Help with very little bloom...

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Theairportrun on 27 Jan 2019 at 09:08

I am very happy with my light rye loaves however I am getting very little bloom (it seems that the score opening is cooking too quick and sealing before it has a chance to really open up!).

 

recipe is;

100g dark rye flour

400g white wheat flour

375g water

100g leaven (rye/wheat and passes float test when using) 

10g salt

 

method;

proofer (brod & taylor) set at 26 C

1 hour autolyse (including leaven)

add salt and knead (slap and fold) until windowpane test passes

prove for 3 hours at 26 C

shape, rest 20 mins, shape

prove for 1 hour 30 mins in banneton meanwhile;

pre-heat oven with baking stone and cast iron pan with lava rocks for 1 hour to 250 C

Lower oven to 210 C FAN (this plays what I think is a huge part in my issue) I would bake at 230C but as I can not turn off my fan feature I have dropped it to 210 C.

dough passes poke test nicely, scored at a very low angle and very shallow.

load dough into oven, add cold water to cast iron/rocks and then spray the oven a little bit with water.

bake for 20 mins with steam and then 15 minutes without

 

it is worth noting that the oven is very steamy when I take the cast iron out after 20 mins 

 

i think that the fan might play an issue and maybe steam?!

please can someone help?!?

i dont have an option to turn off the fan in my oven unfortunatly! I also dont want a dutch oven as i really only want to make batards!

 

the flavour and texture is amazing... i just want it to open up loads more and rise much higher!!

the opening from the score seems to set after about 5 minutes!! 

 

 

If possible, please send an image of the crumb. A common issue with lack of bloom/oven spring is over fermentation.

Dan

Side note:  You shouldn't expect the same type of bloom out of a loaf featuring a high percentage of rye flour as you would out of bread using primarily white flour.  You also should not expect to be able to process a dough with a high percentage of rye flour the same because the pentosans present in rye flour have a drastic effect on gluten development.  Typically with high percentage rye flour breads you see the flavor being built in the pre-ferment stage and then a very short bulk fermentation before shaping.  This is why when you see high percentage rye breads they are typically not scored or they are in a pan and lightly scored for decoration.  This is also why when you see any "Rye" bread in the grocery store the number one ingredient is typically not rye flour.  Some of these rye breads have very little rye in them at all.  There is such an association between rye and caraway that I think a lot of people simply associate the flavor of rye with caraway but now I'm just on a tangent.  Anyway...that's it I guess.

Ha, well that make a huge difference!  When I saw that original recipe and looked at that loaf I almost was in disbelief that the formula would make anything resembling that at all!

So a few things of note:  In your process it says you are bulk fermenting for 3 hours but doesn't mention any folds.  Are you folding?  If not, how slack is the dough when you go to pre-shape?  If so, how many folds are you giving it?  Do you experience this same issue with other breads you bake?

I am a huge proponent of the Cloche.  I am able to fit oblong loaves under my cloche without any issue...Also there a guy name Jim Chall that designed a cast iron oblong pan that is meant for batards.  You can easily find him on Instagram or probably just by googling it as well.  They are currently on a pre-order process and are supposed to be coming out fairly soon if I'm not mistaken.  So I would seriously look in to that especially considering you fan issues.  I think it is likely that the air current circulating in the oven is not helping your situation and that a cloche or something of that nature is what you should be looking in to.