90% whole wheat sourdough, as flat as it was yummy

Toast
slothbear on 20 Mar 2007 at 22:41

flat flat ww sourdough

I was inspired by Jane and Srishti and the other folks trying whole wheat sourdough (thanks!), so I tried it. I started with the proportions I found here: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/2059/100-whole-wheat-bread#comment-7919

My variations -- I halved the recipe, kneaded in my Zojirushi bread maker, and used my white sourdough starter and Whole Foods whole wheat flour. My my I love weighing ingredients, especially in grams. I just keep slinging stuff into the bowl, so fun and easy.

Everything proceeded nicely until the final rise. Instead of rising like New York, it spread out like Los Angeles. The resulting bread was delicious, but in the interest of bread art (and sandwiches), I'd like it to be a little taller. I'm still new to sourdough, but am loving every trial. My starter is quite vigorous -- I'm pretty sure that part is ok.  Any suggestions?

Hello slothbear, I have been doing 80% hydration ww doughs according to the link you posted above with great success. I tried 85% and though it rose nicely like NY ( :D I love that), it was too moist inside for my liking. Yesterday I made 100% WW baguettes for the second time and they were really yummy. BUT, everyone's flour is different!!!! So you might want to go less hydration. How did your dough look after kneading? Was it too flacid or was it firmer? Mine has been able to form a nice ball right after finishing kneading but after the night in the fridge I think it flattens out. But after the folding it gets much firmer again! Let me know. Take CAre Srishti

Another thing you might want ot keep in mind is proper shaping....

Make sure you get sufficient surface tension and make the tight.

Also maybe you overkneaded????  which I have heard is easy to do in a mixer!

Just trying to guess what might have gone wrong to get that LA of a bread!