May 8, 2020 - 8:33pm
What factors lead to an open crumb?
No matter how hard I try, I cant seem to get an open crumb. It's not terrible, and it is all uniform, but it's not super open like I see in a lot of pictures. I'm not even sure I'd like it as it seems like the holes would be horrible for spreading honey and butter, but I want to try to achieve the open crumb just because I...can't. Thanks!
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What kind of bread are you making? It'll be easier to discuss a particular recipe.
I have been trying this no knead recipe. I have made probably 10 boules because I'm bored out of my mind and all my neighbors like bread! They actually turn out very good, but I dont get a very open crumb. I've upped the hydration a bit, to about 76%, and still get the same thing. I can get good tension on top, but the bottom side always has a seam on it that splays out, which I hate. I do stretch and folds 3-4 times, but after the second set, or after half way through the second set of stretch and folds, it is not very stretchy anymore, so I just do what I can.
Dont just stretch the dough... feel its tension and stretch it faster than it naturally wants. By the third pull in the set you should usually find its tensioned itself such that you can lift the whole doughball out with that one handful.
If you Stretch in the same 4 directions you miss approx 1/2 of the dough which is left unstretched, unless you grab a wider area to pull.
Fold in the motion of a breaking wave... tip first. Fold gently.
In the first sets of SFs you can fingerprod the folds landingpad akin to pockmarking a foccacia top. You create uniform wells to hold air that wont get pushed out on folding. Doing this later will close the holes again by knocking down, so careful.
Turning or scooping the dough from a bowl after the yeast has worked twists the dough collapsing holes in the outer inch of the surface. This is why people get large holes in the middle but small holes around the edge.
One of the first things you can do is increase the hydration level of your dough, do an autolyse, very little or no kneading but a lot of stretch and folds.