Hello! I’m looking for some help and some explanation of what might be going on. I don’t think there should be that much of an ear? But I can’t tell what I’m doing wrong. I bake for a market so I bake in bulk. I cut a liiiittle bit too early when it was still warm so I could show the crumb. 🤫
3500 g flour, 1750g water, 700g starter, 70g salt.
Bulk ferment on a heating mat for 4 hours.
Proofing on the counter for an hour or two. Using the method where you set dough in room temp water and bake when it floats. Is there a better way?
425° for 25-30 minutes.
Thanks in advance!
by StrawberryShotty
42 Comments
I love them 😅
Looks like freeze dried skittles 😂
I’m still a newbie at sourdough so I’m not sure what went wrong but still looks great to eat!
I think it could be steam? If you bake with more the outside will crust less quickly and the ear won’t be so dramatic.
Try a different score (like an X) or shorter slash
It looks great but if you want the airy crumb I’d say go based on how the fermented dough feels as of whether or not it floats. I bake mine at 475 for 25 and 450 for 20 minutes. I think you just gotta play with the bulk fermentation part a bit. Are you doing stretch and folds? Can you share your process?
Call them oyster cracker loafs and you might have the next fad on your hands, like cronuts from 10yrs ago.
I think this largely has to do with how you’re scoring. You don’t need to veer so dramatically to the edge.
Dough is a bit underhydrated, if your starter is quite liquid you’re still only at 52% hydration. Result is a dough that’s too strong and not extensible enough. Very closed crumb, very stiff dough so naturally as it does its oven spring it’s going to tear itself apart rather than remold itself.
Still, it’s serviceable, I wouldn’t turn my nose up at it if you set it down at my table. What would you rather see happen?
So cute, they remind me of Pac Man. You are probably scoring them at a very low angle, but nothing wrong with them.
I agree with Lucy, I think it needs to be fermented longer during your bulk fermentation. I find going by volume of rise, along with other fermentation clues work best.
Overly pronounced ears is one of the signs of insufficient fermentation and underproofed dough.
So if you go by the same method for bulk fermentation, go longer with proofing, prior to baking
I think you need to proof it longer and bake it longer at tgat temp
They look perfect!
Try a different scoring pattern?
You’re trying to create a decorative cut by copying a video you saw on the internet without understanding the physics behind how loaves expand. You have excellent oven spring, though. Absolutely beautiful. Just do a simple cut dead center until you begin to see how they expand.
oven too hot
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Lol. Score more near the bottom of the loaf
“I didn’t know Jiffy Pop did sourdough” might have been my first thought. I bet the crumb is really nice.
Pac-Man boules!
Lots of oven spring! Wow! You may also be scoring a little too deep.
I found this video really helpful in explaining how to do a proper score.
https://youtu.be/waKVtursIjg?si=sLOxh2GA7fOLpoNX
Pac-Man sourdoughs👍🏻 they look great!
I looked at these so long trying to figure out if they were biscuits
Put frog eyes on top lol
Yeah I’d guess lack of steam and/or under-proofed during bulk.
The crumb and the exploding cut are both explained by your 50% hydration, in my opinion. I would up your hydration to at least 70% and I bet your crumb would open, your ear would mellow a bit, and the texture of your crumb would be more moist and tender. Nothing wrong with what you have here, they look delightful, but if you want them different that is where I would start.
I would recommend going a bit higher on hydration, depending on the flour protein content and if its bread flpur or not it might be able to absorb a lot more water. Do a test where u have 100g of flour and add different amount of water, mix until just mixed(no kneading nor anything) and wait 1h. The proper hydration will be a dough thats supple, won’t tear and might even pass the window pane test.
Exp make 4 batches where u have
Batch 1 is 100g flour, 60g water(60%)
Batch 2 is 100g flour, 65g water(65%)
Batch 3 is 100g flour, 70g water(70%)
Batch 4 can even be 100g, 68g water(68%)
After 1h, the vatch that is not too stiff nor too loose is ur recommended optimal hydration for that flour.
You can look up hydration test if u wanna see ppl make videos about that.
Now 1 question for you, can you tell me more about the putting dough in water till it floats thing so u know u can bake? Like how much? Do u just leave it in water? In a bowl or jar? Won’t it like dissolve eventually? Etc please, im intrigued by that technique
Not cutting into them and eating!
Instead of scoring I place the loaves seam side down in the banneton for proofing so when you flip them for baking they are seam side up. This creates a nice natural flair without exposing a larger surface area prone to rising without turning into crust. I also agree with other comments suggesting a change in score technique, and a shorter proof for a lighter crumb. Good luck!
Try 475F… also a bit darker would help with taste. 4h bulk ferment is a problem for taste. Try less yeast and 10-14h bulk ferment.
More water, less starter.
Maybe try 65% for water and drop the starter by the same amount that you increase the water by. They remind me of biscuits at 50%. Your starter may be having a hard time expanding with the dough being on the dry/dense side of baking.
Flour – 3500
Water- 1750
Starter- 525
Salt – 70(to taste)
I would skip the heating mat, and just bulk longer. Temp would need to be monitored, but it seems low, but that would be in my oven. I start the bake at 500°, reducing to 450° in a cast iron dutchie for 25 minutes, then take the lid off for 15~20 minutes, watching for the color I want at 400°
What weight are you shaping your dough at? My loaf will bake a little bigger than yours when I shape it at 600~650g
I think they look great and you couldn’t be called “pac man” sourdough
Aim for 70-72% hydration. Adjust your score a bit. I like the side score but you have to change the angle of the blade. Like if you’re doing 30° on the top of the loaf you have to consider the side where your scoring to be a flat surface so you’d adjust your blade so that it’s 30° there instead if that makes sense
They look like Pacman
i dont know but keep doing it because these are the cutest loaves ive ever seen
I’d say not enough steam. Crust could be setting too soon, causing a rupture.
I would boil water in a kettle and fill a frying pan on the bottom rack, below my loaves on the middle rack.
You have the pac man’s, now you need to bake the ghosts!
I bet it’s 10x more delicious than the ones in the supermarket.
Pac-Man bread
I like their hat, where can I get one?
Ear game too strong
Could be your score. Change angle and see what happens. Other than that it l9oks great. I’ve played with angle of my score and depth to get best look. It does make a difference.