Help needed - my breads are blowing up like balloons
I’m at my wits end and could use some help!
I’ve picked up sourdough baking some months ago and have been every other day since - I must have baked around 50 breads already.
But apart from one lucky exception that I was never able to reproduce, all my breads refuse to develop an ear, and the scoring fuses immediately. They have good oven spring, and the crumb is usually quite nice, but I would love to produce a nice ‘ear’.
My starter is strong, a mix of rye and white flour that I feed twice a day. The bread in the pic is a 75% hydration mostly white flour, inspired by the case studies in Trevor Wilson’s ebook (which I completely read btw), meaning I did a long autolyse and used a relative mature starter, 5 min of Rubaud mixing, 3 S&F, 5 hours bulk rise until volume was increased 30% (it was a cold day) and straight into the fridge after shaping for overnight retarding (9 hours). Baked at 240 degrees on a baking steel with stream for first 20 min.
But I’ve tried many different variations (also took much inspiration from Maurizio’s website): higher hydration’s, different flours, more S&F, less mixing, longer proof, shorter proof, more bulk, less bulk, younger levain, different scoring,...
... and I get more or less always the same balloon effect.
What could be the reason???
Any suggestions or pointers are welcome! I’ll also add a pic of the crumb later - but I suspect it will be good!
Try cutting down to about half or even less that size (whatever it is) maybe even a third th size. Start small - see if you can produce an ear then work up from there ;)
It’s not a big loaf - 800 gr. I tried making smaller sizes as well (splitting it in two to try two different shapings etc) but it all gave the same result...
One smaller load in the oven. Not splitting in two at the same time in the oven
So these are pictures of the inside - I’m happy with this, though I think the bread has more open crumb potential but it is ‘constrained’ by its own skin.
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The crumb is excellent, I wonder if the top of your dough is too close to the top of the oven? Perhaps it is crisping up too soon and thus isn’t able to fracture open and bloom. The bottom crust in that cut shot looks much lighter than the top, suggesting that there isn’t enough heat at the bottom and too much at the top. What rack in the oven are you baking at? Is your oven gas or electric? Are you using a convection setting? Do you bake in a dutch oven or how are you generating steam?
Benny
I started having great ears once I started baking in a Dutch Oven. I'm not too sure about the physics of that, but my guess is that the heat dries and sets the skin too fast, before it can spring open nicely. Your crumb looks great and open, so I don't think there is any fault in your recipe and process.
I agree with Bennie and Bani, the problem is a baking one. Very astute of Bennie to notice the bottom was not browned as much as the top.
Please describe in detail your oven setup and baking method. Your loaf is browning too quickly. Once the crust browns, it hardens. And once it hardens, expansion is no longer possible.
The great news is, if you are going to have a problem, this is a fantastic problem to have. The tight ballon like loaf is an indicator of high Internal gas pressure, which if allowed to expand will produce outstanding oven spring. Without massive oven spring, ears are impossible.
I have dealt with this issue in the past. Check out this video, paying special attention to the breads with “glued down ears”.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/61659/ear-bloom-and-oven-spring-skin-deep-beauty
HERE is a good example of “glued down ears”.
HTH,
Danny
Why is the crumb tighter than any other area near the score fracture?
Can someone venture a guess?
Not a good guess, but the gas in the dough there wasn't able to expand as well as the other areas of the dough. Did it crisp up too quickly? Not enough steam and too close to the heating element?
Bennie, I’m thinking just the opposite. Because of the score the crust was allowed to expand more than other areas. That’s why the tight crumb near the score makes me wonder.
I hope someone has a definitive answer for this.
I think gives us a good insight as to the heat entering the dough first from the bottom and side and the dense part didnt receive enough oomph fast enough. Hence my suggestion (as dan knows) to put a little mini loaf in one at a time. Its incredible how much physics has tondondonwith this process !
This is a different cross-section... It does not show the same compression - maybe it was a local thing... the bottom is also a bit thicker here and about as thick as the top I would say...
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That wherever in cases like this (not all and maybe not this case) but the dense zones indicate that overall heat is not sufficient to make it all the way though the loaf. Of course other things like elasticity, taught skin, steam all matter too. I just dont think this loaf got a real oven kick and that is really critical to the ear development. What I'm saying is that if you take that same recipe, method etc and, heck ! quarter size it. Bake one at quarter size. See what happens when you dedicate all that heat to the little guy - if it blooms then we know what the main issue is ;)
I will do that over the weekend :)
But if the conclusion is, like you suggest, that the heat did not make it sufficiently all the way through - what would the solution be?
Thanks!
It comes down to figuring out all the little ways to maximize the use of heat because your bumping up to the limits that your oven can handle. Maybe preheating for longer to ensure your stone is ready, using less water even heating that up first. Making sure the door is open for the shortest possible time. Using the highest possible rack. This stuff mostly matters for the beginning phase of the bake - the part where the spring happens. As an example my old oven could manage about a kilo of dough. After that it became impossible to bake a decent spung loaf. I would heat it to 550 and get the loaves in within 10 seconds of opening the door. With domestic ovens and bread it's important think about how to store up as much energy as possible then unleash onto the dough and totally energize it (the dough)
I have a good quality electric oven, as well as a combi-steamer.
I've tried the Dutch oven method a couple of times, and that gave better results - but I can only do small round breads and not batards in it (which is my preferred shape).
This bread was baked on a baking steel, first 20 minutes on 240 non-convection with 'humid air' option turned on, and a small baking tray with rocks on which I pour 500 ml boiling water. The oven has four racks, and I bake it on the second lowest one (otherwise the baking tray does not fit under it). With a rise like this, there would probably be around 8 to 10 cm between the coils and the top of the bread when fully risen.
Then 20 more minutes at 215 non-convection but with the 'dry air' option.
I'm also inclined to think it's the baking - but on the other hand I've also tried different strategies with my combi steamer, which has a special 'professional baking' program that starts cold with a lot of steam, and also custom made strategies where I tried to mimick professional ovens - also with balloon breads as a result!
Regarding 500 mls of water. Do you think you could fit 3,000+ cups in your oven ? That's about how much volume 500 mls occupies once converted to steam.
Point is that 500 mls is kinda overkill and will suck precious energy. You only really need auto 125 mls and that will provide plenty of steam (and give more energy to your loaf)
While a 30 degree angled cut at 1/4 inch using a CURVED lame is recommended to get the ear, some bakers say you need to hold the blade almost horizontally...
Tried all of that too... Deep cuts, more shallow cuts, more angle less angle... ! :-|
my guess is that your hydration is too high for your type of flour used. the "ballooning" reminds me of ciabattas which are super wet. if you score it, it would just fuse right back together. with the air sacs in that area all bursted (thus showing the denser area you have there). try taking down the hydration a bit. when you take it out of the fridge, do you let it rest to warm up? i would score and go straight into oven. cold dough will hold the score better. and cut it deep, looks like you don't have issue with oven spring.
I take it out the fridge, score and put immediately in the oven.
I can try lowering hydration for my next bake, but I would think that 75% is already not a super high hydration. I have no troubles at all handling the dough, and when shaping it, it looks and feels exactly like in the many youtube videos.
I also don't think the score 'fuses right back together'. It stays nice and open with the cut sharp and interior clearly visible after scoring, but then it simply never 'tears open' once it starts to rise.
I wonder too... is there such a thing as a too strong dough?
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something like this
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Ooooh now I'm jealous :D