Inconsistent Crumb
Hello,
First post here. Thank you all for your posts. It's been a very educational experience. It doesn't matter if I am full from eating something. After I peruse the posts, I am salivating again.
Just one question on how to get consistent crumb. I see that others have similar issues here and each one is a slightly different scenario.
I have been trying out the "no knead 5 minute" bread. I make the master recipe with Robin Hood AP flour (Canada) and the rest is done to the letter of the recipe.
I let it sit and rise for 3 hours and then put it in the fridge for 6 days usually. I take out half and shape it into a loaf and let it sit on parchment and a cutting board at room temp for 2 hours. The "shaping" is honestly 20 seconds and I don't knead anything.
Fire up the oven to 450F with a pizza stone in there for about 35 minutes prior to as well, and pop the loaf in. I do the steam thing where I pour a cup of water in a baking dish under the pizza stone when I put the bread in.
It rises, bakes for 30 minutes. I let sit inside the oven for 5 min with it off (and the door open slightly), then I take it out. It always crackles nicely.
I let it sit for 2 hours and then eat it. It tastes great and the kids love it too, but after doing this a few times, I notice that the crumb is very inconsistent -- dense in the middle/bottom, and large holes around the edge.
I am assuming that somehow during the rest period before, the loaf is warmer around the edges and still cold in the center/bottom, but I don't know if that affects the crumb. I am guessing it has the proper hydration because there is large crumb around the edges.
How can I get medium/large throughout instead of just around the edges? Any suggestions or pointing in the right direction would be awesome.
Thanks