Greetings, people that also like ground up grains mixed with water.
As the subject of this post makes evident, I'm trying to understand what happened to this loaf.
I use a 100% KA whole grain whole wheat starter at about 122% Hydration. The formula for the dough: 10% was the WW starter, 95.5% was KA AP flour, 73% hydration (including the starter), and 2% salt. It was just over a kg of dough that was shaped into a loaf.
At about 72 degrees Fahrenheit, the bulk ferment was 6 hours with 3 stretch and fold sessions for the first 3. The proof was only 1 hour and 53 minutes (I've had even worse results when I let it proof 2.5 hours). I based the times off of a Sourdough Rise Time Table I found here posted by a user that goes by "bwraith," just if that comes into question.
I have to transfer the dough to my counter to score it as the shape of my baking vessel almost demands it lest I burn myself. I bake after 10 sprays of water and cover for 20 minutes at 500 F, briefly vent out and recover for 15 minutes at 450 F, and uncovered for about 10 minutes at 450 F.
I'm thinking that the bulk fermentation was a bit long, but if my memory isn't failing me, I used to bulk ferment overnight (about 8 hours) with no problem. Next, I thought that my hydration was too high for the flour, yet I've seen formulas with King Arthur AP flour surpass my 73%. My scores on this loaf also weren't that deep, but I got the impression that I just couldn't score any deeper because the dough was so floppy.
So, I'd appreciate any input about what might've went wrong, as I'm kind of confused. I figured a few minds on this problem would be better than testing out another variable in the process the next time I bake (I bake about once a week).
BTW, this loaf was supposed to be a boule. I tried. And this picture doesn't really show it, but a portion of the top of the crust pretty much separated itself from the crumb, leaving the remnants of fairly irregular holes.
of the dough from mixing onward. Was the dough only sitting through the bulk rise or was extra shaping and handling involved? Sorry, see the folding during the first 3 hours. To me those first three hours are not so important, once the dough is rising, then get those folds going.
Same with the final rise... What I'm looking for: sourdoughs need to be manipulated during the rise, especially wet doughs to maintain their shape. Bacteria in the starter tends to loosen the dough more than a yeasted dough. For only 10% starter, I would expect a much longer total rise time from mixing to baking. I tend to think of sourdough rising as one long rise with a lot of little interruptions to restore shape and redistribute bubbles and beasties.
To me the fine crumb speckled with very large bubbles tells me the dough is under-proofed and more than likely needs some stretch and folding going on during the rising to maintain its shape.
Mini
Along with the first 3 hours that you took note of, there isn't any handling of the dough during the bulk ferment.
After that, I just stretched and folded after the bulk ferment for a bench rest of 10 minutes. Final shaping was as follows:
Establish the squarish shape of the dough, pull the 4 corners into the center, and do this again with the newly made corners of a kind of "diamond/still squareish shape," and kind of pull all of it toward myself/turn it about 8 times to make a ball.
From what I'm understanding about your post, my dough needs a longer bulk ferment and more attention paid to it during that bulk ferment, correct?
And, I might be misinterpreting this, but did you say that I should manipulate the dough during the final rise, as in when it's proofing to go into the oven?
-ThatBreadJ
It can be that the whole fermenting time stays the same but the number of times you handle the dough increases.
I find that as a sourdough ferments it looses it shape ever more quickly. The further into fermentation the more often the folding sessions occur. it is easy to observe the dough rising and spreading when on a flat surface. (covered with a bowl) If you find the dough rising and loosing shape every 45 min, it's about time to give it that final fold and shape and have it into the banneton and oven before you are shaping every 30 minutes. The final rise will be shorter than the last pause between folds or about that long.
Just try shifting the folds to the latter half of the total fermentation time and see what it does for you. Try to keep the last rise shorter than 45 minutes (naturally it depends on what the dough is doing, but) if you find the final rise going over an hour, perhaps the final shaping was too early.
Someone else might have a better explanation but that's what I would try first.
How the starter behaves can have a significant impact on how the dough behaves. It never hurts to really strengthen the starter for a few days before the next bake and see if that makes a difference. But plan for either a shorter bulk ferment or even a cold retard. I used to mix my WW dough at 9PM, put it into a large covered container and refrigerate until about 7am. Mixing bowl to refrigerator-no counter time. The next morning it was almost completely risen, even in the cold refrigerator. It worked well for my baking schedule.
Another observation. Starters are living things and as such, can have good and bad days as the individuals in the culture change over time. Every feeding introduces new, perhaps different, yeasts. The water or flour may have new additives or nutrients, the refrigerator may be a little warmer as it ages. This is why bakers need to be attentive to the dough characteristics and sometimes we can figure out what to do and sometimes it's a head scratcher.
Keep baking and have delicious fun!
As the photo shows, my most recent bake was overall a success. All that changed was increasing bulk fermentation time to 13 hours and proof for just under 2. I'm fairly certain the loaf was slightly over fermented (a 12 hour bulk ferment turned into a 13 hour one), but I'm getting closer to understanding what's going on in the dough.
This is exciting for me as it's not only the first successful loaf in a few months, but I'm seeing first hand the change in crumb structure that I've read about from increasing hydration.
And such a big difference! You've come a long way quickly! Congratulations! Looks to me like a perfect Ciabatta!
Great distribution of gas bubbles in the crumb and terrific even crust colour.
If you want to play with the crumb, try what happens when you let the bulk go to 13, stretch and fold again after another hour and reduce the final rise to about one hour. Just try it keeping everything else the same. :)