It’s just funny to me that as a beginner, it’s still pretty easy for me to tell that something is off with a loaf by looking at it.
I wanted to see some pics of sourdough boules to compare against my most recent bake (I suspect it’s overproofed again) and when I googled “sourdough boule” I got tons of pics that don’t compare to most of the loaves posted here! Even a few cut open where it’s clear that it was under fermented or something else went wrong (tunnels, uneven crumb, etc).
I guess this sub has spoiled me for expectations 🙂
by LostInAvocado
5 Comments
Some of these look perfect to me. And as a beginner, I’ve made a few ugly loaves I’ve been incredibly proud of.
It *is* very satisfying to have peak loaves turn out, but I’m not sure we all need to achieve one type of look & crumb! ¯_(ツ)_/¯ Variety is the spice of life, and beauty is objective.
If you’re looking for a guide you might want to have a look at the resources on the sourdough journey’ website where the author looks in quite a bit of detail at proofing and lots of different variables. There are some links in the sub’s wiki in the about section but this one will help most with proofing: [proofing guide](https://thesourdoughjourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/How-to-Read-a-Sourdough-Crumb.pdf)
Same people put up 8 day guides for a starter.
That’s actually a good guide for me – if I see recipe with photos of crumb I don’t like, I’ll pass it. If they don’t post the crumb shot in a recipe, also a red flag
I’ve made 3 sourdough breads following the same recipe with the same starter . The last one I made, came out like the picture on the upper left. I realized after the fact that I baked it at 550F for the first 20 minutes . Then took the lid off , lower temperature to 475F and baked for 20 more minutes . Makes me wonder if it was the high temperature the reason why it came out so dense and with big holes