Hi,
I'm new here. Have been experimenting with sourdough for the past few months but my sourdough always seem to come out dense. There are holes that shows rise.
My starter has bubbles in it which shows it is awake.
I use the folding method. Fold 4-5times, 30mins interval.
Bull ferment overnight in the fridge.
Bake in a cast iron pot.
Recipe:
436g Bread Flour
24g whole wheat flour
300g water
10g salt.
Please help!
what is your starter like? how are you maintaining it?
hi, how are you maintaining your starter? is it doubling reliably? how much starter are you using? how long are you letting it rise? is it doubling during the rise?
Which is why we're so curious about the starter and how much was used in the recipe? It doesn't seem to have the amount of yeast it should have. If we knew the details, we might be able to pinpoint the problem and suggest a solution. So the more details you give us the sooner the starter can be tweaked. Also if you know any temperatures (room, dough, bulking temp, fridge temp)
it appears the dough hasn't had the chance to ferment long enough to increase the yeast population enough to raise the dough properly. Does the bread taste sour? If so, the starter is too weak in the yeast department. If not, then the dough just needs more time to ferment either before chilling or before baking. Or there isn't enough starter put into the dough. I'm guessing at 130g starter?
I've answered some of your questions on my comments below. It seems like I should increase the amount of my starter and let it bulk ferment longer. I usually let it bulk ferment for 6-8hours.
Fridge temp is around 23degrees celcius.
Bread does not taste sour.
must be a typo. Fridge temps in Celsius are normally around 4 to 6 °C
or above 32° F.
looks like a starter issue. How long does the starter take to double? How many feed cycles do you do before baking?
Starter usually takes a whole day or overnight to double. I feed it once a day. It has been kept it in the fridge usually but now I'm trying to revive it by feeding it once a day.
I don't think you are fermenting the dough for long enough. Your fridge may be too cold. Also it doesn't look like your starter is happy. Have you conducted the float test with your starter before baking? I would be happy to talk you through this more if you reach out to me on instagram @whysosourdough
Hi,
I add 50g starter. It has doubled and I did the float test before using it. All has floated. Image of my starter below.
I feed it 1 time a day, and take it out of the fridge 3 days before baking. Should I increase the feeding? Or should I leave it to bulk ferment longer. It is not sour after baking.
Your starter looks nice and active, I think it's the amount used in your recipe and time fermented. The less you use the longer it will take for your dough to bulk rise and proof. The more you use the less time. Also warm water can help speed activity along when used in your dough recipe. I usually make this recipe from the clever carrot.
150g starter
250g water
500g flour
25 g olive oil
10 g (non-iodized) salt pink usually
Then mix ( I do this in the evening ), 4 series of S&F let bulk rise over night and shape proof and bake in the morning.
I made baozi buns with sourdough starter
http://nasilemaklover.blogspot.com/2017/06/red-bean-baonatural-yeast.html?m=1
and she says the more you use the faster the rise and less tangy, the less you use means longer rise and longer ferment so more tangy. Her recipe calls for quite a bit. I would suggest using more starter, with only 50g starter in your recipe it's possible it wasn't allowed to bulk rise and proof fully. Did you do the finger poke test to check your dough?
I keep my starter in the fridge and pull it out and feed it, use what I need, feed it and put back in the fridge. Sometimes if I don't have enough room in my jar, I will put some starter into a bowl. (Example) the 150g my recipes calls for, then feed it in the bowl 50:50 then subtract 50g flour from the 500g flour and 50g water from the 250g water in my recipe . then feed my starter jar "Mayflour" and retard it in the fridge.
I'm curious, is this a tried and true recipe you have successfully made in the past? I'm also wondering if it was over proofed and had nothing left for the oven spring? Did you let the whole wheat flour rest to absorb water before moving along?
https://traditionalcookingschool.com/food-preparation/less-dense-sourdough-bread-aw053/
So here are tips. It's best in the future to provide more details about your baking obstacles.
Simply saying your bread is dense and giving the community the weight if flours water and salt and expecting a magical answer will not do.
Baking is an art and a science and many things can be causing dense bread.
My suspicion is the starter is not strong enough, it's too young, give it a few more weeks, twice daily feedings should do as per the web link.
But also consider other factors and try using an already successful recipe
Hello,
The ingridients are better calculted in percentance, so you have to calculate something like this...
flower 100%
starter 20% (1:1:1)
Water can be from 60% untill 80% depends your knoting method and final result you want
salt 2%
oil 1%
is this a new starter? it doesn't look like it is quite ready yet and perhaps doesn't have a good balance of yeast and bacteria. i would suggest feeding it once every 24 hours on a schedule until it produces some bigger bubbles and then try to bake again. It should only take 1-3 days
50g starter to raise 500g flour is roughly one to ten ratio and would require 12 hours in ideal conditions. The dough just needs a longer ferment before a final shaping and rise before baking.
Or more starter in the recipe. Try the above recipe. 150g starter with 450g to 500g flour.