I follow a simple recipe with my starter yesterday: 500g of flour, 350g water, 100g starter, 10g salt.
Autolyse for 1 hour. Around 6 hours of bulk fermentation. Everything look nice, I shaped it, and to the fridge. It came out like the last photo this morning.
As soon as I put it on the sheet to bake, it just spread out like in the first picture. Is this poor shaping technique? I don't even want to open the oven an see how it's going 😪
by GodLob0
20 Comments
What’s your fridge temp?
My guess is it’s too high and it’s still proofing while in the fridge.
I had this issue in the past, I lowered my fridge temp and also reduced my BF a little
It’s gonna spread without being in a banneton basket or bowl to keep the shape.
How active is your starter.
Your dough lacks a strong gluten network. You need to knead your dough at least 4 sessions every 30m in the initial phase. If it’s the same, the flour needs to be stronger, so try another flour, something with 13+% protein.
https://preview.redd.it/oh49tqs7ro6f1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=3ff6dd2a4e286d0cfb294c75e9c0534dcea41c1a
UPDATE
This is the baked result. My family doesn’t like too dark bread, so sorry for the pale-looking crust. I didn’t stay flat. Shaped like a disc, tho 😂
https://preview.redd.it/deguj4gbto6f1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7d5beb574539f76dcd7c01b96a8e18013c71802f
I like to stick my dough in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes right before I bake. It definitely helps maintain the shape while transferring it to the oven.
Enjoy the flatbread 🥖
I’d say try lowering your hydration! I had the exact same problem with loaves flattening as soon as I took them out of the banneton. Once I lowered by hydration to 69%, the loaves kept their shape and came out tall and fluffy! I made a post about it if you want to see the difference!
If you’re from europe I would recommend lowering the hydration by a lot. Try it with as little as 60% hydration and see if your dough holds up better. Only then I would recommend working on your technique und slowly bringing up the hydration and maybe trying different flours.
Shouldn’t you be chilling the dough in a banneton? I though the side wall support was key here. I only leave it on sheet pans if i am going for pizza.
I do 150 starter 300 water 500 flour. Maybe it’s your hydration. Or maybe not enough tension before bulk fermentation.
You’re doing 50/50 flour- water?
When we started using volume instead of time as a bulk fermentation indicator our results are so much better. This along with tight tensioning when shaping, and overnight cold proofing in the banneton really helped with getting consistently good oven spring.
https://preview.redd.it/nvhlb5ke9p6f1.jpeg?width=5453&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a94d335aa386c775e19fb0af4f746e85e26f9453
I put mine in the freezer for about 15 minutes. It keeps it firm enough to score and the ice crystals help it rise. I don’t go by time when baking but by color and temp.
Work on shaping technique, helped me a lot
Does your proofing bowl have very gently sloped edges? That’s what it looks like. You need something deep walls.
I use a pie pan
Leave it in the fridge /s
Try not putting it in the fridge, just finish your ferment than pop it in the oven
What is the 2nd photo? If that’s an intermediate stage between taking it out of the fridge and putting it on the baking tray then that’s knocking all of the air out of the proofed dough