Hello
I have been baking sourdough for a year now. I've been through a lot of trial and error by myself from a starter given by a friend whch has been through various permutations but seems good now - nice smell and frothy.
Since being on this forum I've tightened up my ability to keep the process moving through peak fermentation stages and I'm getting a reasonable kind of rise now.
I don't use a recipe but am getting close to trying the weigh and measure style which many on this forum recommend. In the meantime I keep tweaking here and there and some of my main problems have resolved.
For a long time my bread would sink before I got it into the oven and have started putting my second rise in the fridge overnight - I live in the topics and so rising was happening very fast. I've still got LOTS of questions about hydration and kneading etc but my main concern at the moment is oven procedures. But here's some background: at the moment I take my starter out of the fridge and feed it of an evening and the next morning make a sponge and then after a few hours I add more flour and water to make a dough I can scrape onto the bench and knead up for a few minutes - pretty sticky. I push it into tins and refrigerate overnight and then take out to finish rising in the morning and then bake.
I use 50%rye and 50%wholewheat flours so I figure I am now getting as good a kind of rise and crumb as could be expected? (I wonder if more kneading or soaking the flours for the second rise could help and I should try some white flour just to see . . and maybe a recipe!)
Anyway . . . the main problem I am having now is that the outside crust is REALLY hard. and the inside crumb seems to still be a bit sticky (like when I cut the bread the knife gets tacky bits on it). I'm not sure of the temperature to bake at. I was baking at 180-200 and the outside would turn white and still hard and not be quite cooked inside after 50mins. Now I bake at 225 for 50 mins and it is cooked more OK inside (still a bit sticky - rye?) but the crust is VERY tough. I have tried cooling it off in a cloth and this helps but I would like a more chewy crust and not so hard.
What temp. should I be baking at? Or what are the principles of temperature and baking and crust etc. ANd any other tips based on the process I'm engaged with would be appreciated!
WIth thanks
caterina
Replies
Hi Caterina. Having just baked through a long hot summer in Perth, the challenges of getting proof times right etc are still fresh in mind. In fact, it's still damned hot.
I have never made a bread that comprises 50% rye and 50% wholewheat, so my input is going to be of limited value. However, regardless of the season, I also prefer to allow the final proof to take place in the fridge overnight, so we have that much in common. In my case, though, I complete a bulk proof on the kitchen benchtop, then shape before retarding in the fridge overnight. Unlike you, I don't do any further proofing next day - just heat the oven and load the bread directly out of the fridge. I often get a nice blistered finish and some cracking of the crust, which I like, and if I'm really lucky with some recipes the bread 'sings' for 10 minutes after the bake.
So, you could try that variation in procedure and see how it goes. I find the BP takes under 1.5 hours when the room temp is really up...it's hard to be precise. Just gotta keep an eye on the dough.
Also, could you try a mix of 50% premium baker's flour with, say, 25% rye and 25% wholemeal? That should give you a better crumb and less chewy crust.
My baking times won't be appropriate for you, since my formulae are different, but I find the following gives a nice golden crust that is not too thick, and ensures a good even bake inside:
15 mins@ 225
15 mins @ 215
12 mins @ 200
My thinking is that reducing the temp like that during the bake simulates the cooling of a woodfired oven. Maybe that's fanciful, but it does give me good consistent results. Maybe you could try something like that, adjusted for your formula?
Let us know how you go.
Good baking!
Ross