I'm hoping someone can help me. I'm somewhat new to bread baking. I mainly bake variations on no knead bread - always in a loaf pan. Until recently, it's gone very well. Lately, I've been getting really large holes or tunnels at the top of the bread.
My favorite no knead loaf is from Josey Baker's book. I mix a small amount of wheat flour, yeast and water the night before and let that sit overnight. The next morning, I add the rest of the flour, water, etc and let that sit for a few hours before sticking it in the fridge. When I'm ready to bake, I take out the wet dough and gently flatten and then fold it. Then it rises per the instructions for 4-6 hours before going into the oven. Today tried to put it in the oven right around four hours to avoid over proofing but I still have overly large holes right at the top. Would slashing eliminate the problem or is there something else I'm doing wrong? I can't imagine what I'm doing differently. This same recipe used to come out perfect every time.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Usually this has to do with shaping. If you trap a big bubble or you don't make a good seal then this can happen. It can also be from underproofing or oven temperature on occasion. It sounds like you didn't do any real shaping and it might not have been tight enough. Slashing/scoring can help:
Thanks! How would you recommend I shape the loaf? The recipe says to gently flatten into a circle and then basically fold over the two sides and roll it up. It doesn't discuss sealing and I think it even says to just "plop" it in the pan. There is some difference in how you shape with no knead vs the regular loaf, right? I had gathered that shaping was less fussy with no knead bread - perhaps because it is so wet and more difficult to work with. I admit that I have been somewhat lazy with my shaping - mostly because the dough is so wet and I had never had any issues previously. I'd be interested to know what you'd recommend.
Thanks for the reply!
Are you using a loaf pan?
Yes. I suppose I don't need to do that but I do prefer the loaf shape.
Did you add flour when shaping? Sometimes the flour can get in the middle and cause the seam to not seal. I am guessing your technique is okay but you don't have to be so delicate with it. I bet it doesn't happen the next time as it is hard to reproduce this issue. Maybe push the dough down into the pan after putting it in there. Personally I would handle shaping like any other dough.
Reinhart has a book on no-knead bread and treats the shaping much like you would with regular bread.
Note that the picture actually shows him folding it first. So make a square and fold one side into the middle, then the other (slightly overlapping is okay). Then roll up from the bottom.
To shape a sandwich loaf, flatten the dough into a 5 by 8-inch rectangle. Working from the 5-inch side of the dough, roll up the length of the dough. Pinch the final seam closed using your fingertips or the back edge of your hand. Gently rock the loaf to even it out. Don't taper the ends; keep the top surface of the loaf even. Place the loaf in a greased pan. seam side down, cover, and proof.
Excerpt From: Peter Reinhart. “Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day.”
I do flour the counter so it doesn't stick. Usually I flatten very gently (perhaps too gently) into a rectangle and then fold one side over by 1/3 or so and then the same with the other before rolling. I guess maybe I do taper the ends and sometimes the ends don't reach the end of the pan. I think I probably need to flatten it out to a larger rectangle first and then do a better job of sealing. Thanks! I'm going to try this again this week. I thought maybe the problem was letting the dough rise too long but now I'm pretty sure it has to do with my lazy shaping.
the baker sleeps but just large ones that form right under the top of the crust than a firmer hand in shaping and slashing the top is likely the answer to your woes.
Happy baking
Thank you! It is always the very top and often it really does look like a tunnel! :)
If you think the shaping's OK, then google for images of "flying crust" to see how they compare to your loaf (or post a picture here)
If that's what you're getting then it's over proofed.
-Gordon
If it happens later this week when I bake, I'll post a picture. I think I have also had the flying crust in the past but what I have going on right now looks quite like a big tunnel of huge air holes toward the top of the loaf. Before I even cut into the loaf I can tell because the whole top half of the loaf seems much less dense than what it should be.
Thanks everyone! I'm excited to have a resource like this site so I can continue to improve.
to me. People think they need to get a 100% proof but this just means its likely over proofed. White bread I shoot for 90% proof and whole grain ones 80-85% depencdng on the amount of whole grains