Sourdough problem

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AnnieT on
Just when I was beginning to think I knew what I was doing I am having some sourdough disasters. My starter appears to be healthy - I feed it 1-2-2 with bread flour and bottled spring water and it doubles in (today) 6 hours in my quite cool kitchen. On Friday night I started what I have labelled "Jmonkey and Susan's" sourdough, the one where all the ingredients are mixed and it sits on the counter ovenight. The dough seemed fine, maybe a bit on the wet side but I am sooooo paranoid about adding extra flour. It shaped nicely into a boule and and went into a parchment lined banneton and spent the night in the refrigerator. I preheated the oven with stone to 500* and baked the loaf under my ss mixing bowl. It rose a reasonable amount but is as heavy as lead, and once it was cold I cut it in two. Once again I found a weird crumb - large caverns and the texture of very firm foam rubber. I know I baked this one with success because I had written "excellent!" on the page, probably after the first time I tried it. This one even has a strange smell and I noticed it didn't develop the nice dark crust and has some dark blotches. So please, can anyone come up with an answer? (Before I jump off the ferry!) I'm going to mix up a batch of the Almost No Knead bread - my son gave me several bottle of beer to use as he reckons it isn't fit to drink. If this bread fails I may put the drinking part to the test, A.
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rainbowbrown on Mon, 02/25/2008 - 06:26

That's happened to me a couple of times and I'm pretty sure it's because it didn't rise sufficiently, either in bulk fermentation or proofing.  Be sure it rose by at least a half in bulk and keep in mind when the shaped loaves are in the fridge, the rising part slows considerably.  Did you let it sit out for a while between the fridge and the oven?  Perhaps it needed to finish proofing.  Taking these things into careful account is what has helped me with this very same problem in the past.  Good luck!
Thanks, rainbowbrown, I was beginning to think the same way. I had written down to let the loaf warm up for 45 minutes before baking - so I did. Guess it should have been much longer, especially as my kitchen is so cold these days. Nowhere did I write to let the dough rise before going into the refrigerator - so I didn't. Pretty silly of me when I know better. I even use a plastic jar to make sure my regular "Susan's Sourdough" doubles. Senior moment, yet again! Happy to say the Nearly No Bake loaf looks great, and that kinda restored my spirits. On to the next loaf, A.

Paddyscake on Mon, 02/25/2008 - 16:50

Annie..I always set my refrigerated sourdough out at least 4 hours before baking. I usually proof it for an hour, refrigerate overnight, warm on the counter for 4 hours or so, shape and then proof until almost double. Let us know how it goes...
rainbowbrown, Paddyscake and Howard, you were all correct! Lack of proofing time was the problem with my rubbery bread. Yesterday I started Susan's sourdough and in between stretch and folds I placed it in the oven with the light on. Then I let it proof until double in a straight sided container, again in the oven. The shaped boule spent the night in the refrigerator and this morning I left it on the counter while I took the recycling and shopped for vittles. As soon as I got home I set the oven to 500*, so the boule had about 3 hours on the counter by the time the hour was up. Now I know what a member meant by "wobbly" - I thought for sure it was overproofed. Baked it on the heated stone under the big ss mixing bowl and I am happy to report success!. Great oven spring and a singing crust, what more could a girl ask for? So thanks for all the support and good wishes, A.