March 25, 2022 - 12:35pm
Sourdough troubleshooting
Hey everyone!
I’m new to this forum but decided it might be a nice place to ask for help.
I recently started my sourdough bread baking journey a couple months ago, I’ve probably made about 5-6 loaves. They were ALL different.
I had the most success (and highest oven spring) when I used a combination of bread flour and whole wheat flour. However, the texture was gummy and very dense.
But I recently made a loaf with bread flour and AP flour and it was the best tasting loaf yet, although it didn’t rise much!
My issue for most of my loaves are the huge holes that I keep getting. I’m reading it’s from “underfermenting” but wanted to pick everyone else’s brains. Could this be the cause of a gummy texture too?
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factors involved. More info is needed too. Like the starter, how it's fed and its behavior. Include temps and stuff. Bread flour and AP is a great mix for white bread. Better to get to the starter details first otherwise we will be all over the place with suggestions. Many times the loaf problems clear up when the starter problems are solves. Perhaps just a tiny tweak here or there does the trick. So give us the gory details! How is the starter fed and what do do with it between feeds?
Welcome to the forum, and welcome to the journey. In instances like this, it’s helpful to post pictures of your loaves and your starter at different stages.
Thanks for the replies!
So, I grew my starter at home in the beginning of February. I started it with whole wheat and then eventually started feeding bread flour. I usually feed once a day, 1:2:2... A couple weeks ago, I took some of the discard and created a second starter jar fed with 50/50 AP and whole wheat flour, I've been feeding that 1:2:2 as well, and it rises pretty predictably.
Description of pictures:
1.) my latest loaf, made with AP and bread flour and used the bread flour starter (taste was the best, but no oven spring- and large holes)
2.) 2nd or 3rd loaf I made, with good oven spring but gummy and dense with large holes. Made with the whole wheat starter before I started adding bread flour
3 & 4.) my first ever loaf, dense and gummy, no oven spring, immature whole wheat started (probably ~11days old)
AP LOAF.jpg
wwandbfloaf.jpg
first2.jpg
about it....not fermented long enough. The yeast numbers need to come up. Temps? What is the room temp where the starter stands after feeding?
Right now it looks like the bulking needs to go on longer. Let the fed starter peak and not just double before using to get more yeast.
How does it taste? Is it very sour ?
My kitchen is about 72 Fahrenheit. It always feels a little chilly, maybe I am not fermenting long enough. I'm still trying to understand how to tell, but usually I do bulk fermentation for about 5 hours.
Here is also a picture of my starter after a 1:1:1 feeding this am.
starter.jpg
how long did it take to reach that level? And my next Q is what are the amounts in the recipe?
I'd say about 4-5 hours
If the starter fed 1:1:1 takes 5 hours, a 5 hour bulk with a starter to flour ratio containing more flour will most likely take longer.
Under-fermented. Your recipe and method will help to diagnose where it went wrong but most likely you need to bulk ferment for longer. Other then that you might need to take a look at your starter. But we will need your recipe first.
Thank you! I will try the bull fermentation longer. This is the recipe I’ve been using. https://www.theperfectloaf.com/simple-weekday-sourdough-bread/#tasty-recipes-12416-jump-target
Took everyone's advice and fermented a lot longer! This is my best one yet! I appreciate the help :)
loaf.jpg
crumb.jpg
You're welcome! Beautiful crumb! :)
My goodness, looks like you nailed it with one small tweak! Great job, that looks beautiful. Love how the top of the loaf is torn, and you got a great ear. Beautiful!