May 2, 2018 - 11:46am
Loaf bursting
I’ve been making this country loaf (with a sourdough starter) for almost a year now. In the past 6 months The loaves have been bursting in the oven and today...it burst just as I turned it out into the pan. I can’t figure out what causes this for the life of me!! Thoughts??
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Or the loaf is over proofed. I had an issue with my last bake where I either over fermented the dough or my starter had too much acid in it and it was splitting as I was shaping it. I wonder if you are experiencing the same thing.
Anything is possible...I don't know how to tell either of those things!!
The bulk fermentation was 3 hr 45min (or so) in a relatively warm spot...I use the proof button on my oven (roughly 75-80 degrees). I let it proof in the basket for 2 hours. I have proofed at lesser time and it still has happened.
before making bread? Did it smell very vinegary? What was the interval of feeding before you used it?
A very acidic starter can be one that has been sitting in the fridge or in the counter for quite a while. It smells strongly of acetone because it ran out of food. I had an excess of starter in the fridge and decided to give it a small feeding and then use it. The acetone smell never really completely went away so I suspect it was quite acidic and that broke down my gluten rather rapidly. My loaf also rose a lot faster than I expected.
As to the overproofed possibility, loaves often go flat when they are baked because the yeast has produced so much gas that the gluten network just can’t hold it all together anymore.
I did read something on TFL that tearing during shaping can be due to over fermentation but I don’t know if this is the cause as well during final proof.
So long story short, make sure you feed your starter well a few times before using it, watch that you just let your dough double during bulk (only if you do a few folds at the beginning of bulk. If you do folds right through bulk, only let it rise 25-30%), and use the finger test to see when your dough is ready to bake. Don’t go by times. Watch the dough, not the clock.
Hey Danni, I’m interested to learn. Sorry about the formatting. There must be a bug of some sort. I can’t edit the spacing. You wrote, “A very acidic starter can be one that has been sitting in the fridge or in the counter for quite a while. It smells strongly of acetone because it ran out of food. I had an excess of starter in the fridge and decided to give it a small feeding and then use it. The acetone smell never really completely went away so I suspect it was quite acidic and that broke down my gluten rather rapidly. My loaf also rose a lot faster than I expected. ” It is is my understanding that as a starter becomes extremely acidic the yeast decrease. If this is so, how did the loaf rise so fast? I always wanted a highly acidic starter that was also very strong with yeast. From what I’ve learned this is not possible. I’m not trying to challenge you, I want to learn :-) If you are using an iPad, you can touch the image and hold it until a menu pops up. Choose the option to open in a new tab. Then open the tab to the right of the tab that you are on. Once open you can zoom in. Take a look at the skin of the dough. It looks dry and cracked from expansion. Let me know what you think. Dan
It could have been because there was 52% whole grain in it including Spelt which is known to move things along quickly. The starter itself didn’t rise especially fast so you ate probably right that the acid wasn’t especially friendly to the yeast. I just stated an observation since I didn’t know if the two were related. Usually my bulks are at least 5 hours and this one was just over 3.
I saw your comment about the dough possibly being too dry and yes, that could be the reason the dough split. I just find that when the top of my dough dries out, it is very tough so it would not be likely to split in the middle. I really don’t know. Could be a combo if all of the above.
Shame on me for not feeding my starter! I figured because my loaves were still rising (making bread twice a week) that I didn't have to feed it, duh. Everything you mentioned makes total and complete sense as to why it's bursting. I use my leaven as my starter, it never really smelled too acidic that I can recall but I didn't really pay attention either.
So I will feed my starter and see if that helps, which I am optimistic about.
What is the finger test? Poke it and see if it springs back or stays indented?
Thanks so very much!!
before making bread will help.
The finger test is poking the dough in a well floured spot and see if it springs back. If it comes back all the way quickly, the dough still needs proofing. If it stays completely indented, your dough has overproofed. If if partially comes back in a slow manner, it is ready to go in the oven ASAP.
Upon close inspection of the zoomed in dough it looks to me like the outer skin is very dry.
Could that be an issue?
Dan
I don't think it was dry, it has rice flour on it, maybe that makes it look dryer than it is.
Hi Aimeempeterson, Could it be the last seam of your shaping process that is opening up ?.
If it is try to put it on the bottom. Still looks as if it will be a beautiful Loaf.
Bill.
I don't think it's the seam...but I will pay attention to that next time. It still came out beautiful regardless and tasted great too!! Thanks!