PROBLEM - Base of my sourdough bread is thick and chewy. I wouldn't reduce temperature, but rather increase baking time. When Im not baking sourdough, I love to hang out with my three boys on our farm, tend to my jungle of indoor plants and drink good coffee. Gluten development is strengthened by adding salt to your dough, so don't forget to do this! Second, most bakers wait more than 1 hour before cutting into the bread. It will stay very wet and sticky, rather than strengthen with each stretch and fold. Send your bread making problems to breadsos@bakewithjack.co.ukInclude your name, your location, a method or recipe if possible and the temperature of your kitchen if you know it and we'll get to the bottom of your most common problems right here. We will be trying out as what you have suggested for a 75% hydration for the next one, will be back to post our results! The dough will develop further in strength becoming dry and workable, as it will be able to retain more moisture once it has gone through the bulk fermentation phase and the folding phase. It may just be that you need to leave it in the oven longer with the lid off your. Our problem was with the tacky, rubbery, sticky insides of the baked bread (I could press a piece of the inside between my fingers and it would stick on without falling) no matter how long we bake it for (Charlie was baked for 40 mins in the cast iron and 20 mins on a rack, and the picture attached shows the insides). 2. Cover with cling film and let rest in the fridge for 12-15 hours. STEP THREE: Stir down the starter, then mix 1/3 cup of sourdough starter (90 grams) with water (385 grams) using a fork. Steaming. Gluten is the foundation for good bread, so you wont get very far if its not developed. You can get the tool under the dough so you can pick it up or manipulate it. The yeast has too much energy when it hits the oven and this excess energy causes a "rush" when your dough hits the oven. Why Is My Sourdough Too Sticky? Third, mix in the soaker, mixing and incorporating the grains and seeds into . Too much dusting of flour can also reduce stickiness to the point where sufficient skin tension is not able to be developed. bread sticky after baking. Yes you read that right! 24.5- 28C) overnight (12-14 hours). Your dough might be too sticky because you added too much water when making the initial mix, too. The water and other wet ingredients are absorbed into the flour. Once you get it all set to go try this delicious Sourdough Focaccia recipe yum! In our previous attempts, we thought it was undercooked, hence the longer baking time for Charlie this time round. Sourdough baking is a never ending journey of learning - and that's what makes troubleshooting it so damn interesting! Stretch dough into rough 10"x17" rectangle, laminate and move to clean vessel for bulk. In the first few minutes of the bake, the surface of the bread must be kept moist and pliable. It has more energy than it should have left when it hits the oven - meaning you might get a great oven spring - but it destroys your scoring (and will more than likely be gummy inside). Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.Thanks!Jeff. Ensure gluten development and fermentation are correctly executed. However, sourdough hydration levels can be pushed past 100% with the right technique which we will discuss in the subheading below. To calculate, add up all the flour, including the flour in the starter, then add up all the water, including the water in the starter, and divide the water by the starter. Under mixing and over mixing results in insufficient gluten strands to trap water inside the dough, causing the dough to be wet and sticky. Here are some of the problems that can cause wet and sticky sourdough: Many people say "just use wet hands" if your dough is super sticky or wet. There are generally two causes of this (it can be a combination of both): SOLUTIONS - Depending on which of the above has caused your gumminess, you can fix by: PROBLEM - Your bread dough spreads and loses shape when you flip it out of the banneton to bake. If youre going from low hydration (60-65%) bread dough to a sourdough (65-80%) hydration, youre most probably not going to know how to handle it properly. Its like an extension to your hand and can be used to improve your technique with the dough. Step 3 - Total amount of flour is 80 grams + 600 grams = 680 grams. PROBLEM - You may have baked a loaf of sourdough which appears to have large tunnels of air or just one big hole surrounded by a tighter or dense crumb. You should aim to handle your dough more like that as you get more practice. Cover and let the dough double in size, about 12 to 16 hours. If the bread dough feels correct but is the baked loaf is fragile and sticky inside, it is under-cooked. You ideally want to achieve a window pane. Your guide to solving sourdough bread problems. Then, I use my wet hands to pick up a side of the dough, stretch it up, and fold it over. We can prevent wet sourdough from sticking by oiling our work surfaces, using wet hands to handle the dough and dusting the proofing containers. I tried your suggestions, kinda - 2 large (880g) loaves baked covered at 465F for 25 minutes, then uncovered at 425 for 25 minutes. We want to mix the dough until it develops adequate gluten network which is indicated by a dough that is stretchable without tearing but at the same time offers a degree of resistance when pulled apart. The Fresh Loaf