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Sourdough bread

Country sourdough-yeast bread

Yeast-risen bakery bread


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It works great, I'm happy with what I get, but…

 

Advice to bake your bread even better



The cutting

The steam

Defects and possible solutions

 

The cutting

In the recipes I propose you, I barely talk about the cutting for the ball folding enables the natural opening of the bread. Nevertheless, when you roll the dough, it is necessary to cut the "pâton" with a very sharp blade just before the cooking.

A little theory: during the cooking, water steamed and carbon dioxide in the "pâton" will try and go out, thus rising the dough. From that comes the point of cutting:

- Better "pâton" development (rising more easily)
- Nice look if cutting is successful

Beware! Cuttings must be well vertical, and not oblique. Abstract from "livre du boulanger" (Book of the baker):

 cutting technic to be followed

 not good

"sausage" cutting

The steam :

During the cooking, the atmosphere must be very wet. That steam, that you create by putting some water in a metallic container which is at the oven temperature, has got influence on:

- bread's development
- crust thinness
- nice look of the cutting
- bread's sparkling

In practice, I put a metal plate in the bottom of the oven while pre-heating. 5 min. before putting the dough to the oven, when cooking temperature is reached, I pour a bowl of water in the plate. It makes a lot of steam…

Some common defects with their possible solutions:

Some common defects with their possible solutions:

 

Defects

Origins
Blistered crust
  • too cold water
  • too short first rising
  • bread fallen while putting in the oven
  • flour's quality
Lack of volume
  • too short second rising
  • too stiff dough
  • too cold dough
Flat bread
  • too long second rising
  • too much water
  • roughly handled "pâton" when putting in the oven
Teared bread
  • lack of steam
  • too short first rising
  • blade cuts too close to each other
Too sour bread
  • reduce rising times
  • change sourdough
Lack of sourness, of taste
  • lengthen rising times
  • mix more wholemeal flours (T80, 120,…)
  • use mineral water if tap one is too chlorinated (as a last resort, chlorine limits sourdough's activity)
  • increase sourdough's proportion