Hello everyone
I would like to share some failures from my bread today.
This was a 75% hydration recipe with 100% durum wheat. 1g fresh yeast and 25g sourdough starter. I did not have time for S+Fs so I used my mixer to speed up. Two and a half hours rising - maybe too long…oven heated on 240 and then lowered to 230 for 35 minutes.
First of all, sourdough was alive and bubbling. Kneading for 20 minutes. I did not do a second rise. The bread did rise and considerable in the oven.
Results:
First, it opened up on the sides in spite of the good scoring that I have done and the steam.
Heavy loaves, no airy holes, nor bubbles. Might it have been little water?? But I never thought 75% would be insufficient.
I did not heat up the trays this time. Might be one of the reasons?
I’ve not made 100% durum bread … closest I’ve made is the No Knead Sicilian Style bread recipe on this site - the sourdough version.
But, if I understand correctly, after mixing (mixer knead for 20 min) and 2.5 hour rise, you put the loaf in an unheated vessel and baked. If that is correct, then time is almost certainly an issue as in not enough time. Typically, for sourdough, there will be an initial time (bulk fermentation of at least 4-6 hours), then a preshape, rest (30-60 min), then final shape and another 2-3 hours before baking.
I’ve found that I get the best results with even more time and slow things down with some refrigeration, so my process looks like this:
Mix
Rest for 2-6 hours at room temp (my house that is 68F)
Refrigerate for 8-12 hours
Room temp 2-4 hours
Preshape then rest 30 min
Shape, then let rise until it is ready to bake - I go by look and feel
I will also sometimes preshape and shape before refrigerating and then bake straight from the frig, but always in a preheated dutch oven.
Several years ago, when I started baking with starter, I had some dense loaves and after some research tried much longer bulk fermentation and that lightened and opened things up. Also, for most of what I bake, I find that the more whole grain, the longer the refrigeration time (24-48 hours) for the best texture and flavor.
I write all this without knowing your experience or much about the conditions, so bear in mine, this is what works for me, in my kitchen If you’ve not done a lot of sourdough bread baking, you might look at the no knead sourdough on this site and the Sicilian style if you love durum … the process as well as the ratios.
I don’t believe the hydration is the issue. I can get a more open crumb with 65-70% hydration. While 100% durum flour will not produce the same crumb as a regular wheat flour bread I do believe your loaf would have benefitted from a bulk ferment. Try this “keep it simple” recipe:
Durum Flour 100%
Water 70%
Salt 2%
Starter 20%
Yeast - optional!
Form the dough and knead till full gluten formation (for a more open crumb you can develop the gluten through stretch and folds 20-30 minutes apart 4x in total and when it comes to shaping don’t knock out all the bubbles, just the large ones).
If you’ve not done a lot of sourdough bread baking, you might look at the no knead sourdough on this site and the Sicilian style if you love durum … the process as well as the ratios.