Proof and rest times

roo

I have just gotten to the point where I have a active starter which I can use however everytime I try making a loaf of bread and bake it, it splits from the base and does'nt look very good. How do I remedy this, is it because I am not giving enough rest before moulding or under proved. Please help thank you any suggestions will be very much appreciated.

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farinam's picture
farinam 2011 November 22

Hello roo,

It could be any number of things but if you could give us some more detail of your procedure (including times and temperatures).  Pictures can be helpful too if you have them.

However, splitting often occurs because the 'skin' of the loaf cannot stretch enough during the rising phase of baking.  This could be due to drying during proving or during the early stages of baking.  The slashing of the loaf can have an effect as well. 

So possibly protect your dough with a damp cloth or large plastic bag (I use one of those clothes storage vacuum bags).  Use a steam generator in the oven during the early stages of baking.  Make sure your slashing is good.

Hope this helps.

Farinam

kathy kovago 2011 November 24

Hi Roo, this has just happened to me for the first time and even though the loaves were slashed as usual they  opened up along the seamline on the bottom so i ended up turning them over to finish baking. As it turns out the crumb was very dense with a few big holes in it, not very enjoyable. So the question is what did i do differently. Well i shortenened the bulk prooving time considerably and for this recipe it was not long enough even though after shaping the loaves spent the night in the fridge. The proof times depend on the percentage of starter in the mix, the tempreture and so on. But if you are in a hurry, a tiny pinch of yeast will speed it right up! I can recommend the Spelt, rye and wheat loaf recipe from this site to try.

 

Happy Baking

Kathy

slepax 2011 November 25

And if so, how many slashes? How deep?

 

If you did slash the bread I would say try and make deeper slashes.


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