Help me shape my loaves!slack dough, shaping

Hi isobel,

Show us some photos, please! And your formula for the breads you described.

Occa

 Hi Isobel,

I think the level of hydration is your basic problem. 100% is probably what one would use for a very wet dough like Ciabatta, but if you check out other formulations here you will see that most would be well less than that. I produce numerous sourdough varieties commercially and the average % used would be around 72 or 73, and even then some of those doughs are slightly hard to handle, but if they are scaled and rounded tightly and given a bench rest for approx half an hour, the final shaping before proving is easier as a slight skin will form, which if you keep on the outside in your final shape, makes handling easier. I'm happy to elaborate on this if it is not clear.

Cheers...and good luck.

Ted

Hi Isobel

Are you using a rye or a wheat (or a spelt) sour dough and what are you using for the additional flour?  They are all a bit different.  I find rye stands up extremely well even when really sticky but that spelt and wheat require more flour to stand up well.  Try adding a more flour into your dough so that it is, ultimately a sticky ball when kneaded as opposed to a sticky mass.  When shaping,  you may want to try wetting your hands and to gather up the dough and then rolling it generously in flour or rolled oats or seeds before popping it into the proofing basket. 

Good luck!

Hi Isobel,

FWIW ...

I'm not a professional baker nor I must add a baking enthusiast for whom not only methods, but also style matter. I am on the other hand a health enthusiast and that is what brought me to sourdough bread.

I do like working with slack dough sometimes, but was thoroughly put off by the result that was most of the times all crust, barely crumb due to the flattening of the dough on baking. So I've came up with an idea that allows me to dish out sourdough bread that tastes good, has a crust/crumb proportion that we like at our house, even though once in a while the baked loaves are not very professional looking.

I've posted information on that [url=http://mellowbakers.com/index.php?topic=189.msg794#msg794]here[/url].

 Hi Isobel,

I see your note to gingerbreadgirl where you refer to my suggestion of less hydrated leavens.  I'm sorry if I mislead you. When you first spoke of 100% hydration I assumed you were talking about the finished dough and accordingly my comments were aimed at that. I too use leavens of equal water to flour but when added to the dough ( I use leavens at the rate of 20% of flour weight) I drop the hydration of the dough to 72 or 73 %. So I thought I had better write once more to clarify this and hope I haven't confused you too much.

All the best in what you do.

Ted

Hi Isobel,

Agree with Ted that it is not the hydration that will be the problem: 100% hydration starter is normal and the 1-2-3 method gives you a final dough hydration of 71% which is good. Rather, sounds to me like a very long time to be proofing the loaves. Try instead leaving the bulk fermentation go overnight, then only and hour or two after shaping the loaves. I use the tea towel method instead of proofing baskets, as per the suggestion in SourDom's Beginners Blog on this site. When the loaf is in danger of going too far, it is easier to tell by the size and the splodge (as well as the poke test). The tea towel doesn't give much or any support, but it is the stretch and folds during bulk fermentation and shaping that I understand should be making the dough hold itself up.

And by the way, I think the chilly house is all to the good for your bread -- a longer fermentation translates to more flavour -- so make bread while the sun don't shine, so to speak.

Cheers,

Frank