April 11, 2020 - 6:07pm
sourdough didn't rise and dough is wet and super sticky
I made 2 batches of dough 12 hours apart from my starter. I used the 1-2-3 recipe and both times the dough was really wet, super sticky and didn't rise much. It's so sticky and wet that it doesn't hold a shape at all. I haven't baked either batch. Threw one in the compost pile. Wondering if I can save the other one. I made it this morning at about 9:30 am Pacific time.
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I have the same problem. Nonetheless I proofed it for 4 hours room temperature and then 10 hours in the fridge. My dough developed a skin on the outside. But the dough maintained the same wet consistency and had very little bubble. I did finger test, the dough didn’t bounce back. I tried tasting the dough and it was sour. But still smelling fresh.
The same thing happened the first time I tried. And it stuck to my hands so much that I just gave up and tossed it into the compost pile, although I did fry a bit up in a pan with some olive oil. Made a pretty tasty flat bread, albeit a bit chewy.
It’s difficult to know just how wet and slack your dough is. Some bakers can handle “slop”. Skill and technique makes a huge difference.
But I do have a few thoughts.
For Your Present Dough
I’ll standby waiting for your reply for a while. I know this is time sensitive.
Danny
I used unbleached all purpose flour. It's all I can find these days and even that is difficult. I used 100 g of starter, 200 g of water and 300 g of flour. I put it on parchment with the intent of baking it but then changed my mind and snapped a pic before I put it back in the bowl. I did work it on the countertop prior. It's incredibly slack and sticky. No window pane at all. I tried water and oil to prevent sticking. Oil worked better to prevent it from sticking to my hands. The starter is 100% hydration.
I put it in the fridge for now. It did look a bit poofier so maybe it just needs more time.
Forgot to mention, I used the last of my KA white whole wheat flour to make the starter. The first 4-5 feeds were with that and then I had to switch to AP.
Assuming more liquids were not added to the dough you could try the following.
Measure out 35 grams of white flour and place in a bowl. Start kneading in a little flour at a time until you can just barely handle it. Too much flour will produce a brick.
If you find that all of the extra flour is needed to will have reduced the hydration from 71.5 to 65%. But only use as much as is necessary.
OH! If you have a bread pan, you could try baking it in that.
if you can post a short video to YouTube showing how wet and slack the dough is, that would be helpful.
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I tried adding more flour. Didn't seem to help any. Not sure what is going on but I decided to try adding a tsp of yeast to see if it will rise and if so, I'll bake it and see what happens. Ultimately, I'm just going to move on and try a different recipe. Found one on YouTube from an Irish baker- that looks pretty simple so I may try that next.
Based on my experience, my best two guesses are too high hydration and/or too little mixing. Did you do the 1-2-3 method by volume or by weight?
Might also be your flour, some just absorb less, some more moisture. But that shouldn't account for such a soupy mess.
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I'm starting to think I mistimed my starter or it just wasn't ready quite yet.I started another batch of dough today being a bit more careful and it seems to be rising now. I am a little scared to touch it. It still looks pretty wet.
I ended up baking the old one in a Pyrex loaf pan. Didn't really follow the instructions because I really didn't think anything good would happen. I think if I had used a smaller pan and covered it with foil it may have turned out quite decent. It's actually really tasty and the crumb is quite good. The bottom crust is nearly inedible. The top is a bit hard but crackly and tastes good.
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Got a decent rise. Dough was still much too sticky to handle or shape. But bread is pretty good.
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