Every time I cut my sourdough bread into slices it smooshes and flattens. I really don't know what to adjust in my recipe.
For reference, here is the recipe I use:
600g Bread Flour
400g Water
200g Starter (100% hydration)
13g Salt
Mix starter in water, then the bread flour. Autolyse for 1 hour. Then the salt.
Bulk ferment for 4 hours, folding every 30 minutes. I then divide the dough into 2, folds it last into a ball and put into a bowl and into the refrigerator. I retard them for about 36 hours.
I bake each loaf in a cast iron pot, which I put in the oven at 250 degrees Celsius for 30 mins before I put the dough. I bake it for 20 mins with a lid on, turn down the heat to 230 degrees then take the lid off and bake for about 6-8 mins. (Depending on the color of the crust I want)
What adjustments should I do?
Is there such a thing as "crumb is to soft"
I can't see it very well from your picture but could it be that it is too hard on the dough, and simply needs sharpening? Because your bread looks fine to me!
Just a thought
Sparrow
Maybe, haha. Do serrated knives needs sharpening tho?
At some point, they need it, it's just not an easy thing to do with a serrated blade...
I had this idea because until quite recently, I used a knife that looked pretty much like yours. I must have had it for decades, and when it was new it was incredibly sharp! But now I got a brandnew knife for my birthday and wow, does it make a difference! Worlds, really!
Happy bread cutting ;-)
Sparrow
and run it at a 30 degree angle on the non-serrated side. This was by a Henckel technician. He said that’s about all you can do with serrated knifes.
For what they cost relative to the cost of a year's supply of flour (or even a month's), it is easy to get a really great bread knife. Here is the one that I have, and it is superb. Google "Mercer Culinary Millennia 10-Inch Wide Bread Knife" and you will see it for sale at various places. Be sure to get a good knife guard too -- this is a sharp knife, and you do not want to leave it uncovered in your drawer.
There are special tools for that, AFAIK.
You are using the standard 123 recipe from this sight, and it looks great. I agree with the comments about the knife.
Are you trying to cut when it is to fresh & soft, try leaving it overnight, before you cut.
You have a beautiful loaf.
Bill.
I'm sure plenty of people will counter-point this statement (and to that I feel no disrespect; I'm not a pro) but I suspect your retarding in the cold box for 36 hours is too long. I think there is something that happens where the yeast or other bacteria weaken gluten structure. I'm not sure how, and I have no scientific evidence to back it up, but I have experience with similar.
When I was building my starter, I was having poor success. I recall trying out a bread using my lackluster starter and thinking "I'll just have a long fermentation to compensate for the poor rise" and the result was a little rise, but a loose and almost liquid dough at that point.
My suggestion, do everything the same but shorten DRAMATICALLY the retard time. What I do, and I'm not saying it will work for you, but I do NO MORE THAN a 12 hour retard. When I take it out of the fridge, I let it warm up a few hours, maybe 3. My thinking is that the warming up for 3 hours will sort of add any gasses/flavor that a long, long retard may contribute.
I'd be money that this will give your bread a better structure.