FWSY Country Brown Levain
So I've spent a few weeks in the shadows, reading tips on the boards, but I need some help.
I received FWSY for Christmas, and spent some time making my own Levain. My levain is very active, and it has no problem making bread rise.
Where I have problems is that after I do all of my stretch and folds, and then set it overnight for bulk fermentation, it becomes almost completely unmanageable when I'm shaping it into a loaf the following morning before I put it into a banneton basket. It won't hold any form, and I can't form a nice skin or anything on it. It just tears and the sticky center comes spilling out. And this is even after I really flour my counter space.
Ken Forkish recommends an overnight bulk ferment, and my dough tends to rise to almost 3x-4x the original size, with bubbles forming on the surface of the dough by the following morning. It just won't stretch and form into a loaf.
I have a few ideas, and I tend to think that I'm either over-fermenting my dough causing a complete loss of structure, or there's something wrong with my whole wheat flour.
I tried making a loaf with very little whole wheat flour, reduced the bulk fermentation by a few hours, and reduced the proof by an hour, and the loaf worked out just fine. It was easy to shape, and baked up with a decent crumb.
Any ideas?
Glad to have you with us and congrats on getting your starter up and active!
I think you're correct in assessing that your dough is over-fermented, especially if it has been on the counter all that time. Long ferments really boost the flavors, so if the timing works well for you, try covering the dough and refrigerating overnight instead.
Come back soon and let us know how it's going,
Cathy
I'm working on the same loaf and although I have been able to shape the loafs and bake them to a decent bread, I'm struggling too. My crumb doesn't open as much as I'm used to with other loafsand the dough is harder to shape than others I've tried.
My assessment also was that it over-fermented.
But because of scheduling I really like the idea of doing an overnight bulk fermentation on the counter (17C/63-66F) and shape / proof quickly in the morning to have bread ready by 9 or 10am or so. This way I don't have to wait for the loaf to warm up if I retard the dough in the fridge for the bulk fermentation.
Occasionally I'm also doing it the other way around: a long proof following on a 3 to 4 hour bulk fermentation. But because I want to scale up to larger quantities and don't have that large a fridge, I really want to bulk ferment on the counter...
I guess it's just playing with the various factors involved in bulk fermentation to get to a schedule that works (=slows down bulk fermentation) such as water temperature (affect initial dough temperature which in turn affects fermentation speed), room temperature, amount of levain (less = slower bulk fermentation). Others?