Hi,
i am a complete newbie to sourdough baking. I just made my first loaf yesterday- the wholemeal sandwich loaf from the book "wild sourdough" My starter seemed to be active enough (doubling in size after a feed). The bread rose nicely but when i baked it there was no further oven spring. Also the crumb was very dense and the crust was far too hard. Any tips on how to remedy these faults would be appreciated.
Many thanks
Clare
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Replies
Hi Clare, Yes we are full of tips here but we need a little help from you first. Would you post your recipe that you followed so we can give you some tips on what to change.
Hello Clare
I was wondering if you could tell me the constituents of your recipe.
Combination Flour Used -
Quantity of each flour
Water- Quantity
Starter - Quantity
When I recieve this I can make an educated guess at what happened.
Dont worry about this it is only the beggining things happen you know.
kind regards
Alec Nayler
Qualifications & Experience .....
Level 3 Baker Sydney Australia 1994
Master Baker Italy 1998
Product Developer for Montana Bakery UK 2010
Artistic BreadMakers UK Consultancy 2010
ingredients;
500g wheat starter made with 1:1 water flour ratio
350g filtered water
650 g wholemeal flour
3 tsp (15 g) salt
Method:
using a digital scale weigh all ingredient, including water. Place all the ingredients into a bowl, starting with the starter and water followed by the flour and salt.
Mix ingredients using a spatula for 2-3 minutes or until a cohesive mass is formed.
Rest the dough for 15-20 minutes
Using your fingertips throw the dough into the air and then slap/ throw it on the bench. Repeat this action for 5 minutes until the dough has developed elasticity. (This is the method of kneading used by Yoki as the dough is quite a wet dough and would be difficut to knead using a conventional technique. )
Rest the dough for another 20-30 minutes by which time the dough should feel soft, elastic and sticky,
Adjust the flour and water if required
Final kneading: If the dough is not elastic, soft and looks silky then air knead further.
Check by doing a window pane test (i checked by dough but found it teared apart because of the particules of wholemeal in the dough).
Shape the dough into a ball and rest for 20 minutes
Stretch out to rectangle and roll like a swiss roll. Seal the seam well and place in a loaf tin.
Let the dough rise until almost double (4-6 hours)
Preheat oven to 235 degress celcius. Bake in oven for 12-15 minutes then reduce heat to 215 degree and bake for further 30-40 minutes.
Once again thank you for helping me with this. If there are any bakers in melbourne who would accpet a volunteer/ observer i would be very interested.
Cheers
Clare
Hi Clare
'Wild Sourdough' was my first bread book, too. A lot of bakes and different recipes down the track - and with some quality bread books added to my shelves - I have to say I am no fan of this book. I speak only for myself, of course; others' opinions may be different.
The starter quantity is 77% (bakers' percentage) of the dough - that is unusually high, in my experience at least. Perhaps that is one of the problems. The dough formula can have quite an impact on crust. Just a possibility, though - only guessing.
A long bake at lower temps can often result in a hard crust. However, the baking times as you've reported them are pretty standard, so I doubt that is the reason for your hard crust. I use approximately the same times and temperatures for some of my favourite breads, and the crusts end up quite thin in some cases.
Another unusual aspect to her method: the bulk proof appears to be a bit over an hour (very short - are you sure there's not supposed to be an overnight retardation period to extend the bulk proof time?), while the post-shape proofing period is a VERY long 4-6 hours! All in all, pretty weird, compared with the breads I've made.
I'm no expert, and more informed bakers may challenge my observations here - which are just observations, not judgements. Anyway, will be interesting to see what others come up with.
By the way, read carefully through the recipes in that book before you go ahead with a bake. You'll find that ingredients are missing from some recipes; in more than a couple of instances directions mention some ingredient that is not listed or quantified.
Cheers
Ross
I'd say try again. Use your instinct, don't just go with a recipe. How does the dough look and feel? It might be too damp for the climate you're in. Adjust as you go. Maybe throw in some vital wheat gluten...wholemeal is so heavy those proteins might need a few extra friends. Then again, some days the dough genie just refuses to do its magic. : )
Use your instinct. The flour-to-starter ratio depends on many things, such as how wet your starter is and how absorbent the flour is. I find that even though my starter is relatively consistent and using the same brand of flour, the amount of flour I use can differ by about 1/2 cup.