August 23, 2014 - 8:26am
Bulging Bread
I've made this ciabatta style 77% hydration bread using .004% traditional yeast in a baguette pan about 40 - 50 times and suddenly I get bulging. The seams were well sealed and still obviously on the bottom of the loaves. I slashed the tops for oven spring and don't know what caused the 'bulge'. Can anyone help me understand?
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I would take a guess that the loaves are a little bit under proved and the extra kick that the still active yeast is giving causes the splits. Another possibility is that the steaming isn't doing a good enough job at keeping the crust from setting before all yeast-driven expansion has ended.
Thank you Ruralidle, I did find them to be a little under proofed and the crumb too dense. I think you're right on both possibilities as I use a regular oven at 500 degrees with a pan of water in the bottom and spritz the loaves well after slashing.