hi everyone! this is my third loaf, and im getting really frustrated now cuz each loaf turns out exactly the same, gummy, kinda dense, and smells like soy sauce for some reason… i live in a tropical, humid, warm place, and bulk fermentation around 5.5 hours (i used aliquot method and put 43g in the 2oz container), cold proof 9h… my bread doesn’t seem as jiggly or airy as the rest, although i understand due to my weather here i am only supposed to be looking for 30-50% rise… and the dough hasn’t had a clean pull from the glass bowl yet😀 my starter is 2 months old, being fed 1:4:4 daily with a mix of whole wheat, german rye and high protein bread flour, and it is doubling/tripling consistently!! what could be the problem here?
recipe i used:
400g bread flour
272g water
70g starter
9g salt
25 min in dutch oven lid on at 235 celcius,
25min lid off at 210 celcius
by OkNet8000
18 Comments
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Please add cooking time to your recipe. Under cooking i.e. not cooking for long enough, can be a cause of gumminess.
Also, how long do you wait before cutting? Not waiting long enough can be another cause of gumminess.
How quickly does your starter peak? Are you maintaining it at room temp?
Aim for a 75% increase in dough volume during bulk fermentation, then shape it and bake it. Test and adjust from there. Refrigeration retards fermentation, so don’t refrigerate until you can bake bread.
It might help to preheat your Dutch oven for 45 mins before putting the loaf in!
Let it cool for at least 8 hours!
It’s a bit low on cooking time, I would increase no lid time to 30 mins. Also, wait at least 4h before slicing.
Smell your flour. It may have gone bad.
5.5 hours might just be too long for bulk ferment in your climate. Also, make sure you’re letting it cool completely before slicing.
When I would bake my loaves on parchment paper, the bottom of my bread would have that soy sauce smell that you’re talking about. I switched to baking on a silicone sling, and I don’t have that issue anymore 🤷♀️
by the way, heres my starter 5h after feeding!
https://preview.redd.it/nkskgbd1rqdh1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1ca14865fe3305d78cc90702bf26a7b22ca902d2
You have your dough in a glass bowl. You can measure your rise in the bowl directly (that is most accurate).
If you have a piece of painters tape you can run it up the side of the bowl. Fill the bowl with 300mL of water at a time and mark the height. Repeat until you are most of the way up the bowl. When you do the initial mix of your dough, pat it down and mark the height with another piece of tape. Count how many lines up it is and then you can mark where 50% increase will be (half the amount of the initial height again).
I am saying 50% increase because you are using slightly less starter than the charts are designed for (17.5% instead of 20% used for charts). But if your temperature is higher than 80°F, you may want to reduce the rise target slightly.
Also if you are in a very humid environment, you may want to test what total hydration your flour can handle. The Bread Code has a test you can do at home:
https://youtu.be/s1gM_jziXcI?is=ncaifo0Wv4XBUMxl
Your recipe has 68% water (272/400=68%)
Your total dough hydration includes the starter contribution to water and flour:
Flour 400 + 35 = 435
Water 272 + 35 = 307
307/435 = 70.5% total hydration
That’s the first time I’ve heard how humidity affects fermentation. Thank you!
My guess would be under developed gluten from the shorter bulk ferment time.
Develop gluten more early on by kneading or stretch and folds – alternatively use the fridge to extend time to oven and allow the gluten network to get stronger.
How long are you letting it cool before you cut into it?
Try cutting hydration a little bit if you live in a more humid climate.
I’d leave it with the lid on a few minutes longer and leave it with the lid off until it darkens a little bit more. Then wait two -three hours to cut. That just what always works for me. Your bread looks great- try little things first. I make that exact weight frequently.
You are underbaking the loaf. You can see the heel isn’t anywhere near fully baked.
235°C (455°F) is a bit low. I’d try preheating and baking at 245°C (475°F) covered 20 minutes, then reduced to 235°C (455°F) after removing the lid.
The 25 minutes covered is a little too long. Covering the loaf traps steam, which keeps the surface wet and delays crust formation. As long as there’s liquid water on the surface, it can’t exceed 100°C (212°F) because that’s the temperature at which water boils and evaporates.
The purpose of trapping steam is to delay protein denaturation and starch gelatinization long enough to maximize oven spring. By about 20 minutes, those benefits have largely been realized, so continuing to bake covered provides little advantage and just delays overall baking, including browning and crust development.
I live in a hot, humid, environment. I recently read on here about water temperature and bulk fermentation. I’ll add a link that helped. I learned that the temperature of the water needs to be lower and I should only let the dough rise 30%. It made a big difference. Your loaf is very pretty.
https://sourdoughtalk.com/desired-dough-temperature-water-temperature-calculator/
https://sourdoughtalk.com/how-to-adjust-bulk-fermentation-sourdough/