Hello friends,
This is my first post here, I'm a long time lurker though. I've been visiting the forum for almost 3 years now, although i had a big hiatus in between.
Everything I know about bakery i learnt it at tfl, tho it may not be much. So this post is because I've been strugling to get big pockets of air when I bake. I decided to post my inquiry here, to see if I can get a few tips that will help me get on the right track.
Today i baked a 40% hydration bread, white flour and 15% rye. With a preferment of 100% hydration that i prepared the night before (roughly 11hs). So, the dough was fairly hard to handle and had, therefore, little strength (I do all of the kneading manually) I prepared the mix, knead for a few minutes (slaps and folding). Then let it sit for about one hour (its about 100° f here, I live in Argentina that's why), folded once again a couple of times. After that I placed the dough in a bread mould in order to proof, around 40 minutes later or so I put it in the oven, which was at 390°.
But the dough didn't rise as much as I had anticipated, and of course it lacked the pockets that I longed for. Here is a pic of the bread. I want to know what I'm missing, or if the pockets werent there because of the rye flour i added to the mix.
This book may be a little advanced for you at this stage, but it is a must have IMO for open crumb. Others on this site seem to agree. It is called “Open Crumb Mastery” by Trevor J Wilson. It comes in a PDF file that is downloadable. https://trevorjwilson.selz.com/item/open-crumb-mastery-for-the-intermediate-sourdough-baker-1-1
Your crumb is not open, but I think it is pretty nice. Open crumb is all the craze now, but your bread looks excellent for your early stage in bread baking.
It’s hard for me to critique it. I’d need more information. You mention a hydration of 40%. That can’t be correct. Next time take pictures at various stages. Information like that would be very beneficial for trouble shooting.
Let’s see what others have say.
Dan
I’m guilty of baking bread with an emphasis on looks. I’ll admit. But bread is, after all, food. How did it taste?