August 12, 2020 - 7:53am
Why is my loaf “pinched”?
Hello bakers,
I recently purchased a proofing basket and the 4 loaves that I’ve made using the proofing basket come out with “pinched“ sides when I bake them. I’ve attached photos. I had previously been using a towel lined plastic strainer for my final proofing, and never had this happen! Any thoughts on why?
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More pictures of my loaf
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I’ve had that happen when I load them in the Dutch Oven with parchment paper.
did anything else change, such as how you score or bake? shape of new banneton vs the strainer?
First thought: The porous banneton will dry out the "skin" more than the hard sided strainer. I imagine the strainer is porous only on the bottom, but the banneton is porous all around. so with the strainer, the side skin was softer and stretched. Now it can't stretch as much.
I don't see this shape as a defect -- looks perfectly fine to me. But if more "symmetry" is your goal, scoring in two directions like a plus-sign or pound-sign may help.
Thank you. What’s interesting is NOTHING else has changed aside from the proofing vessel. Both the basket and strainer are round: and I think the spaghetti strainer is maybe more porous. Still using parchment paper to transfer and I’ve been scoring the same way.
It’s related to the single score. The single score is acting like a hinge that the bread is springing up through, the outer skin of the dough was firm so the bread hinged open leaving the small dimples at the sides. You can see the dimples on both sides where the score starts and stops.
What’s interesting is I would also single score when I proofed in the towel lined strainer. I would sometimes score off center and add some decorative scoring, but always a single score. The strainer is just the slightest bit bigger... could the proofing basket be too small? Although now that I say that, I never got a huge rise out of the strainer-proofed loaves, so maybe the strainer was too big?!
Bannetons are designed to dry out the skin as they proof so the skin forms and keeps its shape more than a wetter skin from your previous set up. If you do a cross score you’ll see you boule become more square shaped.
The strainer has holes, but an actual banneton "wicks away" more moisture due to what it's made of, such as a soft cane.
Based on the flour pattern on the top, I assume you still used a liner or towel on the banneton, correct?
Yes, I used the liner! Thanks to both of you. I guess I was hoping for more of that picture perfect round, high domed loaf. May have to adjust my expectations.
Just score a different pattern on top. If you were to score a # shape on top, it would open up keeping more of its round shape.
Thank you very much, Benito.
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How do you all achieve that round, domed loaf?
A box slash centered on top of the dough will give you a more round boule compared with a cross slash in my experience. Or a circular slash or even a spiral slash should give you a rounder result when baked.