December 16, 2020 - 9:21am
Flat Sandwich Bread
Hi everyone. I use freshly ground flour for my breads I normally do Sourdough but have been getting requests from family to do sandwich bread. I am using commercial yeast to speed up the process vs my starter. But I cannot seem to get the dough to rise for a second time. It will rise about 70% of the way then it stops and starts to fall. Would I get better results with my sourdough starter? Should I be avoiding the second rise with fresh milled flour?
Edit:
For information I am at 70-80% Hydration w/2% Salt
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Whole wheat is a different animal, though I am surprised you get to 70% increase in volume with commercial yeast. In general, sourdough is harder, though I greatly prefer the taste, so I think you should adjust your timing and your process using commercial, since the results are more consistent. Are you baking on a stone, or using a loaf pan? WW does not rise as much as AP or BF, but in a loaf pan it can do pretty well. I should add most of what I make is 100% home milled hard white, and while it doesn't have the height of AP or BF, it tastes very good.
I am pretty new to all this, but am happy to share my experience thus far in case it helps.
Lately I have done the following: for flour, I use 80% home milled whole wheat and 20% bread flour (by weight). Hydration is approximately 78%, +/-. In case it helps > my final (yeast) dough just prior to bulk fermentation = 950 gm.Some stretch and folds during the first hour, then bulk ferment until ready (still working on what that looks like). Then a gentle shaping and put it into a loaf pan for 2nd rise.
It took me a while to realize, but using a 9x5 loaf pan for 2nd rise was too big for this amount of dough. When I started using a 8.5x4 pan, it supported the dough better and allowed things to rise up, not out. Better oven spring too.
As they used to say in an old car ad, "your mileage may vary." ? Good luck!
Knead for a couple minutes after the first doubling. And again before shaping. Enjoy!
I do nearly all of my baking with fresh ground flour. Here are some things to consider.
1. Make sure your yeast is reasonably fresh. If in doubt, buy new. I like the instant yeast sold in vacuum packed one pound bricks, stored in a glass jar in the freezer once opened.
2. I do one bulk rise, and one pan rise. In the bulk, I allow the dough to double, then try not to go overboard in degassing as I am shaping and panning the loaves. When you leave a little loft to the dough, it has an easier time with the second rise, and develops a nice crumb. It may take a little experimenting to find the sweet spot. If you are baking two or more loaves at a time, you can treat each one a little differently in the shaping stage, and observe the results.
3. Timing is important, I find it best to bake before the panned dough has doubled.
Dan