The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

My bread seems undercooked and dense on the inside and I dont know why.

icantbakeatall's picture
icantbakeatall

My bread seems undercooked and dense on the inside and I dont know why.

I think it may be underproofed since its getting colder, but I swear I see bubbles all over the place and it seems nice and airy. I did ~200g 100% hydration starter for 1000g flour. I cant remember the amount of water but it was around 75% hydration. I make 500g boules. Im using a good quality high gluten flour. I bake in a dutch oven for 25 minutes covered (10 minutes @ 475F and 15 minutes at 450F) and uncovered @ 450F for 10-15 minutes. By all means it looks nice, it just seems kind of gummy and not open crumbed. I get good oven spring and all that. Starter is raising about 3x initial size. I just cant figure out what it is. I bake straight out of the refrigerator and to be honest i dont love it but I really would like to know whats going on. I ended up letting the dough bulk ferment for 6.5 hours. I have never got a super open crumb but it seems to be getting worse. I normally do this recipe and do 2-3 stretch and folds and 1-2 coil folds. THANK YOU!

pmccool's picture
pmccool

Have you checked the internal temperature bread at the end of the bake?  For a lean bread, which seems to be what you have described, the internal temperature ought to be somewhere in the 205F to 210F range. 

You may need to extend the uncovered baking time by another 10 minutes, or possibly more, to fully bake the bread. 

After re-reading your post, I'd also change the baking scheme so that the bread is only baked covered for 15 minutes, then bake uncovered for as long as it takes to get to the proper internal temperature.

Paul

icantbakeatall's picture
icantbakeatall

Oh gosh, I'm so dumb! I forgot to say that I only made half of that into a boule! I will definitely give your idea a try because that makes sense. I appreciate it!