If you're tired of baking stale bread, then you've come to the right place. In this post we will check how to recognize the early signs of sourdough bread and how to avoid them.
Unprocessed whole wheat bread
I believe we've all been there at least once in our baking adventures.
You know:
– tight and moist crumbs,
– pale (shiny) crust,
– sour and undeveloped taste,
– no oven source,
aka sourdough proof bread aka brick.
What does unresisted mean?
This means that the yeast has not produced enough carbon dioxide and the gluten has not developed enough to hold the carbon dioxide bubbles and enable expansion.
The general tip to tell if your bread is perfectly fermented would be to use all your senses – how the dough looks, smells, feels and tastes.
Read related: Overproofed sourdough
What should we pay attention to in the three essential parts/phases in sourdough baking?
1. Starters for the sourdough:
Get your starter to work before mixing it into the batter.
I can mention this many times, I know. I repeat it so often because it's really important, especially when you're building a sourdough starter from scratch. Depending on the flour used and the ambient temperature, your starter may take three or more days to fully bake.
Watch your starter – it's ready to be mixed into the batter when it rises after each feeding/refreshment.
Read related: Reasons why sourdough starter smells + ways to fix it
Inactive starter will not make your bread rise and as a result you may end up with stale bread.
2. First rise (mass fermentation):
Make the dough lively and light.
If your usual baking routine includes three fermentation steps (first rise, intermediate proofing between dividing and shaping the dough, final proofing), then it is important to observe the development of the dough in the first rise (bulk or spot fermentation). French).
The first rise of bulk fermentation is a period after the dough has been mixed and before it has formed.
In bulk fermentation we aim to develop the strength, structure and maturity of the dough. The dough should feel alive, firm, airy, spongy and light and the surface should not feel sticky (see photo below).
One of the most important factors in efficient bulk fermentation is temperature (both of the environment and of the ingredients). The warmer the environment, the faster the dough will develop.
If the dough doesn't firm up on the first rise, you'll have trouble forming the bread and the bread will have poor oven spring, which again will result in underleavened bread.
3. The final rise
Check how developed your dough is and if it is ready to put in the oven.
Remember when I mentioned how fermentation is essentially a judgment call? Well, that goes for the final lift as well.
The most important thing in the final rise is to determine when the dough is ready to go into the oven, ie. to stop the dough from collapsing in on itself as the gluten strands do not have the ability to hold all the carbon dioxide bubbles. I have learned from my own experience and practice that the clot test is in most cases the most efficient way to tell if the dough is fully fermented.
In the clotting test, we examine the strength and elasticity of the dough by pressing the dough and observing the reaction (see picture below).
– under-fermented bread: the cavity fills quickly (the gluten fibers are strong, but somewhat not elastic enough to allow the dough to expand)
– over-fermented bread: the indentation remains as it is (the gluten fibers are weakened)
– perfectly fermented: the indentation returns half way (the gluten fibers are strong and elastic, which means that the expansion of the dough can be expected)
At first, it may be difficult to tell which is the correct response, but you will become quite proficient by practicing the kick test many times.
Caution: do not apply the impact test immediately after shaping, it will give you the wrong impression. So, make sure your dough has risen in volume before applying the test.
If the baked bread has not been fermented long enough, you will be able to tell by just looking at the crust (see photo below). Under-fermented dough will result in a pale crust. A pale crust means that the sugars have not caramelized. A pale crust can often appear in over-fermented doughs, as the yeast eats up all the sugars and browning of the crust does not occur.
If you've nailed the perfect baking time, but your crust is still pale, look at other factors (salt added, oven temperature, steam, etc.).
And what to do if isolated bread still occurs? Well, you can always make some croutons and use them in soup, as in this recipe.
Any thoughts or questions about this topic? Let me know by leaving a comment below.
This post is part three of the background series where I reveal tips, tricks and secrets to successful sourdough baking. Check out Part 1 and Part 2 here:
Part 1: The six biggest challenges in sourdough baking and how to overcome them
Part 2: 7 Essential Keys to Successful Sourdough Baking
