I am not new to bread making, but this is my first voyage with sourdough. Being a purist at heart I refused to buy a starter, and I have made two starters from scratch, the first, made from stone milled wheat, was so-so, the second, made from rye produced a final is a wet levain, and has the odor of ripe fermenting apples, is a winner I think. The first loaf tasted wonderful, however it did not look very good. I was trying to bake a Boule, and when I rolled it out of the floured towel lined bowl onto the peel, it flattened and spread. I slashed the top, nonetheless. The resulting bread was about 2 1/2 - 3 inches thick. I know how to bake loaves in pans but I do not want to do that, I want round and elongate loaves.
My question is how to get good loaf shapes. And, if the second rise is too long, will that contribute to unstable loaves.
Any suggestions that would help me make breads that look as good as they taste would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Silverback
My question is how to get good loaf shapes. And, if the second rise is too long, will that contribute to unstable loaves.
Any suggestions that would help me make breads that look as good as they taste would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Silverback
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Replies
If your boule flattens badly on being inverted onto the peel, chances are it is over-fermented/proved. If that's the case, shaping can't fix it. That is, a perfectly shaped boule if overproved will go flat, and not rise much.
The key is to figure how much fermenting and proving it really needs, in the termperatures and general conditions that prevail in your kitchen.
What times are you using, at what temperature, and what ratio of weight of levain/starter- to-new flour/water are going into the final bread dough? The key though is the feel. Kneaded SD bread dough that's not done much fermenting should feel quite tight and springy, kind of "muscly". Once bulk fermented and ready for shaping it should be a little softer but still springy. While it proves it should go from still-springing-right-back-when-you-push-a-finger-into-the-surface, to still-got-a-tiny-bit-of-spring-but -the-dent-doesn't-really-recover.
For me, in my kitchen and with my starter (usually around 20 deg C), with about 35%-40% by weight levain in the final bread dough, I use about 3 hours bulk ferment (from initial mixing) then shape, then about 3-4 hours prove, then bake (or straight into fridge and up to 24 hours retarding, then one hour or so out of the fridge to bake). (By the way, the levain I make from starter and ferment for about 8-10 hours, give or take).
I hear of some people bulk fermenting and proving for a combined 12hours or more without retarding in a fridge, after mixing the final bread dough, and wondering why their dough goes slack and won't rise...