Hi guys! I’ve recently gotten into baking sourdough breads. I wanted to try an 81% loaf. This is the recipe I used https://www.theperfectloaf.com/higher-hydration-sourdough-bread/ . Everything seemed fine until I saw the bottom of my loaf. It looks weird! Is this normal or am I doing something wrong?
Then go bake another
Hahahhahaha... I’m planning to! But is there a specific reason this happens? I want o learn from my attempts
Yes;
Before you toss it the pan, look at the bottom, little wrinkles, just get bigger. just keep kneading all the wrinkles away
knead it some more, maybe a few more drops of water. You need to knead
Looks like you did that 'flat hand scoop and turn' to tighten your dough ball but forgot to smooth over the bottom. You can end up making a 'bread geode' this way. This generally sorts itself out when proved in a tin but when freebaking there's no sides to push on so the base moves outward widening gaps instead of working itself flat... if that makes any sense.
How do I flatten it? And thank you!! I just cut the loaf open, and it doesn’t look too bad :)
Well it seems to not be detrimental to your outcome...looks good to me.
This base cracks/folds happen with me when I tuck too much during the ball tightening. I just turn it to the side, pinch gaps closed and pat them gently down.
Another way is to grab your bowl by both hands and roll the dough around the bowl by moving the bowl in circles... if that makes sense.
That reminds me of a pic I saw from seriouseats.com on sourdough troubleshooting. The loaf in question was “misshappen.” I mean, I’d be surprised if you were a beginner sourdough baker and you DIDNT mess up the shaping so I’d say just keep on practicing. The seam likely just wasn’t sealed up properly.