I'm not sure how to tell if I'm giving too much steam on my bread or not enough? The crusts on any type of wheat sd doughs I do are soft by the second day (is this normal?)...spelt and rye crusts have held up better. Recipes vary but my steam method is to throw about a cup of water onto the side of the oven right after I load the loaf on the stone. When I lower the temp after about ten minutes I also open the oven door for a few seconds to release some of the remaining steam. I tried using a pan and didn't seem to get anywhere near the amount of steam as this method. I've not tried the towel method.
On a side note, I've been degassing less and still wind up with a tighter crumb than I am trying to achieve, any thoughts would be appreciated.
These are a couple of pics from my last bake...wheat and spelt.
finally, spelt on left and wheat beside it...still have plenty of work to do on my scoring;-)
It's not too much.
Thanks Michael,
I was wondering if the steam amount could be influencing the crumb...the wheat came out rather tight imo and I've been trying to work on less degassing and better shaping but something is still not cooperating...guessing it is involved more in my shaping or possibly my scoring? I wondered about the steam because tossing the water on the side of the oven has been producing much more steam than I was getting otherwise. I've noticed a marked improvement in the exterior crust color by getting more steam early in the bake.
Curious how you can tell about the amount of steam not being too much? I'm still a rookie and having a hard time determining cause and effect:-). FWIW, the bread tastes great.
I think you are bulk fermenting a little long, resulting in a slightly denser crumb. In my experience, on the spectrum of adequately fermented bread, dough closer to the over fermented side will have more uniform holes. Try cutting bulk by a half hour or maybe 45 mins. Closer to 3 total hours if the water you use isn't too warm.
I don't think you can get too much steam in a home oven. Too much steam will sort of gel the crust and give it an interesting hue. If the bread looks at all dull (in sheen), in any way, the bread was not over steamed. Dullness can also be caused by over proofing.
Thanks for the explanation. It makes sense that I've probably been pushing the ferment a bit too much, I'll cut back on the next batch.
What is your flour formula, in other words how much wheat and how much spelt? Spelt tends toward a less open crumb. Open crumb is not an attribute I normally seek in my breads. I realize this view is not universally shared. The crumb in the photos is a success in my view.
How do you store your bread after baking? I normally leave it on the cutting board and the bread is eaten within 48 hours. The crust doesn't change in character too much during that time. Meaning, the crust retains its crunch when stored outside of any container. I use steam around 50% of the time and I don't see a major effect from steam. My steam method is to throw some ice cubes in the oven when the loaf goes in. It is not a very precise method.
If the bread is stored in a plastic (zip lock) bag for any length of time, the crust softens and I do not care for this.
Thanks Semolinaman.
As to formula, the wheat is:
90% bread flour, 10% whole wheat, 79% hydration, 2.2% salt, 20% starter (mixed rye and wheat both @ 100%)...autolyse then fermented on counter 'til billowy (maybe 3-4 hours), preshape, rest, shape and proof in bannetons about 1-1/2 hours on counter followed by ~7-8 hours in fridge then baked cold from the fridge
For the spelt I did a 1,2,3 ratio w/ spelt starter (@100%), 50% spelt and 50% bread flour, 2% salt...same process as above but timing was just a bit different (it proofed a bit quicker which makes sense due to the higher % of starter).
I believe the softening may be directly related to what you are saying about storage...I can't eat my bread fast enough so I put it in plastic on the second day...I guess the obvious isn't always so obvious.
Thanks. Are you saying you spelt loaf was 50% spelt and 50% bread flour? If this is correct then I would expect a crumb less open than 100% bread flour and less open than the 90% bread flour / 10% whole wheat loaf. The pictures look to me like well baked and enjoyable loaves.
Yes sir, 50/50 but I too would have expected a more open crumb from the white. I wound up with the opposite but as suggested above I may have given it a bit too long in bulk. So much to learn:-)