doofus
Well-Known Member
Hello everyone,
I would like some help with understanding what I am doing wrong when making bread by hand.
I have been making plenty of loaves using my own sourdough starter made from wholemeal rye flour and water. I do everything inside a pyrex bowl, stretch and fold every 45 mins for about 6 hours, place in basket, a few hours to rise, bake inside a pre-heated dutch oven for about 1 hour (30 mins inside dutch oven and 30 mins outside). A few hours later, even left on a rack to cool down completely uncovered, it loses its crunchiness, and the crust goes must softer and thinner. In the past I used to leave it inside a fridge overnight, with no different results.
Because of this, and the effort involved, I now simply knead it inside the bread maker, wait a few hours to rise, then remove the basket and bake it in a hot oven. Much easier, almost automatic. The crust is thinner but stays crunchy for ever and the crumb is more uniform.
I am wondering which step or steps have I been doing wrong when stretching/folding by hand and raising inside a basket? I have watched youtube videos and their dough is much different to mine before placing inside the proofing basket and afterwards. Their dough seems much more stiff, maintains its shape, and when they take it out of the basket it has a certain shape and can be baked as is without flopping flat on the rack. They even score it and it is like scoring a baked cake as it stays together, whereas mine is like a water filled balloon, it flattens as soon as you leave it down, before and after it rises. There was this lady on youtube she was leaving in fridge overnight, and next day baking it inside the oven on a tray, as it maintained its shape with no need to place inside a mould. How is this even possible, my dough is always floppy and would become like a flat pancake almost if I let it sit on a worktop.
I would like some help with understanding what I am doing wrong when making bread by hand.
I have been making plenty of loaves using my own sourdough starter made from wholemeal rye flour and water. I do everything inside a pyrex bowl, stretch and fold every 45 mins for about 6 hours, place in basket, a few hours to rise, bake inside a pre-heated dutch oven for about 1 hour (30 mins inside dutch oven and 30 mins outside). A few hours later, even left on a rack to cool down completely uncovered, it loses its crunchiness, and the crust goes must softer and thinner. In the past I used to leave it inside a fridge overnight, with no different results.
Because of this, and the effort involved, I now simply knead it inside the bread maker, wait a few hours to rise, then remove the basket and bake it in a hot oven. Much easier, almost automatic. The crust is thinner but stays crunchy for ever and the crumb is more uniform.
I am wondering which step or steps have I been doing wrong when stretching/folding by hand and raising inside a basket? I have watched youtube videos and their dough is much different to mine before placing inside the proofing basket and afterwards. Their dough seems much more stiff, maintains its shape, and when they take it out of the basket it has a certain shape and can be baked as is without flopping flat on the rack. They even score it and it is like scoring a baked cake as it stays together, whereas mine is like a water filled balloon, it flattens as soon as you leave it down, before and after it rises. There was this lady on youtube she was leaving in fridge overnight, and next day baking it inside the oven on a tray, as it maintained its shape with no need to place inside a mould. How is this even possible, my dough is always floppy and would become like a flat pancake almost if I let it sit on a worktop.
