Hey, folks. Haven't posted much lately, but, of course, still baking away. Over the last few weeks, though, I seem to have lost my oven spring. I used to get really nice lift in the oven, great bloom, and wonderful ears on my bread. Now, using the same formula, ingredients, process, etc., my oven spring has been just.....meh. Scores aren't opening up much, and not much lift. My guess is overproof (maybe because it's getting warmer and everything is moving along faster?) My first thought is that I should probably reduce the bulk ferment time so that things aren't getting too far along before the fridge proof. Open to any other thoughts or ideas..... Anyway, here's my formula and process with a couple of pics of loaves I took out of the oven this am........
750g AP Flour (Central Milling ABC)
200g WW Flour (freshly milled Hard Red Spring....Central Milling)
60g Spelt (freshly milled....CM)
60g Rye (freshly milled....CM)
188g Levain
785g Water
26g Salt
Used Mario's process from perfectloaf.com for a "Weekday Sourdough Loaf", changing up the mix of flours, and upping the starter to keep the % of levain called for in his recipe.
7a - Mix Levain (9g mature starter, 45g ww flour, 45g AP flour, 90g water)
5p - "Autolyse" with everything except the salt
5:30p - Mix in salt using pincer method, then slap/fold about 20x
6p - Stretch/fold
6:30p - Stretch/fold......bulk
9p - Divide and pre-shape
9:30p - Final shape and into bannetons on floured tea towels
10p - Into fridge (34F)
7a (next day) - Bake at 475F, covered for 15 minutes, uncovered for 25 minutes in dutch ovens
As an additional bit of info, as part of my troubleshooting, I have taken my starter from the fridge, and feeding 10/20/20 with freshly milled WW every 12 hours. It's super active, bubbles up nicely, smells great.
Here are my loaves from today (no crumb shots, still cooling):
Here's what my typical loaf has been pretty consistently until the last few weeks:
I have no advice to give, just wanted to say that your loaf looks gorgeous.
Something about that dramatic burst and ear that makes it taste better somehow! :)
Rich
You may find this of interest in predicting fermentation time.
https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=22649.0
I've seen Craig's chart before, Gavin, but thanks for the reminder. I'm honestly not sure how to relate that to my current lack of oven spring (which, I am attributing to over proofing, but only because I haven't come up with another decent idea.) Looking at that chart, the difference in fermentation time, assuming 10% starter between an RT of 70F and 75F is only four hours. If my bulk is 5-5.5 hours (from mix to final shape), and fermentation time at that temp is 12 hours for 75F, it seems like moving it to a 34F fridge (even accounting for the time it take the dough to cool to that temp) that I'm still well inside the window of "total" fermentation. I'll experiment with some shortened proofing times to see if that is, indeed, my culprit.
Thanks!
R
Rich, how is the crumb? You’re most likely correct that it has over proofed, that would could certainly cause the lack of oven spring and lack of ears. It is getting warmer out in the northern hemisphere so it does increase temperature of our homes generally speaking. Post a crumb shot when you cut it.
Benny
I'm not a super open crumb kinda guy, so this is typically what I get (and aim for.....holds onto stuff better!) :)
It looks a bit pale, has that changed too? If so, it may be over-fermented (rather than over-proved) where the digestible sugars have been used up and there's not much sugar left to caramelise in the crust.
David, yes, the bread is paler than normal with the same pre-heat, oven temp, baking vessel, etc., so I was thinking about having used up the available sugars as well. If it's over fermented, it seems that I either need to control the temperature a bit better (lower), or I need to lower the total time that the dough spends at room temp for sure. I'll play around with the timing on this one a bit in the next batch and see where I end up.
It should be second nature for me to adjust for temperature after having home-brewed for 25 years, plus all the bread I've made! It's always the simple things!! :)
R
Thanks again, David (and Benito), for chiming in. I baked again today with a revised timeline. Got the levain going overnight, then mixed up my dough this morning. The bulk was shortened to 2.5 hours, I proofed for 45 minutes before going into the fridge for two hours. The dough baked up just like normal, so problem solved.....just need to be more cognizant of my ambient temps as we head toward warmer weather!
Today's first loaf:
There you go, you are still the pro as I remember Rich, problem fixed.
Stay safe.
Benny
...a pro, Benito, but thank you! :)
Rich
Just wanted to say thanks a lot for posting followup results. This has been pretty interesting to follow and I'm glad you figured it out!