October 13, 2016 - 7:25pm
What causes a loaf to lift off the stone?
Hey folks,
What would cause a baking loaf to lift off of, as in the bottom of the loaf to not stay flat against, the baking stone? This has happened with nearly every loaf of bread I've baked. This latest is a very simple recipe taken from Trevor Wilson over at BreadWerks, a 65% hydration bread flour recipe?
Many thanks in advance!
DDoutel
Share
every balloon I try to inflate. Even those filled with water! Those balloons will not lie flat against the table! :)
HAHAHAHA! I hear ya, Mini...! I should probably just not worry too much about it; the bread comes out good, I just worry about it not baking evenly on the bottom, ya know? :)
True, the larger the surface contact with the baking surface, the faster the heat is transferred.
Oval loaves have a larger footprint than round loaves of the same weight, same dough...and the oval ones bake faster.
I believe that curve lifting off is called a "shoulder" or something similar. It would also mean there is enough surface tension in the skin of the dough to pull up the dough off the baking surface as the loaf rises with expanding gases. I see a certain amount as a good sign. Too much inflation means I made pocket pita instead of rolls. Too little lift on a free formed loaf and my bread most likely was over-proofed or gluten matrix breaking down, enzyme attack or not enough protein or I forgot the salt. I do get more lift using baking parchment, almost fool proof for sticking.
I get this often, and like Mini, view it as a sign that a loaf had some power in its spring...a good thing...BUT, that surface tension Mini mentions, and the lifting of the sides, also suggests that without that tension (from the forming crust), there might be further expansion. If you are concerned, you might try more steam, deeper scores, and/or longer proofing, all of which might support additional spring without lift-off. I wouldn't worry about it too much, espeically if you are not seeing tears or blowouts.
[For me, besides timing my proof, I have had to mess with my oven, as heating element on top would cycle on when I loaded and get so hot that it would form a top crust too quickly. I have started a little hotter, then turned my oven down for the first 12 minutes or so, to keep that from happening (but this is in a Rofco oven).]
Well, pretty sure I got the timing right; i did score the loaf in a tic-tac-toe pattern to about a 1/4" depth. Maybe I do need to go a bit deeper. I'll try that next time! Thanks, folks! You're always so helpful!
(duplicate post)
Try a spiral starting about two inches off top centre and spiral cut in a circular motion around the loaf leaving about a half inch between cut lines. --
⚡︎ two not so parallel lines, not cutting the middle but keeping the lines close together
or try a starburst cut... ✶
Good idea! I'll experiment a bit! Thanks, Mini!