July 2, 2018 - 12:55pm
My loaf was overproofed?
Hi everyone! This is my third attempt and the best loaf so far. May I have your critique on the crumb and scoring? Why did my score sort of "sank" into the loaf? The crumb is soft and tastes good, but are there signs of being overproofed/underproofed in the big holes and dense patches? Some big holes are at the bottom so I don't know what to make of that. Also, after an 18-hour cold retarding, the surface's centre sprang back slowly, almost not at all when poked; but the sides sprang back quite readily. What should I do with such a dough?
Some info about my loaf: 68% hydration, all purpose flour, 6 hours bulk fermentation, 18 hours cold retarding, 1 hour sitting at room temperature while waiting for oven to preheat.
Thanks a lot!
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The dough looks underfermented, although your final proof might have gone on a bit too long, resulting in poor opening of the cuts. The sinking of the scores is usually a sign that you held the blade too flat when cutting.
Six hours of BF seems like it would have done a better job of aerating the dough...maybe your starter isn't as active as it should be?
Excuse me sir, could you further elaborate on The sinking of the scores is usually a sign that you held the blade too flat when cutting." I find this very interesting, many thanks in advance.
Jon, the newbie
This is described in "The Breadbaker's Apprentice". The idea is that if a cut is flat, the separated sections of dough tend to fall back together due to gravity.
OK Thanks, I look it up further.
Cheers Jon
Thank you for the diagnosis. The long cold retarding was unwanted, I will plan it around 8-9 hours next time.
I slashed the dough with a normal knife, so maybe it's not the flat blade issue? But I will keep this in mind when I have a proper lame :)
I fed my starter at 10.30pm and mixed my dough the next day at 9am. The starter looked out of steam, which I guess is bad? But my understanding is that adding flour and water will revive the yeast and bacteria. With more food they will wake up and do their things. Am I wrong?
"I fed my starter at 10.30pm and mixed my dough the next day at 9am."
Over 10 hours? That can't be good. Where do you keep your starter? What do you do in the days prior to using it?
Hmm if I remember correctly I took it out of the fridge 2 days before the mixing day. Then I started feeding once per day and let it sit at room temperature.
yep definitely loooks underfermented but 6 hours is a long while although thats dependent on amount of starter, strength of starter and air nd dough temperature during fermentation..i dont do cold retarding but again your fridge temperature has to be considered and youve added one hour of proofing at room temperature after refrigeration - did you have it on counter for long after bulk and before retarding?.....
I didn't have the dough sitting at room temperature after bulk nor before retarding. Maybe it was the starter losing some strength when I used it.
I'd like to comment on the crust. The bottom looks very dark and to top light. Any clues there?
I would suggest cutting back on the water, 68% is rather high for AP alone. If this is a sourdough you might want more bread flour, say half, in the mix. Sourdough will break down the gluten matrix faster than instant yeast.
How sour tasting was the loaf?
Yes it's a sourdough and the bottom is quite burnt while the top is light and thin. I baked in a Dutch oven, 15 mins with the lid on and 15 mins uncovered. Perhaps I should leave it uncovered for longer?
Thank you for the suggestion on using bread flour, perhaps the long fermentation time caused some breakdown in the weak AP gluten matrix? I will use bread flour in my mix next time, hopefully that will build a stronger gluten network.
The loaf is pretty sour, I had to take antacid pills after eating it but I don't mind :)
count is low. Get that in order and the rest of the recipe will fall into place.
I see. I baked a new loaf today using rye starter at its peak (seemingly). The crumb, crust and oven spring are better, right? :)
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excellent!
Now to tweak the oven or DO temp to avoid burning the bottom. Try preheating the DO at a slightly lower temp and then raising the temp after the loading the oven. Or bake one shelf higher in the oven. Another trick is to put a cookie sheet or pizza pan or cake pan under the DO or crumple a good sized sheet of alu-foil and press it into a Matt using the DO to act as a buffer between heat and pot.
:)
Thank you very much for the tips! I will use a baking pan to line my DO next time :)