dear Tfl members,
For some time I have an oven spring problem. I am using spelt flour, and an Ankarsrum mixer, 70% hydration. Autolyse for 30 min, 7 min mixing, a couple of SF during bulk fermentation. Gluten had a good development. One thing I noticed was that the dough after mixing had 30 degrees C. I shaped 2 boule (about 700g each), and retard at 4 C overnight in bannetons. I baked in a cloche at 240 C. The loaf in the left was not scored. Both had poor oven spring (actually no oven spring), and the one I scored collapsed immediately after scoring!
Do you think I should mix more?
Maybe it is over fermented?
....you really should aim for 23-24℃. The higher temperature actually inhibits the yeast and going 'hot' into a fridge will limit the effectiveness of cold retardation, hence the over-proofing. The give-away is the tunneling beneath then unscored crust. At some point in the fridge the dough reached perfection then the yeast became exhausted, CO2 production dropped and the loave's cell structure collapsed beneath the skin, leaving the tunnel you can see in your photo. It's a common problem, especially when you're learning the quirks of a new loaf. I doubt there's a baker out there who hasn't experienced this.
It might be worth mixing at a lower dough temperature and maybe shortening your cold retard times until you have a clear idea of when this particular loaf is ready to be baked.
Spelt is known to have a very fast BF so I would suggest to shorten BF. Watch the dough, not the clock. When you see that your dough starts doming, forms some big bubbles on the surface, becomes airy and feels alive when you stretch & fold it and traces of your last S&F could be seen after 5-10 minutes or longer, then you have to proceed to next step. With spelt at 30dC two hours BF would probably be enough. Don't wait that the dough will double during BF, 20 to 30% is enough.
Happy baking fechetm!
Joze
During BF, it doubled in size and it was very airy. It probably lasted for 3,5 hours! I will try again, thanks for the help!
at 30dC especially with spelt flour. I would shorten it to approximately 2 hours until you see the increase in volume for about 15-30%, the dough starts dooming, you see the traces of last stretch & fold still after 10 minutes or longer and the dough is airy.
With whole grain flour the timing is much shorter as the starter is more active and you also don't need to fully proof the dough. I found that I get better oven spring with slightly under proofed dough.
Happy baking!
Joze
Is a sure sign of over proofing.
What is your recipe and how long did you bulk ferment for?
...and remember that you'll never get the same oven spring with spelt as you do with wheat.
50% spelt, 40% whole spelt, 10% rye. I used a preferment made from whole spelt, which was also overfermentet (I guess). BF was about 3.5 hours! thank you!
and what percentage? If the preferment was over fermented that wouldn't be a huge problem unless it ran out of juice before going into the dough which clearly it didn't.
Things move fast in 30°C and spelt will move even faster, like Joze said. So I think a bit of a tweak to the recipe and timing will be needed depending on this preferment.
I used a polish, 100% hydration, made only from whole spelt. I let it sit on the counter for about 6 hours, at 25 C, using 1/8 tsp yeast. For 1500 g final dough, I used 200g of polish. I also put about a tsp of instant yeast in the final dough, during mixing. thanks,
Poolish (6hrs)
100g whole spelt
100g water
0.35g dried yeast
Final Dough
All of Poolish 200g
Flour 780g (390g white spelt, 312g whole spelt, 78g whole rye)
Water 516g
Salt 16g
Yeast 2.83g
So first of all I don't think you over fermented the poolish. It sounds about right. In fact the recipe sounds good. The only thing I can think of is the poolish + extra yeast + 30°C + spelt might have been a bit too much. That and the deflating as soon as you score is over proofing.
What you could do is miss out that added extra yeast in the final dough as it's there for a boost.
And/Or, shorten the bulk ferment. Don't aim for doubled. Aim for aerated and billowy. This won't necessarily mean it has to double.
If it's very hot and will be difficult then try using chilled water.
Do you have to retard the dough? If so, then retard the dough once the gluten formation is done and it's risen by 30% and refrigerate in the bulk ferment stage. Take out the dough and shape for final proofing allowing to rise by 80% and not doubled.
For all the time you spend sharing your knowledge. I will try the method of bulk fermenting in the fridge, never done that. Next tie, I will try to have the flour temperature+room temperature+water temperature at 54 C. Probably I should also improve more the shaping technique. Also, I have the sensation that the gluten has not developed enough, or maybe for small quantities it is better to mix by hand, and not using the mixer. thanks again so much!
all the best,