Sourdough analysis
Hi all, so I've been baking more sourdough, and am quite happy with it. It isn't sour at all, which I'm fine with. My questions are; why is my bread triangle in profile, instead of round or oval, and what causes huge air pockets like the ones in the photo?
My recipe is 65% hydration, 9% protein white flour, 2% salt, 1/2 tsp of diastatic malt powder, 2 tsp non-diastatic. I use 100g of starter for a total of 400g of flour. I am doing a short bulk ferment where I mix everything including the refreshed and ready starter until it just comes together in the mixer, then do a few stretch & folds in the bowl every 20 minutes for an hour, shape the dough, then put it into a banneton and into the fridge for 14h, followed by a room temperature rise for 6h before baking it at 270C for 40 minutes with 12 minutes of steam.
I don't have a problem with the way my bread is turning out, I'm just curious :)
Thanks!
.
The first thing that jumps out at me without delving deeper is the flour you're using is not strong bread flour. Strong gluten would be 11 - 14% and will give you better results. As to that being the cause of the issue or just the by-and-by is another matter but just thought i'd point that out.
I don't use stronger flour out of preference; I use French T65 bread flour, French bread flour is typically lower in protein content than American flours. :)
with letters and numbers confuses me. I know high gluten flour as strong bread flour. Perhaps mixing a little in should help but as you say it's your preference. Another issue could be gluten development. Perhaps you need to develop the gluten more with reducing the amount of starter and increasing the bulk fermentation time. Plus incorporate some more stretch and folds. making the starter 10% of flour you use (i.e. if you use 500g of flour then use 50g of active starter). Increase the bulk fermentation to 6 hours doing a stretch and fold every hour. Then de-gas and final proof in the banneton. Also it could be shaping and scoring issues. When being baked the CO2 gets heated up and has to escape and will find the weakest point in the dough. This is why one scores the bread in order to guide the escaping gas were you choose and creating a nice pattern as well.
... should be between 12 and 14% protein. so it's a relatively strong flour.
If your using 9% flour, then it would be T45 which is fine pastry flour, not T65.
See: http://www.weekendbakery.com/posts/understanding-flour-types/
-Gordon
Nope, it is T65. The number is not used to indicate protein content, it indicates ash content. French bread flour has always been weaker than American flour in protein content. I'm afraid that as much as I like weekend bakery, they are wrong in this case. That said, most T65 bread flours are between 10-12%, I just happen to have a slightly weaker one.
The High proportion of starter you are using will speed things up. Perhaps you are over proofing. Another reason to decrease the starter percentage. You like to spread your baking out over a longer period so give yourself more time by decreasing the amount of starter. If you still wish to have the same size loaf then try this...
400g flour
100g starter (i'm presuming at 100% hydration)
65% hydration (including starter?) so that will equal 242.5g water
2% salt = 8g
So your bread is about 750g
How about...
430g flour
43g starter (at 100% hydration)
272g water
8g salt
Increase your bulk fermentation time incorporating more stretch and folds with an hour rest in-between. Shape into banneton and refrigerate straight away. When it comes to baking be very careful it doesn't overproof when leaving it out at room temperature as proofing will happen in the fridge too just at a slower pace.
The lack of height and air trapped at the top suggests overproofing to me. Everything else looks good, the crumb elsewhere is open and gelatinised, and the crust looks good.
My logical approach to problems suggests that you should elimiate things to determine where the problem lies. My suspicion is the 6 hr proof at room temp following the 14hr retard. I would cut that back. However, to eliminate issues of ingredients and shaping techniques, I would make this loaf without the retard. With 25% starter you should be able to mix, do 1hr S+F, shape, banneton, proof at room temp for 3-5 hrs and bake. If that produces a loaf with good height and no large air pockets then we can deduce that the problems lie with the retard or 6hr proof.
Possible options:
1) Reduce retard or final proof time
2) Lower % of starter to better allow for your 14hr retard and 6hr proof
3) Use a more acidic starter to promote dough strength
4) Shape after the retard rather than before to "knock back" any large air pockets
GL
It's a flying crust which is either due to overproofing or shaping errors. But based on the formula I think its the long time proofing after being retarded. You should be able to bake that loaf direct from the fridge or withing 1-2 hours tops after removing if it needs more rise. This flying crust seems to be creating the triangular shape which will be resolved when this problem is figured out.
Otherwise the formula seems sound for a loaf that will be retarded overnight.
I'd start with just reducing the final proofing time. I'd start by baking cold and then adjust from there myself.
Josh
It seems overproofing might be a problem, that does seem to make sense. But then I have a few more questions regarding this. My bread hasn't doubled in size when I put it in the oven, and in fact, it has barely risen at all when I take it out of the fridge after the cold retard. Also, I proof it seam-side up in the banneton, so the top of the bread where the large bubbles are, is actually at the bottom during proofing and I only flip it over right before putting it in the oven. It doesn't deflate when I score it, although it does spread out quite flat (regardless of whether I score or not), but it bounces right back up when it bakes. Would this still indicate overproofing?
Regardless, I'll try reducing the proofing time out of the fridge by half and see what results that gives.
Letting your dough final proof in the banneton for 30min before refrigeration then bake straight from the fridge. This way you won't be tempted to leave it too long when taking out of the fridge and risk over proofing. If you are trying to finish off proofing after refrigeration it is more difficult to judge.
Also it is popular belief that the dough has to double with final proofing. This is not so. Firstly you'll risk over proofing which will happen quickly. Secondly it is better to slightly under proof than over proof. And last but not least you'll get a good result from 1.5x and letting oven spring do the work. When shaping de-gas enough so the dough can be handled and shaped but de-gas fully. Try and keep a little in there.
Oops typo. Meant to say "don't completely de-gas". Take enough out for shaping purposes and to give it a second rise but not so much that non remains.
Despite your overall lengthy fermentation time, this loaf is underproofed. My guess is that it's a front end problem. In other words, either your starter is not active enough or it's not getting enough of a jump start before being tossed in the fridge (only 1 hour bulk before refrigeration).
If you throw inactive dough into the fridge it's not gonna budge, no matter how long you let it proof in there. Even after taking it out and letting it sit at room temp for 6 hours, it's gonna be too little too late.
I'd suggest starting with a longer bulk ferment at room temp before shaping. The dough should increase in volume by at least 30% before shaping -- 50% even better. If this isn't happening within 4-6 hours at room temp then your starter isn't active enough, or you're simply not developing enough gluten with your low protein flour to trap the gas very well.
Cheers!
Trevor