January 6, 2022 - 10:47am
My very first ear, but why did the crust split?
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My very first ear, but why did the crust split?
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The Fresh Loaf
A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.
Sometimes when doing the final shaping I have seen a overlap of the dough that appears to “repair” itself during the final proof, but actually leaves a weak point in the gluten network. In your “ear” photo the split seems to continue opposite the bloom which is why I suggest shaping. The top dough surface wants to be one continuous gluten network to get the “look;” however, I bet it tastes great (that’s why we make bread, after all ;-).
-Brad
The split continues but to a less noticeable extent on the opposite side of your score. As Brad said, it maybe related to something that occurred during your shaping, it can happen to any of us. Other times, these types of additional splits can occur if the dough was under fermented and the explosive expansion of the dough when it is under fermented causes breaks beyond the score. How is the crumb? Any signs of under fermentation.
By the way, beautiful loaf of bread, you should be proud, I remember my first ear as if it was yesterday.
Benny
Crumb picture
Crumb is lovely nothing wrong there. You could push fermentation a bit further if you wanted. If you did you might find the crumb opens up a bit and that you don’t get additional tears.
Thank you. So you think it was under fermented?
It was in the fridge (banaton) for 15 hours. Baked directly from fridge in Dutch oven.
Not particularly under fermented, but there is certainly a range in fermentation that is wider for stronger flours and this would be on the lower end. You could push fermentation a bit further with a bit more bench time prior to cold retard, say another 15 - 30 mins if you so desired. But really, it was a great looking bake and you don’t have to do anything different to it. I only commented because you asked about the tear.
The bread lacked a tangy/sourdough flavor. Could you recommend a fix?
My starter is 100 hydration with KA White AP flour, but is only 8 days old. Recipe called for 300grams.
After shaping, I let it sit on counter top 30 minutes before placing in fridge for 15 hours.
Recipe used was https://www.thefreshloaf.com/handbook/san-francisco-style-sourdough
Most sourdough breads will become more sour over the next days, so taste it again tomorrow (and however long it lasts to see how it evolves).
And as you suggest, your starter s quite young, it will likely change over time as well. You might try a couple of things, though. Add a small amount of a whole grain flour (rye or wheat) to your final levain, and/or allow the levain to mature longer before mixing the dough. If you have a way to measure it, the pH of my levain will usually be in the 4.0 - 4.2 range when it is mature, although it will work to ferment the dough even if it is not that low.
-Brad
Again I agree with Brad, if your starter is young it may evolve over time. Switching it to feeds of whole grain instead of white flour will allow it to have more acid (the TTA or Total Titratable Acid will be higher at a similar pH to a starter with white flour) and it can impart a more acidic flavor to the dough. Similarly using more whole grain in your dough can have the same effect and impart of acidic flavor to the dough.