October 30, 2015 - 3:05am
How do I get more/better holes in my crumb ?
Hi
I am reasonable happy with the Rustic bread I've been baking recently but pictures show it has bigger holes.
What is it in the process that gives bread its holes and how can I encourage bigger holes in the crumb structure ?
Thanks !
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Hydration, kneading, dough handling, and proper proofing can all contribute to the crumb structure. Do you have a baking stone? Are you steaming the oven? What is the hydration of the dough? How are you mixing?
I am following a recipe, not sure what the hydration is ? http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/rusticbread
I don't have a stone, I am using steam and I mix by hand. I am following the recipe to the letter. Is a wetter dough more likely to produce bigger holes, or perhaps a wetter preferment ? ?
High hydration, type of flour and dough handling all effects the crumb.
Higher hydration, less kneading and bread flour will all contribute to bigger holes.
I think it's more important how high the final dough is rather than the preferment.
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Preferment:
1 lb. (454g) bread flour (3 1/2 cups)
9.5 oz. (269g) water (1 1/4 cups)
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/8 teaspoon instant yeast
Final dough:
10 oz. (284g) bread flour (2 1/2 cups)
6 oz. (170g) whole wheat or rye flour or a mixture of them (around 1 1/2 cups)
12.5 oz. (354g) water (1 1/2 cups)
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
all of the preferment
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I was going to say increase the hydration of the preferment as Floyd talks of difficulty in combining the preferment into the dough but I think don't tamper with that. stick to the recipe as it is. Give it an initial knead to combine but then afterwards stick to stretch and folds to develop the gluten.
A good way is... leaving the dough in the bowl take a portion of the dough from the side, pull it up and over then press it down in the middle. Rotate the bowl slightly and repeat. Go round the dough till you feel it resisting. Cover the bowl and let it rest for 10 minutes. Repeat this process 3 or 4x till you feel the dough is ready then cover again for the remainder of the bulk ferment.
See how that helps.
At 69% hydration, I would expect holes similar to the ones Floyd got. What flour are you using? The stone could make a difference in the oven spring which will translate to bigger holes, but I am pretty sure it is the handling of the dough.
The first thing is to make sure you don't add too much bench flour. Higher hydration is helpful in getting bigger holes. Since you are doing this by hand, the tendency is to add flour to make it easier to work with. Also, you can add some extra water if you need to since absorption rates of flour can be different.
That said, as the dough progresses, you want to handle it more gently with each stretch and fold. Don't punch down the dough when preshaping or shaping. The act of shaping will be enough to degas the dough while maintaining some of the nice open crumb. This is usually where people need practice and makes a big difference in the crumb structure.
The rye and whole wheat in this recipe will absorb more water and weigh it down a little. So I wouldn't expect ciabatta sized holes. But the ones that Floyd got is reasonable if handled well. Looking at his picture, I would say he did a great job with Hamelman's loaf. I would not get discouraged if it takes you time to get it to look like that. Hamelman's Country Loaf is almost the exact same thing except he uses all white flour and uses 68% hydration since there is no whole wheat or rye.
If you want big holes, there are other recipes out there. For instance, Hamelman's Pain Rustique (which means Rustic Bread, but is slightly different than what he calls his "Rustic Bread" formula). This one uses only white flour and a poolish rather than a firm pre-ferment. But the hydration is the same. It also uses an autolyse which can help. So, again, not Ciabatta sized holes, but should give some nice big irregular holes. The flavor will of course be different.
If you want REALLY big holes, then Ciabatta is the way to go. It does take some practice to handle the dough.
Do you have a dutch oven? That can help with oven spring as well since you don't have a stone.
Thanks for all of the advice, very much appreciated. Can an upturned Le Creuset casserole pot work as a Dutch oven ?
I think it should be fine.
I think the problem I would have with something like that is not being able to see the bread, sounds like you will need a lot of 'trust' that everything is baking as it should....
to let the dough ferment longer to get bigger holes. (No punching down. Use a gentler approach to degassing.
The one thing I am finding very challenging is getting the dough out of the bowl and folding, it is very sticky and despite flouring my hands and the bench it is difficult not to have it stick to both the bench and my hands. How do you handle this ?
I find a bowl scraper very useful for cleanly getting dough out of the bowl. Wetting it helps reduce sticking. For handling on the countertop, I use a bench scraper (floured) so I can scrape the bench surface and minimise contact with my hands while shaping (or folding). You will get some sticking, I find quicker movements help too.