The Fresh Loaf

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Having difficulty with high hydration sourdough

March 31, 2020 - 10:04am
The sour scotsman's picture
The sour scotsman

Having difficulty with high hydration sourdough

Hi bread lovers,

I've been baking sourdough up to 80% hydration for some time now, with great results.


Recently I've attempted to up the hydration of my bread to 85% but the bread comes out the oven, looks and feels fully cooked but when I cut it open the crumb seems undercooked. Tacky and very moist to the touch. And when I squeeze the bread between my fingers it seems doughy. 


 

 


this to me is a sign that the bread is undercooked, even though the crumb is light, bouncy, chewy and tastes like its cooked. Is this just what high hydration sourdough is like? Or am I not cooking it enough in the oven? Please help!

 

I used the same cooking method for my 85% loaf as I did for all my other loaves. Lodge cast iron, 25 mins lid on 25 mins lid off. I wouldn't really want any more browning than what I got so maybe lower temp for longer. Open to suggestions. 

Note: I'm in scotland the the protein level of my flour is around 10%. I know that this affects hydration. 

 

Thank you 

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G. Marie's picture
G. Marie
Mar 31 2020 - 10:32am

How long did you wait to slice it? The crumb looks really good to me. 

The sour scotsman's picture
The sour scotsman
Apr 1 2020 - 2:27am

Waited a few hours 

bread1965's picture
bread1965
Mar 31 2020 - 3:06pm

i get your point.. if you have a thermometer take the internal temp of the bread when you take it out of the oven.. You want it to be at 200 degrees C .. if it is then you know its the process and/or recipe.

Twisticles's picture
Twisticles
Mar 31 2020 - 7:25pm

I'm going to go out an a limb and guess you mean 200°F?  That would be around 93°C.

bread1965's picture
bread1965
Mar 31 2020 - 7:35pm

Yup

albacore's picture
albacore
Mar 31 2020 - 3:14pm

Sorry, off topic, but nice to see a Japanese vegetable brush in the sink - very useful!

Lance

The sour scotsman's picture
The sour scotsman
Apr 1 2020 - 2:28am

I know I love them! 

The sour scotsman's picture
The sour scotsman
Apr 1 2020 - 2:26am

Thanks for your help people. Taking the temp is the one thing I haven't done so I will definitely try that today with my loaf. 

 

Thanks 

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy
Apr 1 2020 - 7:27am

duplicate/deleted.

 

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy
Apr 1 2020 - 7:26am

Good-looking crumb there.

Your bake could be too hot and too quick.  I make 88-90% hydration loaves of 90% whole wheat. I find it takes a longer bake to "cook off" the water.   I try to get enough water baked off before the crust hardens, so that means lowering the temp during the lid-off phase.  To go longer, you have to go cooler, in order to avoid over darkening.

If you think of it, you added more water to your formula, so if you don't bake it off, it's going to remain.  If it takes X minutes to  bake off Y grams water, then what does it take to  bake off Y grams + 5% more water?  I dunno, but logically, it's going to be more than X minutes.

--Part 2 --

Here are some ideas if you want to reduce the blackening of the underside of the loaf:

  1. put parchment paper on the inside bottom of the dutch oven.
  2. lightly sprinkle semolina or cornmeal under the parchment to create tiny air spaces that help insulate.
  3. move the dutch oven to a higher position in the oven, so that it gets less "radiant" heat from the bottom heating element.  Radiant heat varies inversely to the square of the distance.
  4. Put a cookie sheet, or other pan, or baking stone, or a sheet of aluminum foil, on the rack below the rack holding the dutch oven,  to "shade" the dutch oven from the radiant heat ("sunshine" heat) of the lower heating element.  Just like your car stays cooler in the shade than in the sun on a summer day.  "Convection", transfer of heat via air, stays the same, but "radiant" is another thing.  Those bottom heating elements "radiate" just like the sun.

Hope this helps.  

Buona fortuna, mon ami.