I just moved back to Malta after living in the UK for the winter. Some of you may have been following my blogs where I've been baking 100% wholewheat SD loaves with success.
Now I'm in warmer, different atmospheric conditions, and I decided to bake my first loaf using the exact same process and timings as usual, just to see what would happen. The result seems OVERPROOFED, based on flat appearance (see images). Not surprising given warmer conditions but the same fermenting times. * I should also say that my slash marks completely disappeared, which also suggests bread just spread open.
I am also using a bigger dutch oven, and wonder whether the bread has more space to spread out. But I know it should hold its shape at optimum fermentation.
My question is, how and in what order should I adapt the below recipe & method to suit the new, warmer environment?
I was thinking I could begin by A) reducing the amount of starter and keeping similar timings, or B) should I just shorten bulk rise and proof? Or do both?
I could also add 10-20% white flour in the mix (which I've been thinking about doing anyway for a more balanced loaf) and I assume that would slow down fermentation a little.
Suggestions welcome!
RECIPE:
500g organic WW flour
15% starter
83% hydration
2% salt
METHOD:
1 hr autolyse
Mix in starter, salt, about 3 mins kneading on counter
5.5 hr bulk rise, with 3 S&Fs at the start
Overnight proof in fridge (~12hrs)
Bake in dutch oven at ~230C, 20 mins lid on, 25 mins lid off
Mine take on that shape when proofed for a longer time* - spreading out to fill the Dutch Oven with a flatter top, whereas normally they don't quite reach the edge even after oven spring (400g flour in a 22cm internal diameter cast iron casserole). Also, that wavy edge I think I can see is presumably the effect of the baking paper if you used some, I get that as well. Did it splurge outwards when you put it in there initially? Also, is that 15% starter total starter weight or flour weight (I assume total weight or it would be more than a bit over-proofed I would think).
*I won't say "over-proofed" because the result is still nice, just not so photogenic.
You're right about the baking paper. 15% starter is 15% total weight, i.e. 75g of starter. That's what I ordinarily use, and it seems to work well. Too much?
Here is a crumb shot (I just cut it open) - it's actually a pretty nice crumb, just a shame it didn't seem to have the strength to rise enough in the oven. I wonder why... is it overproofed or perhaps under-kneaded?
Yes that looks nice inside. After I got a loaf that went like your's I reduced the starter to 6.5% flour weight and it was a bit under-proofed, though OK, so for my most recent I went for 7.5% starter by flour weight. The dough was 80% seeded wholemeal bread flour/20% very strong Canadian white bread flour*, 80% hydration, proofed for just under 5 hrs at a dough temp. of 25 C then a further hour in the banneton, then into the fridge for 6 hours (it didn't rise any further in the fridge). I did put in 5 stretch and folds there, in addition to a letter fold when shaping. I don't know what your dough temperature was (the internets tell me it is a nice 20C in Malta), but this appears quite similar to what you are doing.
*this was what was in the supermaket, I would normally have got something else, but actually these work well and make a nice moist tasty granary style loaf
Thanks for these suggestions - I will give 7.5% a try and see what happens!
If your starter is at 100% hydration, it is 7.5% flour weight (if I have understood you correctly).
Oh, I see, thanks for clarifying. My starter is at 100% hydration, yes, when I say 15% I mean - 15% of the mature starter (so, probably less percentage in flour weight)...
I assume you took your starter with you, but I also assume everything else is different: flour, water, ambient temp, oven.
So, almost everything needs to be re-adjusted, or tweaked, for these new things.
new Flour needs a new hydration.
new flour needs a new ferment time. It will have different starch-to-sugar conversion speed, and different time to develop a windowpane.
new water may speed up or slow down fermentation.
warmer ambient temp speeds up fermentation.
new oven needs dialed in, in terms of temp. The previous was a convection, correct? What is this one?
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Since you want at least a 5 hour bulk for flavor development, then reducing starter amount seems appropriate.
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The effectiveness of shaping procedure (between bulk ferment and final proof) to get a tight skin is also closely tied to hydration %. It just takes lots of experimentstion and practice to get that juuuuust right.
Hi Dave! Because I am stubborn, I actually packed the remains of my WW flour with me, so this loaf is made using the exact same flour as the last. Really the only major differences are the ambient temp, the water as you said, and the dutch oven. But you know how we were saying the previous dutch oven I had was too small? Maybe in being too small, it was tricking me into thinking my doughs were stronger than they actually were?
More specifically: does the fact that the bread has a nice crumb indicate that it's not over-proofed but underkneaded/not strong enough?
P.S. The new oven is also a convection oven, it can actually go up to 250 C but I kept it at the 230 mark to match what I'd been doing previously (though maybe that's silly)
The crumb does look just a tad over-fermented to me, with the larger holes under the top crust. That can also be a sign of too much water.
Try lowering the water to 81% and the starter to 13 %.... just baby steps.
Hydration is also closely tied to how well skin tightness and overall shape develops during shaping procedure.
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I have to admit that I "cheat" a little by matching the amount of dough to the size of my dutch oven. So increasing the formula to a larger size loaf may help aesthetics if you have a matching size banneton or make-do banneton.
Ok, thanks as usual :)