Hello everyone and a question re too thick a crust
I've been gathering courage to ask a question here following a long time of turning to this site and forums for information.
I have been making sourdough breads at home for about a year now, and I'm pretty happy with my results.
I tried following Peter Reinhart's method but found the breads baked with his mother dough not airy enough. I turned to a different recipe, for a more hydrated mother dough and that one worked out great for me.
I believe you guys would categorize the mother dough I go by as following a 60%-40% ratio, as it consists of 300 grams of mother dough, 170 ml of water and 130 grams of whole wheat flour.
I create a starter from 300 grams (10.6 ounces) fed mother dough, 560 ml. water and 400 grams (18 ounces) whole wheat flour and after about 12 hours I create dough by adding 400 grams (18 ounces) whole wheat flour,
15 grams of salt and 200 grams (7 ounces) of seeds or nuts.
I create a humid environment as per Reinhart's suggestions (for the home baker), mist and score the unbaked loaves, bake at 450° F and than at 375° F.
You can see my full method here.
My friend, who tried following my method, says the crust is too thick for him. I know, this is crazy - I love a thick crunchy crust! but I promised him I will try to find out what can he change in order to get a thinner, more delicate crust.
Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
HSG
Doesnt look so thick, hotter for less time? Sometimes too much steam can give a thicker crust though thats usually a bit leathery?
boiling water 10 minutes earlier, and see if that makes a difference.
Thanks again!
... with boiling water 10 minutes early.
Starting at 32 minutes, that's still a lot of time with steam. It's only needed as long as the oven spring is happening, which will be in the first five minutes or so, after that, it just makes for a heavy crust, as your friend seems to have discovered.
And why add so much water that you have to open the oven for long enough to remove it later? If you only dump a small amount into the empty pan it will all evaporate, you won't need to remove the pan and the next time the oven opens is when the loaves come out, saving heat being wasted.
Agreed about hotter for less time. I'd start as hot as your oven can manage for the first five minutes only, for the oven spring, and I wouldn't drop the temp below 410°F for the second part of the bake. How long to bake for will depend on the size of the loaves and the flour but you could probably cut the overall time by 10 minutes, perhaps more.
You can get a softer crust by substituting milk for some or all of the water in your recipe. Like you, I appreciate a good solid crust, but there are those who don't for whatever reason. It's nice to be able to accommodate their taste without much trouble.
All milk makes for a heavy texture. Id recomend a bit of butter or oil and a touch of yoghurt or milk.
that to my friend.
A million thanks!
for best results.
seen recipes substituting milk for some of the water.
I try to bake dairy free breads (all kinds of allergies in my family) but will ask my friend to try doing that and reporting back.
Thanks!
:) we make many vegan breads, oil works well
you substitute with oil?
For us its not so much a substitute because we put it the original recipe :) .... Im not sure whwat your recipe looks like but you could just try 10 to 15g per loaf, our finished loaves weigh up between 760 and 780g, and thats what we do.
We use olive oil for savoury and almond oil for sweet as it had a more neutral flavour. Just take out that much water I suppose and see how you go
each so the 15 gr per loaf sounds reasonable.
If my friend tries the oil method, I'll keep you posted.
Thanks!
Oil does not effect hydration so no need to reduce the water.