Hi!
I'm struggling with my dough tension. The crust just seems to burst in various areas.
Last night's method of leaving to proof overnight in the fridge helped the tension and therefore the scoring process but there was still a lack of 'splitting' via the main score(S) and further bursting at other points in the crust.
Can anyone help at all?! Thanks!
Maybe try scoring deep (2cm) with one main slash across the entire bread and see how that works. Might help open the bread nicely. Otherwise there are so many more fermentation/shaping questions that could relate to helping you on this
Thanks @Anothercrust - i've commented my process below!
If you can provide more details about your dough recipe, it might be easier to help diagnose. Also, how are you baking your loaf? If it isn't in some kind of DO or with other steam process, the crust might be setting before the loaf has a chance to expand via the score, causing 'blow out's in other weaker areas. Just a thought.
Thanks @naturaleigh i've mentioned my process below!
Thanks @Anothercrust and @naturalleigh.
My process is as follows;
Day 1 (Sponge making
) - mix 70g starter, 250g strong white flour, 300ml water. Combine and refrigerate overnight.
Day 2:
- Add to mixture, 185g wholemeal + 100g strong white + 10g salt
- Combine and leave for 1 hour
- Knead for 2 mins until dough is smooth, place back into mixing bowl and leave for 1 hour.
- Stretch & fold (every 30 mins) for 2 hours
- Shape and place in flour bowl and leave to proof in fridge overnight.
Day 3:
- Remove from bowl, final shape, scoring.
- Bake in dutch oven. 20 mins @ 230 with lid on, 25 mins lid off @ 200.
As you can see from pic, today's loaf lost its shape as I was scoring/placing into DO.
Help??
I would search this site or the Internet for some basic sourdough recipes, and maybe give a different recipe and/or process a try. I don't know that I've seen many with a 'levain' (the first step you noted above) with those proportions of ingredients. You might have better luck with shaping after you complete a longer bulk fermentation, then place the banneton in the fridge overnight. That will help the dough retain it's shape better, rather than doing that in the morning of your bake. Then all you have to do is remove the dough from the banneton (after a long proof in the fridge overnight), score and bake.
I'm too inexperienced to be sure about this, but I think it's odd that the whole grain flour is added in the dough instead of earlier in the levain. Isn't it usually desireable to add any whole grain flours as early as possible to give them as much time to hydrate as possible?