Hey all,
I'm pretty new to bread making so this might be an easy fix/obvious problem, but I'm having trouble with how the shaping of my loaves affects the crumb (in sandwich loaves and Italian bread). Overall, the crumb is good - pretty uniform, holds well, etc. But I've noticed that slices will tend to tear along the 'seams' left by what I'm assuming was the folding and shaping process. You can see it in the photo - the bread splits along the lines to the right and to the left. The shaping process for this bread (Classic Italian Bread w/ bread flour - from Bread Illustrated by America's Test Kitchen) was something like this:
- shape into 10 inch square
- fold top two corners to center
- fold point into center (like an envelope)
- Fold top half over bottom half
Any recommendations for how to fix this problem?
Thanks!
Do you use flour (or oil) when you shape?
Sort of both - the dough still has a bit of oil on it from rising in a greased bowl, and I turn it out onto a lightly floured counter for shaping.
That's what prevents your dough from sealing properly. Stop using oil, there's no need for that. Get a flexible dough scraper if it's difficult to get it out of the bowl. And don't use flour unless your dough really sticks to the working surface. If the dough feels really dry you can lightly mist it with water before folding.
Ok, that makes sense. Thanks for the advice, I'll try it out!