May 29, 2015 - 5:50am
What is wrong with this loaf? Over proofing?
This last weekend I made Horst Bandel's Black Pumpernickel from Hamelman's book (30% rye meal, 20% rye berries, 20% rye chops - but I subsituted rye meal, 25% bread flour, 20% old bread, 70% hydration - but that is way too much so I cut it back to maybe 60%, plus levain, salt, yeast, and blackstrap molasses). The recipe calls for proofing for 50-60 mins at 82°. I put the Pullman pan outside at 79°. I came back after 55 mins to find the loaf risen to just shy of the lid. So I turned on the oven and put the pan in as soon as the temperature got up to 350°, maybe 15 mins later. Did the top cave in due to overproofing, or is there some other explanation? The bread is delicious though.
Share
and/or too low hydration for such high amount of rye.
before putting it in the oven? I also think your dough fermented faster than
the recipethe sourdough police allow. :) Irregular bubbles in crumb say a lot. But with 25% wheat in the recipe, you could have risked docking (to see if it would fall) and or light reshaping (and slight rise) before placing in the oven. My guess is that there were extra large bubbles raising the dough too high. These large bubbles (from added yeast) most likely burst and brought the crust down in the first part of the bake.Next time leave out the yeast and let the sourdough raise the loaf.
..would be the way to go? If you had been able to put the loaf in when the loaf was perfectly risen (and it sounds like it was when you checked) then it might have been okay. The loaf cross-section in the photo is a textbook-perfect example of the collapse you get in tin loaves when they are over-proofed. If you experiment with a formula I guess you have to expect risings times to change, but, as you say, the great thing with black pumpernickel bread is that it tastes good no matter what you do to it. It's a resilient dough.
Yes, I should have turned the oven on when I went out. Indeed normally I preheat the oven when I start to proof my bread, but somehow I forgot last week. I did poke the top with a wet toothpick before putting the loaf in the oven. I had planned to leave out the yeast but at the point when I couldn't wait any longer my levain was still not floating so I added the yeast the recipe called for. I don't think the hydration was too low. When I followed the recipe the previous time I baked this it was impossible to shape the loaf - I'll I could do was pour the dough into the pan. This time I was sort of able to shape it but it was still extremely slack. I think this is because the old bread soaker retained a lot of moisture despite my having squeezed out the water, Thanks for the comments and advice. : )