Sourdough Not Rising in Oven
I've been making quite a bit of sourdough recently and I find my loaves to be very inconsistent when I bake. The recipe I'm using is as follows
Leaven (Overnight - 8 Hours)
33g Starter
50g Whole Grain Rye
50g Bread Flour
100g Water
Autolyse (Overnight - 8 Hours in a warm room)
200g Whole Grain Wheat
200g Whole Grain Rye
100g High Extraction Wheat
500g Bread Flour
800g Water (80 F)
Add
20g Salt
50g Water
175g Leaven
I knead the dough using the Rubaud Method for about 10 mins (until I can stretch it to a thin translucent sheet)
Bulk Ferment 3.5 - 4 hours
Pre-shape, Bench Rest (30 min), Shape
Final Proof in Refridgerator (8 - 18 hours)
- I play around with the final proofing to see the impact on taste. I've had occasional success with both.
Bake in Dutch Oven (first 30 mins covered)
- 500 F - 15 min
- 475 F - 15 min
- 450 F - 20 min
I just get relatively flat loafs. I don't know if its because of the amount of whole grain and rye, but I am not satisfied. Also my starter is 50/50 Rye and Bread Flour blend. I maintain it pretty well, and feed it 4 times a day. It rises and peaks every 5 hours so at 7am, 12pm, 5pm, then make leaven at 10pm. It smells very fruity and like wine, it was smelling very vinegary a few weeks ago, but after figuring out this schedule it had a very pleasant fermented smell. My general problem is inconsistency, despite have occasional success.
Batch From Last Night / This Morning
The Flat one Retarded in Fridge for 10 hours and Larger one Proofed for 18 hours (haven't cut open yet)
The larger one looks much nicer, but as you can see not much rise
Flat bread crumb
Previous Bake
They look nice, but not they really didn't have much more rise than the previous nicer loaf. Also one was proofed for 10 hours, and the other 18hours like the previous loaves. However both are nice loaves.
Here is the crumb for this morning's bread
Flat one looks under proofed.
1. You feed your starter 4x a day!?
2. At 17.5% starter your bulk ferment sounds about right however a final proof in the fridge for 8-12 hours is more within the time limit. 18+ hours sounds a bit long. If you want to do a really long retard in the fridge then best to do so during the bulk ferment after developing the gluten and giving it some bench time. Then shape and final proof at room temperature. Your range of 8-18 hours could be the reason for your mixed success.
3. I put your recipe at 93.75% hydration. Even though there is a lot of whole-grain in the recipe don't expect a risen loaf like a lower hydration bread flour loaf.
4. Some of those photos look very good!
1. Too Much? I figured to feed it when it peaks. I was reading 3 times, so I figured why not 4. Guess not the right thought. I'll Try 8 am, 4 pm and 10 pm
2 . Ok, so with this schedule I get everything done by 11:00 am and then bake at 6 or 7 the next morning. So I would Like to keep that time frame because it fits my schedule really well. Do you suggest going down in the leaven to 15%? I was reading Tartine No3 and he uses 15% for the whole grain loaves, but I think it is also less starter in the leaven. Also I baked the last loaf within the 8-12 hour retard, 10 hours.
3. Will decreasing the Hydration give me better spring? I thought it was the wetter the dough, more open and more spring?
4. Thank you, the spiral scored one was my best yet, the crust caramalized so nicely!
1. I would keep it in the fridge and take a little off each time to build a levain. You wouldn't be slave to your starter and you can plan your baking much better.
2. 8-12 hour retard after shaping sounds far better. If you can find a way to do this then you wouldn't have to change much else. It's a sound recipe and your skills produce a fine looking bread. It's just the timing you've got to nail. If you find it's going to be longer than 12 hours then refrigerate before shaping then shape and final proof for a 1-2 hours until ready.
What you can do is drop the leaven to 1% and bulk ferment at room temperature for 24 hours. Just mix the dough and that's it! Give it a stretch and fold before bed, other then that time will develop the gluten. Come the morning just shape and final proof for 1 hour. Just an idea. Your current recipe and method is fine. I'm just giving you more choice, something to think about and try.
Flour mix (keep your ratio as is) 100%
Water 90%
Salt 2%
Starter 1%
Day before 6am : mix the dough, cover and leave for 24 hours
Night before (before bed) : stretch and fold
Day of baking (6am) : shape
Bake at 7am
(google search Yohan Ferrant "Do Nothing Bread")
3. More open crumb but it'll struggle with height.
4. I really like that one!!!
Ok I will give these things a try. I think for the next bake I will reduce the hydration a little and baking it after 10 hours final proofing. Thanks again
I reduced the Hydration and Leaven to 16%
Loaf on the Left Final Proof in Fridge for 17 hours, Right Loaf Proofed in Fridge 9 hour in fridge, then 2 hours in 85 F oven. I'm going to stick with this updated recipe and 16-18 hour proof. I've got another batch proofing right now, this time using flour I just milled.