Genuine question. I always see doughs like these on Instagram just before they score them and put them in the oven, but mine always come out of the basket and immediately turn kind of flat.
Is it preshaping? Shaping? Bulk fermentation or just too many ingredients? Here’s a recent recipe of mine, perhaps that helps:
Recipe:
– 500gr T65 white flour
– 375ml water
– 130gr starter (made with rye flour)
– teaspoon of salt
What I did
– I mixed everything (except for the salt) for about 10min, then let it rest for a bit, added the salt and mixed for 2min more.
– I greased a bowl and put the dough in, then did a series of stretches & folds (about 5) in a period of 10 hours during bulk (it’s rather cold here)
– I shaped the dough and put it in the fridge overnight (11,5 hours)
by Admirable_Ad6380
7 Comments
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Possibly not tight enough shaping. Some people put the dough in the freezer for 10 minutes prior to scoring which can help. Not too long though!
What type of proofing basket do you use?
How do you put it in the fridge? Is it covered? In a bag?
There’s too many factors that can achieve a great “firm oven-ready dough”.
First of all hydration, not all the flours tolerate the same hydration.
Over fermentation is another key to flush away all the effort you put in that dough, basically when you’re over fermenting all the wild yeast will “digest” a significant part of the gluten structure in that dough.
Proper container to cold retard, if you’re just throwing your dough into a plastic, glass, metal container with a dust of flour, you’re doing it all wrong, instead try to get a banneton or keep using a plastic, glass or metal container but use a piece of linen dusted with a nice amount of flour and do not cover it with plastic while in fridge.
Try to follow this and your question will be answered… ✌🏼🤙🏼
I’m a novice but from what I’ve experienced so far is the hydration levels (especially when using lower protein flour) , proper shaping during fermentation and not letting your dough over ferment. Colder dough does hold it’s shape better, so definitely pop it in the fridge for a good 6-12 hours after bulk fermentation and final shaping. I’ve also experimented with placing it in the freezer for 30-1hr. You can actually cook a frozen sourdough! But if it’s frozen it will be really hard to score.
Gluten Morgan on YouTube has an interesting experiment with frozen dough and his bread actually baked perfectly. Here’s the link to the video:
https://youtu.be/W_Thscg6084
I just bought the wood pulp bannetons from Rosehill Sourdough and omg it’s been the biggest game changer for me! I used glass and metal mixing bowls for my cold proof and could never get a firm out layer since they retained so much moisture. The wood pulp gives me a crispy crust and so much easier to score!
Put it in the freezer for an hour or two before baking. It won’t freeze.