I'm not getting the oven spring I want from my whole wheat boules and batards. So I figured I would make soe flat bread and not worry about it, So I shaped some barbari bread, and what happens? The flat part springs up. I've had a similar issue with bialys, which aren't flat exactly, but mine spring up like regular rolls.
So how do you keep flat breads flat, more or less, other than weighting them down with pizza toppings?
Thanks
Most recipes for focaccia call for putting dimples in the dough just before baking. It works.
Many pizza-makers dock their pizza. There are even roller tools for it. I use a fork, or a toothpick.
I get two kinds of expansion in my flatbreads:
1. Like a pita, where it separates into two halves, and blows up like an inflateable pillow. It's just steam, and eventually deflates. Sometimes it doesn't completely separate inside, and makes compartments, but it's the same principle. This usually happens when using baking powder, or I only did one rise with yeast/sourdough.
2. A honeycombed bread-like crumb, which usually inflates unevenly. This usually happens when I make bannock or similiar yeast/sourdough rising bread, and when I do two rises: a bulk ferment, and then shape into a thick disk and do a final proof after that. A little docking pre-baking, or popping big bubbles during the bake keeps it flat.
Thanks, I'll give it a try