Hi guys! I've been baking sourdough for 2 months now and although the finished loaves have satisfiable rise and crumb for a beginner, I have 2 main issues that seem to follow me no matter what recipe I choose;
1. I mostly follow recipes that include video tutorials or at least pictures so I can compare how the dough looks at each stage. My dough is always more sticky than the dough from the video/picture and it never gets completely non-sticky. I've been religiously flouring the proofing basket since I am always afraid the dough will stick (fortunately it doesn't, but I assume it's only because of the excessive amount of flour I use).
2. My dough never holds shape in any stage. Not when I do S&Fs (I've tried doing from 4 to more than 20 of S&Fs, the result was the same), not when I preshape the loaf - I get really nice surface tention though, but the dough looses shape after couple of minutes, nor when I take it out of the basket.
Some more info:
- my starter never doubled when I kept it at 100% hydration (feeding it once or twice a day at 1:1:1, keeping it at 23-27 °C). The first time I fed it at 90% hydration it doubled, almost tripled when it peaked
- I tried different recipes from 60-80% hydration
- I tried different proofing times and temperatures at differently stages
- I tried reshaping the loaf after taking it out of the basket, just before putting it in the oven - it didn't make a noticable difference, it still lost shape in the oven before springing (I use pyerx since I don't have a dutch oven)
I'm making another loaf on Tuesday and would really appreciate any tips!
Thanks and have a lovely weekend :)
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