I made these loaves based on the San Joaquin recipe by dmsnyder, but I upped the whole grain content to 50% (mostly wheat, but also a significant amount of rye), and raised the hydration (by an unmeasured amount, but it ended up feeling higher than I had intended). I only cut one of the loaves so far, but as you can see, the crumb was pretty irregular. Is this a sign of a particular part of the process I can improve on? Proofing? Something else? Or is it just normal variation? It seems a little too drastic for that last option.
The bread was light and delicious, but I wondered if this might point to something I can improve upon, which could then make it even better.
Thank you!
Pics of the whole loaves are below. I am very much still working on scoring (and this dough was wetter than what I'm used to), but I was mostly pleased with the way the scores came out.
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These loaves look great ! Even with upping the rye, you still managed to get a nice, open, airy crumb, which is an accomplishment in itself.
As for the 'irregularity' of the crumb, it's probably happening in the pre-shaping/shaping phase. Looks to me like the dough wasn't degassed too much during shaping (sometimes a problem with wet dough). To get a tighter, more regular crumb, either shape your boules a little more tightly, or up the whole grain content to tighten up the gluten network.
Especially for the tip about shaping!