is not responsible for community member content. Ensure that your dough is well fermented prior to shaping. How to handle sticky, wet . I find that I need to bake the moisture out before the top crust gets too hard and seals in the moisture, and if that happens then you just end up over-baking the crust while it's still gummy inside. Skin tension during shaping is developed when one side of the dough sticks lightly on the work surface while the hands pulls the dough inwards from the opposite side, stretching the surface of the dough taut. In this article, we're going to talk about some of the causes of what makes this happen, as well as how to sort it out if it does happen. When this has cooled, add the rye sour, yeast mixture, 2 cups medium rye flour and the remaining 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour. A lack of oven spring could be due to a shaping issue, under fermentation or poor gluten development - but more often than not it's a combination of a few things. Bake in preheated, covered DO at 475F for 20 minutes, then uncovered at 450F for 20 minutes. no one but me would notice or care). CAUSE - Your sourdough is lacking oven spring, which means your dough is not growing in the oven as it should. Or you need to give the sourdough starter more salt.Another root cause may be the recipe relative to your environment. 1. Same with the salt %, it is computed on total flour. Make the dough. Semolina (used for dusting pizza dough) however is much coarser in texture and it really comes down to your personal preference; if you like the coarse texture by all means go for it. If all has gone well, the dough will be in a tight ball and ready for proofing. Id recommend picking up one metal and at least one plastic scraper to aid you in handling your sourdough. If you've found this article on handling wet, sticky sourdough helpful, you might also enjoy these: What a great resource you've created here. CAUSE - Logically, the cause of this is not baking your bread for long enough. What is a Pate Fermentee? More often than not, gumminess is a result of under fermentation (cutting the bulk fermentation time too short). Place the sourdough into the pot using the silicone sling or parchment paper as a handle. Cover with plastic wrap and keep covered in a warmish place in your kitchen at around 77F (24C) for 1 hour. If youre using a lot of wholewheat, youre going to be left with a very sticky dough, especially if its paired with high hydration. Bread mix, all-purpose flour, self-raising flour or cake flour can produce undesirable results when making sourdough. The exterior was perfectly brown. So that should work out to (282+45)/(390+45)=75%. Mix together the flour, sourdough starter and 250ml/9fl oz water in a bowl. Ensure that you have scored enough - you need one good score to ensure that your dough expands. Third, cover and rest the dough for 30 minutes. The recipe technically calls to bake the bread in a preheated dutch oven (I use a casserole dish because I don't own a dutch oven), but the dough is so sticky that if I preheat the dish and transfer the dough to it once it's preheated, I find that the dough deflates and I get a flat loaf. If youre new to making sourdough bread, youre bound to run into a few issues at first, especially if youre not experienced with sticky dough. Place in bannetons. The easiest thing you can do to handle your sticky sourdough is to simply make it less sticky by cutting back on the water. Large mixing bowl Measuring cups and spoons Bread thermometer ( fancy or a budget one) Scoring lame Extra (nice to have): Kitchen scale Dough scraper and bowl scraper (yes, they are different) Cooling rack Baking stone (you don't need a dutch oven if you use this) Learn how to make bread and pizza with this awesome book. Sometimes white bread, while initially fine, after a few days becomes sticky inside as if its going back to a dough-state, though not quite. This is the most comprehensive and easily understandable explanation of sourdough I have read. Even with parchment paper, the base of your bread is sitting on the hot base of the Dutch Oven causing it to cook more quickly. This site is powered by Drupal. From a gummy crumb to a lack of rise and everything in between. Bake in a Dutch Oven. Remove the lid and bake for another 10 minutes to get a brown crust. It may be that you just need to cut back on the water. A dough scraper is your best friend when handling any kind of dough. Also check the temperature of your fridge to ensure it's 4C or under. It affects pretty much every part of the process. Maybe 80% final hydration if your levain is more "liquid" than 100% Hyd. Rest for 30 minutes @76F. How long did you wait before slicing the loaf in the photo? It's when this doesn't happen that problems start to occur. Preheat the oven to 230C fan/456F/gas mark 8 with a baking stone on the middle shelf and a deep tray on the bottom. STEP FOUR: Pour the starter/water mixture into the flour mixture and stir, using a fork, into a thick, sticky ball. To make the levain, combine the sourdough starter, water and flour (see image 2) in a medium bowl and mix until well combined.Cover with plastic wrap and stand in a warm, draught-free place (approx. There are plenty of methods for developing gluten, so its up to you to try out different variations and figure out which is best for you. Stretching and folding the dough is a common method of gluten development in sourdough bread making. First, in