I'm new to baking, my inside look almost slightly grey, are my concerns valid or am I tripping?
I am thinking it could be because I used whole grains, I do a mixture of white spelt and whole spelt.
Couldn't tell you what my hydration was, I didn't measure, but it looked to be more on the high-hydration side.
The inside is cooked, just want to know if it is cooked all the way through, it feels slightly moist to the touch, but I don't collect anything ony my finger tips, and the dough inside bounces back.
I've showed the bread to my family members without mentioning it, and they don't seem to notice.
Hope I can be helped, thanks.
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Hello Juni,
Whole grain flours will certainly give colour to your bread but I don't see much evidence for 'grey' myself. Doughs made with wholegrain (depending on the proportion of wholegrain flour) will require a higher hydration mix due to the greater water absorbing character of the bran and germ. They can also be more difficult to get a good rise from due the the bran and germ interfering with the structure of the gluten sheets that give the dough its strength.
Your loaf looks quite small and you don't give cooking temperatures and time. However, it does look as if you did not get much oven spring. The loaf has a flat bottom with a sharp bend to the side with an over-all triangular rather than a rounded shape and the crust does look a bit pale so I am wondering whether your dough might have been over-proved. The wall structure of the larger holes does suggest that the dough was suficiently developed.
Perhaps you could try working with a little less water if you think it was on the high hydration side and maybe cut back on your proving time to see if you get more oven-spring and a better shaped loaf.
A little more detail of your recipe and methods, including times and temperatures, could also help with a more accurate diagnosis.
Good luck with your projects.
Farinam
I always bake to a temperature of at least 206 degrees. It was worth the $10 thermometer to keep my bread from molding in a week.
Hi Light_Work,
I'd agree with Farinam re lowering hydration. It is possible that the flour you are using is not capable of absorbing an above standard amount of water. I would suggest mixing a stiffer dough using gentle development techniques, for example, allow your mixture to sit for half an hour before stretching and folding several times every 20 minutes for around 2 hours in total (including initial sitting time).
Fermentation also comes in to play and the colour of your crust and crumb suggests inadequate fermentation and/or low temperature oven - ideally start at 240C and finish around 180-190C for this type of bread. Note that the big holes suggest that during baking, water was not able to evenly migrate and be supported by the structure of the dough. Higher acidification could be achieved through a riper starter/more starter/longer dough fermentation.
It is all a bit of a guess until we know more about the full technique you have used to create this dough. It would be good to know how much salt was added (low salt can produce light coloured crust).