Hello Wise Ones,
After several failed attempts that turned out the consistency of a wheel chock, I was finally able to make 2 batches of sourdough that rose, using this recipe:
https://www.bakewithjack.co.uk/blog-1/2018/7/5/sourdough-loaf-for-beginners?format=amp
The first time I followed all directions to a "T", but the crust glazed over, including where I scored it and it blew out the bottom.
Thinking I didn't have enough moisture/steam since I only used a bread pan with water in it, the second time I used glass pans with rolled towels to create more steam, and I spritzed the tops of the loaves with water after scoring (I baked in bread pans this time without flour in the shaping process and did the overnight proof in the pans).
As you can see, when I went to take the pans out to finish baking without steam, I saw that my score had, once again, glazed shut. So I re-scored and finished baking. The scores worked this time and I didn't have any blowout, but my crust is very glassy.
My oven under bakes everything, so I set it at 475 with steam for 15 min, then removed steam and finished baking at 400. I had to add 10 minutes to the final bake time to get the crust to brown some.
So, what am I doing wrong? Too much moisture? Too little? Too much heat? Not enough? Is it the way I'm handling the dough? Too much? Not enough?
Any advice is greatly appreciated, thank you!
Will save judgement till you've given a brief history of your starter and whether you've had any successful bakes yet plus a crumb shot with taste report.
Successful bakes as in the rose and weren't bricks, taste is awesome and we've been eating it. Here's the crumb shot. I'm going after a tighter crumb, not a super open crumb.
One can have a close crumb, without big gaping holes, but still fermented well. I think from the photo that although you've got a close crumb it looks gummy which is a sign of under fermented.
I use basically the same recipe but with a few changes. They look exactly like in the pictureNote that I'm just a somewhat home baker, so everything following are just educated guesses ;)
Your loaves look seriously underproofed. That might be due to the little sourdough in the recipe, I usually use double that amount. Underproofing leads to too much starch/sugars remaining in the dough once the loaf enters the oven. When you use steam, those starches gelatinize and you get this shiny finish that we all want. In your case it probably was too much steam, so it basically became a thick layer of starchy gel.
So I give you my recipe (it's not mine originally, but I adapted it) and a few additional tips:
100% / 400 g flour
60% / 240 ml water
50% / 200 g starter
2,5 / 10 g salt (use non-iodized)
Mix and let it bulk-ferment for ~5 h, for the folds you can follow the schedule in your recipe.
- But you don't need to shape it into a ball, it's enough if you just take one end and fold it over the dough, repeat on four sides. You can also do those folds in the bowl, no need to put it on the counter for that. The best is a square box with a lid that you close shut during bulk-fermentation.
Pre-shape into a rough ball and let rest covered for 20 min.
Shape into a tight ball and put into floured proofing basket or bowl or whatever, just something in the shape you want the bread to be.
Final proof for ~2 h, then bake at 465°F/240°C for 20 min. with steam, 15-20 without. You don't need to bake it in a tin, on a hot baking tray is fine. Even better is a dutch oven or big pot. Just put it into the oven when you are pre-heating the oven.
- For the steam, simply pour half a cup of water on the bottom of your oven and close the door, DO NOT open for the next 20 min. If you are using a dutch oven, just put the lid on and take it off after 20 min, then continue to bake.
If you have questions, I'm happy to help :)
Also Bon Appétit made an awesome video about this. They use slightly different ratios, flours, proofing times etc., but the basic concept is the same and they do a great job showing and explaining every step without it getting boring: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oidnwPIeqsI
Thank you so much, I will try that!
say to double the recipe when making two loaves. The picture shows two loaves yet they look too small for the pan size. The scored raw loaf looks way too small and might be explained if dough for one loaf was divided into two pans. Could this have happened?
When repeating the recipe for one loaf, try putting all the dough into one pan.
"My oven underbakes everything." ---> inspect the oven to see if perhaps an extra baking tray is on the bottom of the oven. Check the calibration if the oven and/or place an oven thermometer inside to make sure it is hot enough. If electric, the oven may have only one coil working.