March 24, 2024 - 8:07am
Help with Sourdough
Hello all,
I’m new to sourdough so I don’t have any experience on what’s going right (or wrong). I baked my 2nd sourdough loaf yesterday and appear to have the exact same problem with rubbery/gummy texture - although crumb size on 2nd loaf was vastly improved compared to my first.
Is this a problem with bulk fermentation? The dough seems sticky throughout, despite using a 65% hydration recipe. I feel very lost on what I’m doing lol.
Any help appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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You didn't say what flour(s) you used so it's hard to evaluate stickiness. You crumb photo looks quite good, so if the crumb seems gummy it probably just needed more bake time. Next time you ask for help it would be useful to include an overall view of the loaf as well, so we can get a notion about how fully it was baked. What I can see in the cross-section seems quite pale. This again suggests it needed more baking time.
A 65% (mostly white flour) dough that seems too sticky may just have needed one or two more stretch-and-fold sessions. These doughs get less sticky as the gluten gets developed more.
If you baked for the exact same time and temperature as your recipe calls for, remember it can only be a guide. Your oven (and steam setup if you use one) will be different from the recipe writer's.
TomP
Hi Tom,
Sorry, should have probably mentioned that, lol! I use strong bread flour and the starter I used is a white Rye flour. Recipe was 325g room temp water, 100g starter, 500g bread flour, and 10g salt.
I have had arthritis for 30 years (since I was 13, now 42) so have trouble mixing dough due to pain/damage, so this dough was mixed in my KitchenAid on low speed with dough hook for around 8-10 minutes, until it started climbing the hook and appeared smooth and elastic. I left it to rest after for around 45 minutes and did a set of stretch and folds with wet hands to check for windowpane and it seemed ok but still sticky (would cling and stick to clean, dry hands).
I then covered and left to bulk ferment for around 4-6 hours, it went from just over half the bowl and rose until around an inch from the top, with obvious bubbles on top/bottom/sides of the bowl. Then shaped on a well floured surface and proofed overnight in the fridge (around 12 hours).
Preheated oven with Dutch oven inside at 230C/450F for around 45 minutes and baked with lid on and a couple of cubes of ice) for 20 minutes, reduced temperature to 220C/425F and baked for a further 25 minutes with lid off. Then removed bread from pot and placed directly on oven rack with oven door slightly ajar for around 30 minutes, then left in kitchen on wire rack to cool completely.
So, with all the above in mind, do you think it’s still underbaked? My Dutch oven is only 2.4L in size and caused slight ribbing around the sides this time, so I need to purchase a bigger pot. Just wondering if that could have been a factor?
Sorry for all the info. I really want to get this right and enjoy delicious sourdough. Thanks again. :)
Thanks for the additional details.
I suppose the rye in the starter could have added some stickiness, but there isn't that much rye so perhaps not. 20% rye would be noticeable.
I don't want to suppose that I know what your hands can tolerate, but as I wrote before, one or two more S&F sessions may take care of the stickiness. You can still do a S&F after the dough has begun rising in bulk ferment, though you probably should be a little more gentle about it than before, so don't let the timing bother you.
Yes, I do still think the loaf was underbaked. In hindsight, removing the loaf as you did but keeping the oven on for maybe 15 more minutes (or 10, anyway) would likely have taken care of it. Leaving the loaf on the cooling oven was a good move but not a replacement for a longer bake.
If you try this and end up with a loaf that's too brown but still gummy, then try baking at a lower temperature for longer.
One thing I should mention is that I like my loaves darker than many other TFLers do. You can see what I mean by loading this thread and scrolling down until you get to a comment of mine with some pictures -
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/74058/forkish-eib-style-pain-de-campagne-finalized-rendition
I like the color to be like that or even a little darker. If you don't, then try baking longer at a lower temperature which will help drive out more moisture with less browning. You could also try checking the internal temperature of the baked loaf with a probe-style thermometer. 206 - 208 deg F is a good target (at near sea level) for this kind of bread. the bread can still be too moist even with a temperature in this range, but if it's much lower then it definitely wants more baking.
TomP
Thanks so much, Tom. I’ll try all your suggestions in a few days time when my new, bigger pot arrives.
Hopefully I’ll be back to post the perfect non gummy loaf! 🤞🏻 Thank you again for all your suggestions.
-Lisa.
I agree with TomP that it looks a little underbaked. Like others have posted, the loaf per se looks pretty good, so I don't think there are other issues to fix.
Just wondering how accurate your oven's temperature is based on the oven's controls and whether you can check it separately with an oven thermometer. Many home ovens are notoriously inaccurate in terms of temperature control. Some are higher than they say, others are lower, and sometimes by a lot.
I pretty much do the same size of loaf as you and also bake in a dutch oven in which the loaf is pretty snug! I pre-heat to 230C, but have a feeling mine might be a little on the higher side (been meaning to check it too). I do 25min lid on and 10-15 lid off and have a pretty descent bake and crunchy crust. I am pretty sure your oven is likely to be heating to less than you are assuming.