October 12, 2023 - 2:27pm
Not all bakes go according to plan....
A slightly experimental bake, with a stiff French levain (for raising power), a liquid levain (for pH reduction) and an overnight yeasted sponge (for flavour).
All went well, but bulk (to 60% vol increase) was rather fast at 2hrs 10m. Retarded, shaped and baked the following day.
As soon as I turned out the loaves from the bannetons onto the peel they started to spread and I realised the loaves were "classically" overproofed.
Sure enough, the ears and loft were poor and the crumb was closer, more regular and more "frogspawn" than I like.
The hazards of experimental bakes, I guess. next time I would reduce the yeast in the sponge and eliminate the bench rest and ambient (pre-retard) proof.
Lance
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Interesting experiment Lance. I'd try again but bake it the same day straight through so you could monitor the dough. Also, do some folds during bulk to strengthen the gluten strands. You probably have already considered this.
Cheers,
Gavin
I will try it again sometime, as it was actually quite a tasty loaf. There was plenty of strength in the dough (mixed in the Famag). Just a case of too much fermentation, I would say. Also I had 20% freshly milled WW in the main mix, which probably contributed to the fast fermentation.
Lance