May 31, 2020 - 8:21am
Help!! Can I rescue overly chewy sourdough boule after incorrectly storing it after baking?
I'm embarrassed to ask and I'm kicking myself for doing this. I finished baking my almost-perfect sourdough boules (finally after three tries) late last night, and I didn't want to leave it out in the open overnight cooling. So I thought to tuck them inside plastic bags but left it open. This morning, they turned soft, which I didn't mind, but after tasting a piece, it was so incredibly chewy. :(
Can I revive this somehow by just putting it back and toasting it in the oven? if so, at what temp and for how long? Thanks in advance.
Here are a couple of pics from last night's bake.
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I'd pop them back in a 350F oven for 20 minutes, which should help crisp the crust back up as well as get rid of any extra moisture inside the loaf. Also, don't worry about leaving freshly baked loaves out all night. Sourdough keeps especially well and will be fine for quite some time out on the counter, in fact I think it is beneficial. The chewiness might be due to other factors however. Looks like you have a rather smart DO by the way...jealous! ;-) Happy baking!
I agree that the chewiness isn’t likely to be caused by the plastic bags (the crust can definitely “suffer”, but I choose to battle that by just toasting after day 1)
I found after trail and error, the DO works so much better - for me - than a baking sheet or stone. I also seasoned it liberally with olive oil prior to baking so it completely detached from the sides.
What flour did you use? I would think the chewiness comes from a flour with high gluten not how you kept the bread.
WW and AP. KAF's recipe for Naturally leavening SD bread. I also used a levain with a combo and dutch oven to bake instead of baking stone (technique from Eating Well Magazine).
Thank you all for your responses. The toaster actually worked perfectly. I just sliced a piece and popped in the toaster and it was just like fresh! So happy. :D