Recipe: 440g bread flour, 20% active starter, 68% hydration, 2% salt
30 min fermentolyse, 3 min slap and folds, rest, knead in salt and reserve water, 30 min rest, 2 sets of stretch and folds then 2 sets of coil folds every 30 mins.
Total bulk ferment was 6.5 hrs (dough was 80-78F). 20 minute preshape, then final shape, then a 16 hr cold proof. Baked at 475-450F in a dutch oven for 45 minutes, taking the lid off halfway.
It cooled for like 90 min before cutting into it, just couldn’t wait anymore.
Despite looking at a bunch of “crumb guides,” I can’t for the life of me tell if this is under/overproofed or not. Why are the pockets so big? and a lot of them are vertical?
My other question is if this is considered gummy? I have a hard time telling because, every artisan-style loaf I’ve ever had, even ones purchased from bakeries, have imo been kinda gummy when compared to a soft fluffy sandwich bread. Am I wrong in thinking that these high hydration loafs are inherently a little gummy? (though of course I understand that a bad loaf has an unpleasant level of gumminess). If this loaf does look gummy to you, what can I do to improve?
Anyway, it tasted good, and I'm really happy with how crisp the top crust was. Though I want to add a baking sheet underneath next time because the bottom crust was a little thick for my liking.
by fdas4382o
27 Comments
Its slightly underproofed which would lead to the gumminess
It’s over-thought. Enjoy your bread.
This is a near perfect loaf, imo. I personally don’t consider it under proofed. If you cut into it in the first few hours after baking, especially first 30 mins, it can seem gummy, although i like the spongey texture. Even after 90 minutes the bread is still pretty saturated with moisture. If you don’t like this, wait 4-5 hours to cut into it – the longer the wait, the more it will dry out. You can also leave it in the oven for an extra 15-45 minutes at 300F or less to dry out the bread. Sandwich bread is much lower hydration and less flour protein. If you want it more like sandwich bread, try 60% hydration or lower, maybe try AP flour, and maybe add butter or milk which will soften the feel of the final product. I’d do each of those individually to experiment although dropping hydration will be the most direct path to less “gummy/spongey” after waiting to cut into it.
A lower hydration will also give you a tighter crumb. Longer bulk rise might makes holes more even, too. The holes come from the bottom because the bottom is touching the hot dutch oven and transferring heat into the dough quicker than the air does from the top.
“Cover me in butter!!”
This is beautiful
Eat me!
Gooooood jobbbbbbbbbbb
Great job!
Just makes me wonder exactly WTF Am I doing wrong.
Maybe it’s the slap and fold? Never heard of that. Also not sure what a coil fold is but damn maybe I should figure it out.
I use less flour and the same hydration and I end up with a brick
It’s singing perfection for all to hear. That’s a beautiful loaf for only a third attempt
Is screaming perfection.
Amazing looking.
It says your doing it. Good job op.
Little bit underproofed, you can let it go longer. Also try adding a couple more rounds of kneading at the start separated by a few minutes rest. If the dough is too tight to handle much more kneading, add about 15-20% whole wheat flour, try to get a high quality one, it should be more extensible then. I find building a lot of strength at the start is usually the difference between a light crumb and the somewhat heavy crumb you get when it retains too much moisture.
I don’t understand how people get crumb like this. I cant
It’s saying, ‘butter me.’
Toast meeeee
“Eat me” probably
Crumb is screaming ‘get in Liz’s belly!’
Beautiful
This looks solid for a third try. The structure is pretty even and nothing about it screams under or over.
I call bull on 3rd attempt
“Eat me”
Your crumb is saying yum.
Says you win.
Looks amazing!
Basically perfect crumb. If you can slowly increase hydration and get the same result you’ll get even better results but this is tricky