generally leads to 'blowouts', or areas of the loaf that protrude more than others (definitely would be noticed as a defect). You don't mention that, so that's probably not it. Overproofing generally leads to flattened/dense loaves, otherwise known as 'bricking', and that doesn't seem to be your problem as stated. I'd say, if you want a denser crumb, you might not be developing the gluten as much as you used to, and you might not be de-gassing it enough before final shaping. That's off the top of my head if, and until, at some point we can get a few pictures.
- Keith
It could simply be you are handlng your dough a bit more gently and not adequately degassing in the forming process. Or you could be forming early.
Good Luck!
Jay
ok thanks guys i was thinking the problem here was over mixing but i will get some photos wen i get a chance thanks