5 1/2-6 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1 3/4 cups water
1/2 cup starter
30 min starter wakeup
1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup flour
Sit 8-12 hours
Add 1 1/4 cup water, salt, and sugar, whisk together
Add 4 cups flour and mix into shaggy dough
Sit 30 min
Mix in another 1-2 cups of flour by stretch and fold until only slightly sticky
Sit 8-12 hours
Form ball and place in oiled Dutch oven*
Cook covered 25 min
Cook uncovered 12 min
I need help at the "*" stage. After this 8-12 hour period before forming a ball to place in the ditch oven, I'll end up with a dried crust on top of the unbaked dough. If I try to stretch and fold it into the center, I might end up with folds on the bottom and inside of the loaf that don't cook through like the rest of the dough (1st and 2nd pic). If I try to leave the crust on the outside it makes a weird baked crust afterwards (3rd picture).
Anyone else experience this?
by Velveetanoiz
8 Comments
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Uhm, I think you need to look up better shaping techniques, there are plenty youtube videos. Also, why not cover the bowl where your doigh is sitting with cling wrap? Or a plastic shower cap kind of thing, so that it doesn’t dry out.
Shaping amd scoring, look up videos on it
There is a lot wrong with your process. First, this sub will always recommend that you measure by weight rather than volume. One example is your starter feed. Water weighs more than flour so using the same volumetric measure of each results in a much lower proportion of flour. Also, the gradual addition of flour is unconventional, and lack of gluten development may be contributing to your results.
I suspect that your issues begin well before the shaping phase. We would need more information regarding your starter age and maintenance, fermentation temperature, etc, but the starting point would be a scale and new recipe/process.
You should be measuring by weight with a kitchen scale. I’ve never seen a recipe like this. Something is definitely off with your proportions and mixing.
I’ve never heard of adding more flour during the stretch and fold process. Where did you find your recipe?
A crust is developing because your dough is drying out. You need to cover it in some way to retain moisture either with plastic wrap, a loose lid, or damp towel. You should also score your dough before baking so the loaf doesn’t burst outwards. A score lets out trapped gas and steam
A “typical” cup of AP flour weighs 120 grams; but flour can vary by weight from 120 – 150 grams per cup, depending on type/humidity etc. That means “5 1/2 cups” could be anywhere from 600 to 780 grams of flour. That’s way too much variation to get solid, repeatable results (which is why everyone who is responding is recommending weighing your ingredients).
My scale didn’t cost much, and it not only is essential for baking, I’ve used it daily for fifteen years in all kinds of cooking. Looking back, I wonder how I ever got along without it 😳.
Time for a fresh start! I’ll second the thought of getting a scale (first), and time for a bit of fun homework ( yes, it really CAN be fun 🤩). Check out the first sourdough loaf videos from The Perfect Loaf, Keep it Sweet Kitchen, The Bread Code, Sourdough Journey- and those are just a few examples of the incredible amount of info to get you off to a good start with your sourdough journey.
Okay, the first loaf didn’t come out quite like you might have wanted. Not too many of us didn’t feel that way about our first loaves of most any kind of bread! Kudos for the effort, and especially for being courageous enough to put out your bread for review. A little study and a few tools, and you’ll be making great sourdough in no time. Check back with us anytime you need help.
Au bon pain, au bon chance!
There’s a lot of variation in your recipe. Hydration % is between 58-69% (not to mention flour/weight variation) and your levain is @190%. I would follow a much simpler recipe.
Measure in grams with a digital scale. This way you can get consistent hydration percentages and make a 100% hydrated levain/starter.
“Wake up starter” directions should be 1:1:1 (starter/water/flour) and double in size between 4-6hrs (temp depending)
Mix all ingredients together and then begin your method, autolyse, stretch and fold, rest, shape…etc.
There are many good, simple recipes online. Learning to use Bakers Percentages will help.