Good crust, crumb with lots of holes but too moist
Hi,
I have just started baking straight white bread from Ken Forkish's Flour Water Salt Yeast.
I have been halving his recipes (1000g flour to 500g) and am having some variable results.
All my breads have had an excellent crust because of the pre-heated dutch oven method, but a few have had an overly moist crumb, even when its not actually too dense.
The best bread was the tallest, and some have collapsed when coming out of the proofing basket, or not proofed as I would hope. However, using the 'finger dent test', they always seem to be ready proofed/over proofed, way before the 1hr/1hr15 he asks for. The odd thing is that my best loaf resulted from shortest proofing time (half an hour).
The other issue is that my oven is 25C colder than the recipes ask for. But, because one of the breads came out excellently, I don't think this can be fatal.
I am using Sainsburys' Fast Action Dried Yeast and every single one of my doughs has risen in the bulk fermentation stage as expected, so I don't think the problem lies there. Although I may have been 'over' bulk fermenting. If I halve the recipes, should I halve the bulk fermentation time accordingly? I have been mostly going by size not time, but its difficult to see quite when a dough has doubled or tripled in size? If you bulk ferment for a bit too long, does that take time out of the proofing stage?
I'm really enjoying the process, but just feel a bit clueless as to which variables are damaging my loaves.
Any suggestions?
Angus
I've seen some posts re problems using US recipes and British flour, due to differences in protein content and water absorption. Dont know if that may be relevant.
If you halve the recipe you don't have the bulk ferment time automatically as it's all in proportion. So your yeast percentage is the same as in the original recipe.
Gill has made a good point in that you might wish to reduce the hydration. However you haven't made a point about an issue with the handling of the dough, only the ferment times. If you find the dough too hydrated to handle then lower the hydration by about 5% as a guide. If you find it ok to handle then ok to keep it as it is.
Judging the final proofing is difficult and comes with practice. Bulk ferment is a tad easier (imo). When the dough is billowy, has a good elasticity to it and bubbles just under the surface is apparent then it's done. Many have issues with the seemingly over zealousness of his bulk ferment times. That is why it's good to watch the dough and not the clock.
If your oven doesn't go as hot and you find its coming out under done then bake for a but longer. It'll take a few bakes to get to know just what you need to tweak here and there for the results you want.
Check the internal temperature of the center of the loaf to determine when the loaf is ready to come out of the oven. It should be about about 200°F (93°C) or more.
Ford
Hi, I've been baking from FWSY for about a year and a half now, and I find that no matter how many stretch and folds I do I need to drop the hydration by about 2-8%, depending on the flour I am working with. I usually start at 70% when I'm working with a new flour and work my way up from there. I have never been able to succesfully make a loaf with the hydration as high as he calls for.
Also, I find his bulk fermentation times a bit long, particularly for the sourdoughs. Partly that is because my apartment is warmer than he recommends, but even when you account for that his estimates are very generous.
Finally, after struggling to find ways to pump my oven up, I eventually discovered it was possible to recalibrate it. I pumped it up to the hottest setting, which has improved my results.