First time trying Sourdough! Was wondering how this looks in terms of bulk fermentation. Is this underproofed, or overproofed?
Here’s my timeline incase it’s helpful
10:00pm night before: fed starter
Next Day:
Mixed dough at 1:30PM
Recipe was 200g starter, 750g water, 1000g bread flour, 22g salt
Covered, let sit for a little over an hour
stretch and folds 4x, every 30 mins
Started bulk fermentation around 5:00PM.
Video taken at Midnight.
It was pretty wet and jiggly. Dough would stick to my fingers if I touched it for more than a quick second. Never got a dome top. Was this underproofed or overproofed? In all the videos I’ve watched, i’ve never seen dough so wet and sticky. Makes me think overproofed, but not sure. Another question, does bulk fermentation start when you are mixing your ingredients in the beginning, or when stretch and folds are completed, and you let it rest?
Thank you!!! 🥖
by Creative_Plant_1802
19 Comments
So bulk fermentation starts when you mix everything together. So technically during those stretch and folds it was fermenting. So you BF for roughly 11 hours. While that is alot it really depends on “where” you did the BF. Was it on the counter at room temp (68-70F). Was it in the fridge? Was it in the oven with the light on (typically peaking at 85F). Plus that jiggly is fine from what I saw, you just needed to shape it and put it in a container to do its final proof.
The recipe you are using is very wet. It is over 75% hydration. So that jiggle and stickiness is because of the high water content. Plus I don’t know if you halved it, but those measurements are enough for 2 loaves that I usually do. Not sure if you did 1 huge loaf or did indeed split it in two.
100g starter
325g Water
500g Flour
10g Salt
I just did a 2 loaf batch tonight and I worked the dough on one while I was shaping and it barely domed during baking. The other I was more delicate and there really is a difference. I haven’t cut into them, they are still cooling, but I am curious to see what they look like inside.
I’d say over proofed. It’s not even shapable for sourdough. When I bulk I put it in a rectangular container and I can mark with dry erase market where the 40% growth line would be. With the dough temp I’m bulking at 40-45% is my sweet spot
I’m no pro but this is what mine looks like when I forget it existed and then I just make focaccia with it
How old is your starter? If your starter is new, this is under-fermented and may end up being a brick when you bake (speaking from personal experience😭)
A bit over proofed
Over
I recommend to not use bowls for bulk ferment. Use transparent containers with straight walls. Why guess when you can measure?
Your starter is looking 👍!
Hard to tell because the dough is so very wet. I think your flour is not handling the amount of water in the recipe. By the bubbles it looks like it might be over.
Bubbles mean technically it means it’s ready to bake your dough is super wet there is now way you can shape that. The water flour ratio is definitely off
Bulk fermentation initially begins after you mix a dough and place in the fridge as a cold proof or you can initially bulk proof for hours on the same day just wouldn’t be the same profile. Meaning taste and desired structure/strength
If you want to bake with that I’d flour a service and get that dough floured and I’d let it re rise. But I think honestly it may be too late like other people said it is over proofed
200g starter sitting at presumably 1:1 water flour ratio would increase the hydration by about 10% potentially.
I would say that your dough is 85% hydration, and probably ready for overnight ferment. But when the hydration is up that high you need to consider loss of shape.
Personally, id drag it out, roll it up and put into a vessel to baking to create the shape.
Bulk fermentation begins the moment you add your starter to the other ingredients. By what percentage did the dough increase in volume during bulk fermentation?
Over! I just learned that it’s ready for shaping when it is starting to pull from the sides and is bubbly throughout, but the bubbles aren’t breaking through the surface yet. I switched to a glass bowl for this step. I know it’s best to go by % growth but I’m new too so I’m not there yet haha
Over!
As i can read all the inputs and your version of what happened, it probablt stayed too long outside before u take care of it. U can still do tons of stuff with it but again people in here do it their own way and there are tons of ways to tackle it as everyone does it by their own way. I do it different every time personally. Baking today as well what it would correspond to 3 loafs – 1500gr flour 00 (used for pizzas from most people) 950-1000gr water (~hydration around 68%?) i mix flour and water and mix them and let them rest,mix etc. After i add the starter (which was probably past peak a bit but it wasnt that liquid so it was going slower and holding longer. Before setting it to a bigger bowl for stretch and folds i put decent amount of olive oil.
After that i just do stretch and folds and seperate into 3 loafs and let them rest 30 mins – shape again (putting into whatever i find as i dont use bannetons) and straight into fridge and i dont bake until its gone minimum 24hrs in there.
I like to bake them in a dutch oven for around 40-45 mins (my over cant really make them crispy and done before that) and 15 maybe at open and its rdy to eat 🙂 after small rest
It doesn’t matter whether it is under- or over-proofed, in either case the problem is too much water. Try it with 15% less water (around 65％）and then you’ll be in with a chance. It’s your first time, don’t make life impossibly difficult.
This is very overproofed, looks like it would be excellent foccacia. Bulk fermentation begins as soon as you mix all the ingredients together, so you were actually bulk fermenting since 1:30. For next time, youll want to look for dough that keeps its shape, but has relaxed in the bowl. When you start seeing bubbles on top like that, it means you’ve passed into overproofed territory.