I’m not entirely pleased with my crumb. Any help is appreciated!
This is my ~10th loaf. I finally got my recipe down so that it’s not an insanely sticky dough which helped morale throughout the process!!
Recipe:
“The” sourdough Recipe
100g starter
325g water
475g bread flour (I did about 400g bread and 75g AP flour)
8g salt
- 1hr autolyse
- Stretch and fold, add salt during this. Do 8 stretch and folds for the first set.
- Continue with S&F (normal quarter turns) for 2 hrs, 30min apart for a total of 4-5.
- Bulk ferment at about 76 degrees F covered in plastic for 8-9 hrs or until doubled.
- Pre-shape with some flour underneath. Do envelope folds, then flip so the seam is down and use the bench scraper to round it out.
- Wait 20-30min and let it rest.
- Final shape, this time with the bench scraper first, and then with hands using the push and pull method to create tension on the top. Dough should look matte-ish at this point, not shiny.
- Place on parchment and into bowl. Cover with plastic.
- Place in fridge for as long as wanted, but at least 6hrs.
- Preheat dutch oven in 500 degree oven.
- Score and place dough in the dutch oven once preheated.
- Decrease oven to 450 degrees and bake covered for about 20-25min.
- Uncover and finish baking until 205 internal temp is reached.
by happierdaze1202
13 Comments
What is it about the crumb you don’t like?
Looks top tier to me. Personally I don’t like the large bubbles. You ever try to spread cream cheese over a hole? lol.
if it tastes wonderful I really think that’s 99% of the battle!! and I think yours looks great
I wouldn’t mess much with what you are doing but you could try less bulk time and/or being more gentle with the dough nearing the end of your ferment if you want larger holes in the dough
This is exactly how I want mine to look like lol. Looks pillowy soft and no large holes. Perfect in my eyes!
Looks great! @76F ambient temp, shoot for ~45-50% volume increase instead of doubling. Post back if you see a difference.
A more open crumb looks nicer, but something like this is much better for sandwiches imo. I think if you let it proof a bit longer you’ll achieve the desired effect.
If it tastes good, it tastes good. But I am all for experimentation.
Shorter bulk fermentation time, especially at that temperature, should translate to the bigger more picturesque bubbles.
That looks perfect to me! That’s what I’ve been trying to achieve to no avail. I’ll try this specific recipe and see what happens. So many variables it’s so hard to know which part isn’t just perfect to make a freaking loaf of this bread but I refuse to give up. 😵💫
But what? **Too** perfect?
It gorgeous!! And you can spread jam without it falling through and making your hand sticky
Ok help. I thought the stretch and folding for 4-5hrs every hr was rhe bulk ferment time. But you did stretch and folds AND THEN 8 hours in 76 temp to bulk ferment?! Is this the step that ive been missing because i swear my bread seems gummy and underproofed every. Damn. Time.
This is perfect to me. I use my bread for sandwiches / toast, so big holes are fairly annoying to deal with, especially since I like to use my panini press and it usually results in sauce / cheese coming out and burning on the machine.
I get that we love to commiserate about how terrible our loaves come out on this sub, but this is too much.
Your bread looks beautiful, perfect, and delicious. I really can’t see what could be better than this.