the evening, prepare the soaker by pouring hot water over the mixture of seeds and grains. Mix until no dry patches remain. Gently pull the dough towards the edge. The proofing basket is typically made with wood and it is quite porous. In my other courses, I teach how to bake all sorts of sourdough breads, but in this course, I won't load you down with lots of information, just enough so it is easy and fun to bake your first loaf of sourdough. This is particular difficult if you're working in humid conditions. "Final" or "overall" hydration is supposed to include both the water and the flour in the levain. So you __may__ need a longer bake, which will mean a lower temp. First, it's helpful to have a small bowl of water nearby to dip your hands into before touching your dough. Add 850g water to your mixing bowl and mix with your hand until the levain is wholly dissolved. During shaping, we want to wet our hands to prevent the dough from sticking to it. The gluten structure has become weak and is unable to hold up. As the gluten develops, the dough becomes less sticky and more manageable. This is a one of the most frustrating sourdough bread problems to have. During this time, the flour has the chance to fully hydrate and gluten network is able to develop in spite of the lack of mechanical mixing. I am constantly baking hockey pucks! This is because of the moisture that remains in your sourdough. American flour has a damaged starch percentage of roughly 8-9% while European flour has a lower damaged starch percentage at about 7%. Always taste the mix to be sure that salt has been added before mixing. Method. Let the integrated flour-and-water mass sit for up to an hour. I have done wetter doughs at similar times/temps without the gumminess but I take your point - your lower/slower suggestion makes sense to me and I may well try that on my next go-round. The uneven crumb occurs because fermentation has not been long enough to allow the gases produced by the yeast to evenly distribute, resulting in some larger holes (generally in the middle). Matching my work schedule. It can be caused by over fermenting or under fermenting your dough, but also by other things like shaping issues. Sourdough can be a little tricky as it can take time for the flour to absorb the water during the autolyse process. What Basic Methods Are Used To Make Quick Breads? Thanks for the suggestions about leaving the bread to cool longer. The only issue with this is that the oil will mix in with the dough and alter the flavor, so dont use a type of oil you dont want to risk tasting in the end product.Some people suggest waiting for dough to rise. How Do You Know When Your Sourdough Starter Is Ready To Bake With? As Ive already mentioned, gluten is essential to prevent too much sticking. Please take that into account. Nonetheless we ended the bulk fermentation when the dough doubled in size (at the end of two hours after the last stretch and fold), and performed the pre shaping and final shaping. Alternatively, you could add a little oil to the work surface and your hands. We are compensated for referring traffic and business to Amazon and other companies linked to on this site. For the most recent of these, I used the following recipe/process:66.67% 600g King Arthur Bread Flour33.33% 300g Whole-Grain Einkorn (locally grown and milled by River Valley Community Grains, in NJ)20% 180g Liquid levain (King Arthur AP Flour)2.1% 19g Kosher Salt75% 675g Water, Levain built and matured for 3 hours @85F . It is possible to make 100% hydration (or even higher) so there's really no such thing as too wet. Once you get comfortable, you can gradually increase the water content of your dough and see how you manage it. Try placing your dough in warmer area of your kitchen (75F-80F is ideal) - monitoring your final dough temperature to keep it as consistent as possible - or consider investing in a bread proofing box . Just dont freeze it. 475 F covered, and 450 uncovered for 20 min seems too hot to me for only a 30% whole grain loaf: 300 g einkorn / (900 g + 90 g from levain) = 300 / 990 = 30.3%. Place a long piece of parchment paper over the bowl with the dough. A starter is a collection of yeast and bacteria that feed on flour. full guide to stopping your sourdough bread from collapsing here, Flavored Sourdough: How To Make Additions To Sourdough Bread. So I suspect a miscalculation, and you might actually be doing 80% final hydration. Then, introduce the remaining water in stages and mix only until the water is incorporated into the dough. If you're looking for troubleshooting your sourdough starter - you'll find a list of the most FAQ here. Sourdough made with bread flour can take up to 6 hours to cool properly. When water is excessively soft, the lack of minerals results in a sticky andslack dough. Final internal temp 211FSliced after cooling for 4 hours. All Purpose flour is ok, however it generally doesn't have the protein necessary to develop a strong gluten network. In a separate smaller bowl, add 220 grams of warm water. Sticky and unmanagable sourdough. This just means that you are taking the sides of the dough, stretching them up, and folding them over the dough 4-8 times, or until the dough is too tight to do any more. Can you just add more flour to your sourdough? stickiness is usually not cooking off enough moisture. It is normal when working with dough of very high hydration for it to feel quite wet and sticky after it has