help. every single time i’ve made sourdough (4 times now) it’s been gummy. my loaf today turned out much much better than previous attempts, but still not quite right …
recipe:
100g starter, 350g water, 500g flour, 10g salt. mix.
rest 1hr, s&f, 30min, s&f, 30min, c&f, 30 min, c&f. bulk ferment until doubled (about 5.5hours) .. preshape, rest 20min, final shape, cold proof overnight.
score, bake @ 450 for 30 mins lid on, 10mins lid off. temp reached 205. let cool about 3 hours before cutting.
by fr0stybtxh
40 Comments
I think you need to go a bit higher temperature wise
[Here](https://imgur.com/a/F3H0uE2) are my times for a 500g flour loaf. I keep the lid on longer (while it’s steam baking) for a thinner crust because that’s to my taste.
Lid off cooking (no longer steam cooking) is when most of the browning occurs.
You’re aiming for 208-210f internal temperature ☺️. You don’t have to check this every time. Even just a couple of times to dial in your own preferred outcome using your oven.
You can see the colour of my loaves develop during cooking [here](https://imgur.com/a/4nQmd2p).
Mine look like these!!!
Lower hydration 5%
Sourdough tends to be more gummy than yeast bread, you don’t need more than 20 min for oven spring, rest is crust browning
Me too
Have you done hydration autolyzing window tests? Not all flour kinds autolyze the same at the same hydration level. You basically make small 50g of flour batches at various hydration levels and check which one windows the best after an hour.
Look up sourdough journey website
Try adding more starter and/or more active starter. I also agree with the temperature increase recommendation and taking the hydration down just a hair.
That doesn’t look too gummy at that hydration level. If you’re looking for a more open crumb, try slowly increasing hydration.
Same, for me it helps to cool my bread overnight , it sucks waiting but maybe because of the humidity or something my bread just really needs it
Try reducing your water by 50g, it did wonders for me!! But the texture is just chewier than regular bread!!
thank you guys!!! i’ll make sure to increase temp and bring down the hydration just a bit!! i’m happy to know that im sooooooo close!!
Are you cutting when warm ?
Higher temp. Longer cook
Try using all purpose flour, all purpose flour has a lot less chew and in the us its about 11.7% gluten which is plenty to make a strong loaf. just make sure it’s un bleached and it’s good to go. I switched from King Arthur bread flour to King Arthur all purpose and my loaves have never been softer and still seem to spring in the oven just fine. Maybe a little extra kneading if you are having trouble developing the gluten.
Do it mentally then 🙂
Also more proofing time
I switched to regular AP flour – and my sourdoughs have been AMAZING ! Seriously ! I know that’s “against” the rules ! But try it ! I think it’s also more sour!
If you slice up the loaves and freeze them then take out and toast as needed then they are perfect. Mine are a little soft out of the oven at 70+ % hydration, sort of “cake like” but most of what I eat is out of the freezer.
A separate question: is your bread quite tart and sour? Too long fermentation can lead to proteins breaking down and bread being gummy.
how is your bread gummy? it looks fine to me..
It makes the best toast!
It looks great to me. I just think you should leave it in until the loaf gets darker. More dark than you’re comfortable with.
Just overcame same issue by switching from high gluten flour or Bread Flour to All Purpose. I’m resolving that sourdough will always be a little shiny inside.
Looks great to me. Don’t cut into it as fast? Ur thing was tldr
I follow the same recipe as you but I cook mine for 30 minutes with the lid on and then I cook it for 25 minutes with the lid off at 450 degrees. My bulk fermentation is also a lot longer than yours.
It happened to me when I started baking sourdough bread. I was using a starter I bought from amazon. Then I switched to another starter (one I made) and the problem fixed.
Also higher protein content flour (eg strong bread flour) will make a gummier texture than lower protein one (plain flour). I use both in my breads.
Hi! I use the same recipe. Idk how cold your home is, but mine is decently cold right now and I bulk ferment mine for about 7-8hrs on the counter, then overnight in the fridge. Maybe try letting it sit a bit longer? Also, sourdough is slightly gummier than normal bread. The first pic you have here looks perfect.
No tips, just commenting for solidarity 😭
What is c&f? I haven’t made sourdough before, but I’m on day 3 of my starter so I’m not familiar with all the technical terms yet
Lots of options and opinions here. I’ve been battling it myself and I’m convinced I’m not proofing it enough.
I recently started baking at 500° for 35 minutes and then finish it at 400 for 25. It seems to have helped but I still battle with it not being “dry”.
The crust i improved dramatically by simply adding a handful of ice under the parchment right when I put it in.
Get a meat thermometer and check internal temp before removing. Shoot for 190 minimum.
Sourdough can have more gummy, or sort of a “wet” feeling than the normal bread.
But in my opinion too much of it is not pleasant and there is an issue with the bread making process if that’s the case.
I struggled with this for a while, the things that helped were:
Nailing the BF time depending on your dough/house temp.
Baking only until bread reaches right temp.
And the only thing rhat truly helped was swapping at least half of my high protein bread flour (14% protein) for AP flour. I do minimum 50% AP flour on my recipes, experimented with more, that helps so much with the texture.
Adding more or less water to my recipes didn’t do anything. It’s something about high protein flour holding on more water ,etc, I’ve learnt about it through Google after researching for days trying to find an answer, and it worked.
4 is not a lot. persevere ! you can do it!
And practice, practice, practice. Take notes about what you did and how it turned out. Your loaf looks totally edible. Just toast it if it’s too gummy.
I started letting mine rest on the counter in the bannetton for 40 minutes before cold proofing and found that it got rid of gumminess.
Sorry, my comments are all disjointed. I finally learned how to reply to the original post. Please look at my replies to the first comment to your post.
I quit making sourdough for this reason. Lots of work to keep up a starter all for every single load to come out gummy and flat. Forget it.
gummy is good its fine
Maybe your oven is lying?
Bake for longer. You loaf is beautiful and enviably pale.
I often have to bake uncovered for 25 mins.
Go for a darker colour.