The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Underproofed or Overproofed?

dpierce's picture
dpierce

Underproofed or Overproofed?

Based on the appearance of the outside of the loaf I thought for sure this was going to be an underproofed, dense, gummy mess. The score is flat and torn, the crust isn’t crispy at all and lighter than it should be, and the bottom is full of tears. But once I cut it open it actually has a pretty decent, fluffy crumb - the best texture I’ve been able to achieve so far!

I was following a new recipe and suspected the dough was underfermented when I moved on to the shaping/proofing phase but thought, what the heck let’s see how it turns out. When poked after proofing it came back slowly and left a slight indent - perhaps slightly overproofed? I baked it at 500 covered for 15 mins and it had little initial oven spring, baked at 475 for 20 more mins and left to cool completely before slicing.

So now I’m pleasantly surprised but also confused as to what exactly I did right and wrong - can anyone tell me based on the characteristics of the loaf? Thank you!

 

Benito's picture
Benito

Based on the crumb, that is nicely fermented.  Based on the outside appearance, the lack of ear would initially lead you to think that it was over fermented, typically underfermented loaves have big ears.  Given the combination of things I’d say that fermentation was fine, you could however, adjust your scoring to be a bit deeper.  To get a darker bake you could bake it another 5-10 mins or more until you get the crust the colour that you like.

Benny