finished mixing. Wet and sticky dough is caused by a few different issues. The problem is that the crumb is very tacky to the touch and abit sticky on the knife. The bacteria on the other hand create a sour taste and ferment the bread. Wet, sticky dough can be super messy - and preventing mess in the kitchen is always a good thing! Alternatively, you'll need to adjust the amount of starter in your dough to suit the temperature of your kitchen. It affects pretty much every part of the process. It's possible that the dough is rising too much during the cold retard which will also cause this issue. Gently turn the dough out onto a separate floured flat baking tray (not preheated). When the percentage of damaged starch particles in flour exceeds 10%, your dough will become wetter and stickier over time. So 180 grams would mean 80 grams of flour and 100 grams of water (because 80 x 1.25 = 100 grams; see above section for calculations) Step 2 - The recipe contains 600 grams flour and 360 grams water. We can use the mixing time below as a sanity check to determine if we have indeed under mixed or over mixed our dough; if you fall way out from the range in the table, increase or decrease mixing time to stay within these guidelines. CAUSE - Spreading can be caused by a few factors including under fermented or over fermented dough as well as poor shaping technique. Factors like temperature, humidity, air pressure and elevation play a role here. Similarly, if your sourdough starter is too runny you may also end up with a super wet dough. A simple way to check that your dough is cooked through is to tap the base. Add the sugar and salt. Heres What To Do, how to stop sourdough sticking to everything, Good Food Good Mood Sign Free Printable. Bake in preheated, covered DO at 475F for 20 minutes, then uncovered at 450F for 20 minutes. (Rest for45 minutes @76Ffollowed by coil folds) - repeat 3x. Instead of kneading your dough manually for 8-10 minutes, youd be better off using a series of stretch and folds to develop gluten. If your dough is under fermented it will lose shape quickly and spread when it's tipped out of the banneton. When using the autolyse method which call for the initial incorporation of only flour and water without salt, we may sometimes forget to include salt in the final mixing phase. Some things to have on hand to work with really wet dough are: So how do you fix wet and sticky sourdough? Mix by hand until all the dry flour is incorporated. Acetaldehyde is a known stomach irritant and causes watery diarrhea. Baking parchment paper is characteristic for its non stick ability without the need for any dusting of flour or oiling. You just need to reduce the heat on the base of your Dutch Oven or baking tray. Home Why Is My Sourdough Too Sticky? You can make a loaf of perfectly good sourdough bread at around 65% hydration if you want to. BAKE TIME: 30 Minutes with the lid on at 230C/450F plus 10-15 Minutes with the lid off at 210C/410F. So I added 390 flour, plus 45 more from the starter ( assuming your starter is 100% hydration) to get 435 flour. Rest for 30 minutes @76F. if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'crustylabs_com-leader-4','ezslot_20',129,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-crustylabs_com-leader-4-0');If you are proofing your dough in a non porous material such as a metal or glass container, then oiling is preferred over dusting with flour. Over time, youll learn new techniques and better ways of handling sticky dough and youll find it much easier to handle. It really depends on where you are in the sourdough process. CAUSE - This odd shape is caused by under fermentation. Carefully make it round again pushing the seams underneath. CAUSE - a tight and or uneven crumb is generally caused by under fermentation, but can also be due to not having a mature or active starter. if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'crustylabs_com-box-3','ezslot_2',120,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-crustylabs_com-box-3-0');There are other reasons besides having very high hydration levels that can cause your sourdough to be wet and sticky. Make sure that you develop your gluten network really well during the stretch and fold stage. You want to be fast enough to limit any sticking, but not too fast or you might make a mess. This blog contains scientific explanation on all matters related to baking written in simple words; I hope you will find something useful here and leave as a better baker. What to do: This is a heavily over proofed dough. This helps keep the dough from sticking. However, it shouldnt be so sticky that it is hard to knead. The solution is to give it a few more folds after you add the dash of flour so that the flour mixes in fully and makes it more manageable. Add the sourdough starter to a large mixing bowl. In this case, extra flour wont save it. Hot water strengthens the gluten in the flour. It's not until all of this steam has escaped that your bread actually finishes cooking. Shape into batards. This isn't the worst that could happen :), but I would really like to understand why the stickiness, and how to get rid of it. Dough made with a young sourdough starter just won't develop. 14. The only time I wouldnt recommend using wet hands is during shaping. I've been making breads recently which, while they're delicious, seemingly well-baked, and with an open crumb, are a bit tacky/sticky to the touch and during slicing.
