June 22, 2016 - 7:10am
Trouble Shaping Sourdough Loaf
Hello all,
I have been baking out of Forkish's FWSY for a couple months with mostly good results. Recently though, I can't seem to shape any of my boules. I don't know what's changed!
For example, last night I did five folds on the "Overnight Country Blonde," but when I went to divide and proof this morning, the dough just sat there in a droopy, sticky mess. When I went to bed the dough was taught and pillowy, but when I woke up it was no longer holding together (though it had risen considerably).
I know this is a high hydration dough (78%), but the in the past the folding has made this dough manageable. What could I be doing wrong?
Thanks in advance for the advice,
Peter
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My first thought is that if you're proofing the dough overnight at room temp, if the room temp is higher now than it was in the past, the dough might be over-proofing.
I doubt you're doing anything 'wrong', actually. There are so many things that affect how a dough will behave, from the flour (a new bag of flour might have slightly different characteristics than the last one), to the humidity and temperature in your house (or different areas of your house), to a slight difference in measuring water or flour. The country Blonde is a levain dough, so your starter may be going through a cycle and need to be strongly refreshed before you bake again (use a tiny bit of it to build up a new starter with a few 8-hour feeds until it is very strong and bubbly).
I congratulate you for your previous success with the Blonde. :) I found it to be more often than not a wet, sticky mess that was difficult to deal with, and have lowered the hydration level of this one a bit to make it more manageable myself.
I enjoyed his book quite a bit but his times are way off in most cases throughout the book. As the temps heat up throughout the summer the fermentation and proofing times will vary drastically with humidity and temp. My kitchen runs HOT. If i run my bulk ferments as he suggests the acids will overtake the gluten structure and left with a goopy mess. Try a shorter bulk ferment. I use between 3 1/4 - 4 hours max for my levain doughs in my kitchen. Then a LONG cool proof in the fridge. I bake this loaf once a week and have great success.
just one newbie's $.02 =)
Bart
p.s. I had the very same issue while using his 12 hour bulk ferment time in a lot of the formulas. no more issues since i quit using them
P.S.S. ive been up 30 hours and had to edit my sloppy mess about 4 times zzzz