Why no airpockets?
First Attempt at Same day white Bread recipe from Ken Forkish FWS and the crumb came out dense (delicious) but with minimal air holes and none of the large airpockets!
I just made this bread yesterday and my crumb did not have the large air pockets and looked much denser on the inside.
Here is what I did, I cut the recipe in half so I used 500 grams of bread flour (next time will probably use KA All purpose), 360 grams of water at 94 degrees and 11 grams of salt and 2 grams instant yeast. I folded the bread a total of 2 times which is what he says in the book, not counting the 1st fold when mixing in the salt and yeast. I let the dough ferment for around 4 hours. I shaped it and let it proof for an hour, it seemed to pass the finger dent test. During the shaping process there was one mishap when the top of the dough ripped and I had to reshape it into a boule the second time. I think this probably where I went wrong.
I baked it at 475 in a 4qt dutch oven. The bread had a good rise and good height but no airpockets. I am very confused.
Like I said earlier, the bread came out much more dense than I expected with minimal air pockets. The flavor of the bread was absolutely delicious tho, chewy crust and crumb. I let it cool for about 30 minutes before cutting it open.
Any suggestions for how to improve this attempt to get the big air pockets? Use All purpose flour, shorter bulk fermentation or longer, be more careful in shaping, did I maybe overproof it?
Can you recheck the recipe in the book?
I think with that little yeast, not surprising that you didn't get a good rise. I can't figure out yeast totally--but the only time I have used hardly any like that is when I am doing a 24 or more hour rise (i.e. a no Knead type thing). Yeast theoretically multiplies when active, but maybe that's why? The salt to yeast ratio also seems high to me. salt is supposed to be a "yeast inhibitor" from what I've read. I'm not a scientist nor a pro baker, but I have about 8 years experience doing bread. How many tsp is that 2 g? 1/4? 1/8?
And I'd say the bread flour is where I have gotten best results. Higher protein content.
shape the pizza also has a bearing on this. If it is dough that was just made it tends to have a lot of resistance to being rolled out so you may be deflating all the air in the dough. I find when I rest the dough for 24 to 48 hours much of the gluten has broken down and I shape it without the need for a rolling pin and I don't tear it with the back of my hand which happens with fresh dough.
Gerhard
How did the dough look during the bulk ferment? Was it at least doubled after the 4 hours? One thing that isn't clear from your post is how much you worked the dough before the four hour bulk ferment. If all you did was one stretch and fold to work in the salt and yeast, then two subsequent s&f, you might try working the dough for longer after you add the salt and yeast. Both need to be very well distributed throughout the dough, and the gluten needs to be developed through manipulation if you are going for a relatively short (four hour) bulk ferment. That step seems to be glossed over a bit in many of the videos and books using fairly high-hydration doughs. You do need to work the dough (pinching, stretching, folding, slap & fold, the Breadwerx method, or whatever) for probably at least five minutes, and I would say more like ten, to get a good strong dough that will hold the fermentation gases and water vapour for those nice holes. And you really need to make sure the yeast is well distributed so it can have lots of food to grow and multiply.