You want the bread to be completely cool so you'd generally want to wait at least 3-4 hours and some bakers recommend waiting 24 hours to enhance flavor. This is because of the moisture that remains in your sourdough. Add a little flour and knead it a few times to make it more manageable. Evenly roll out your small 2- to 4-ounce balls into small circles a scant quarter inch thick. They are purposed for cakes, slices, muffins, and other cooking. Theres nothing wrong with using less water or adding more flour to your dough if its unmanageable, but you just need to be careful not to dry the dough out by adding too much flour. The bread is heavy, hasn't puffed up in the oven and has a moist, dense texture inside. A tightly shaped dough that has been stitched when placed in the banneton will hold together better when tipped out for baking. Over time, youll learn new techniques and better ways of handling sticky dough and youll find it much easier to handle. Bake in preheated, covered DO at 475F for 20 minutes, then uncovered at 450F for 20 minutes. When the lame scores the dough, the air escapes causing the dough to collapse. Sliced through the bread in an hour and it left sticky residue on the knife and the insides was tacky. Sourdough that has hydration levels of more than 72% tends to be sticky and tears apart easily when it is handled. Some recipes are simply wetter and stickier than others. Remove the lid and bake for another 10 minutes to get a brown crust. What is a Pate Fermentee? It affects pretty much every part of the process. Thank you for the pointers, will be reducing the temperature to allow a longer bake the next round! Then the dough cant stick to them. American flour has a damaged starch percentage of roughly 8-9% while European flour has a lower damaged starch percentage at about 7%. You don't want to add extra flour as this will affect the texture of the end product (which actually won't be very good at that point). BEST TOOLS FOR MAKING BREAD AT HOME (Links to Amazon below). Dough made with a young sourdough starter just won't develop. This will result in a more. Make sure that you're not using too much flour when shaping your dough. Cheaters No Knead Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread: so EASY, only 6 ingredients, made in 1 bowl, 5 mins mixing, then just rise + bake time! Breadopedia.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Help! Many thanks for this. Jack Sturgess. One reason why people add too much flour and mix it in is to try to get the dough more manageable. PROBLEM - Gummy sourdough (dense, moist crumb) is the most common sourdough bread problems facing home bakers. A dough scraper is your best friend when handling any kind of dough. However, sourdough hydration levels can be pushed past 100% with the right technique which we will discuss in the subheading below. Autolyse is an important part of the baking process where flour and water is initially mixed without any other ingredients and left to rest for about 20 to 60 minutes. 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. Add the sourdough starter to a large mixing bowl. - longer waiting period before cutting --> this to me seems where you should start. Let your sourdough bread come to room temperature before you cut into it. The only thing you might need to fix with your sourdough is its hydration. This is a one of the most frustrating sourdough bread problems to have. sourdough before baking. Stir together until the starter is dissolved and the water looks cloudy. PROBLEM - My sourdough feels moist or wet inside, even though it's well fermented. Use mineral water of a known hardness or test your tap water to be sure that your water has the appropriate hardness level for bread baking. When the percentage of damaged starch particles in flour exceeds 10%, your dough will become wetter and stickier over time. Place on a peel, slip into the oven, and watch. Cover and let the dough double in size, about 12 to 16 hours. Bake the Bread. However, the dough may be too hydrated for your location. Extend your bulk fermentation time. Internal temp when I took them out of the oven was, again, 211F Just a tiny hint of tackiness this time around, well within the bounds of acceptability (I.e. Sticky and wet crumb means the crumb is too wet; there is too much water in the finished product. 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 . Similarly, if your sourdough starter is too runny you may also end up with a super wet dough. As you knead any bread dough, you should notice that it goes from a shaggy mess to more of a smooth mass of dough thats become less sticky. 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. After sourdough fermentation, the lactic acid bacteria produce acetaldehyde. Bake with Jack 199K subscribers Overfermentation Video Number 116: https://youtu.be/XdYkdI_vgxQ Send your bread making problems to breadsos@bakewithjack.co.ukInclude your name, your location, a. This is really only an issue once you've done bulk fermentation and you are trying to shape your dough. Then, mix in 70 grams of active sourdough starter. Perhaps your sourdough is too sticky when you start working with it. Too much dusting of flour can also reduce stickiness to the point where sufficient skin tension is not able to be developed. For example, the problem may be a recipe that calls for more hydration than the flour youre using requires. When working with high hydration level dough, the dough gets very close to the point of 100% saturation from the high quantity of water, and it is difficult to get any more water to be incorporated into the dough. Maybe tomorrow but it can also be the day after tomorrow. STEP FOUR: Pour the starter/water mixture into the flour mixture and stir, using a fork, into a thick, sticky ball. Step 3 - Total amount of flour is 80 grams + 600 grams = 680 grams. SOLUTION - Depending on the cause of your spread, you can implement the following fixes: PROBLEM - Dough splits in places other than where you've scored or even splits messing up your decorative scoring. If the actual final hydration does meet your goal, or whatever formula/recipe you're working from, then the next suggestion for something to tweak would be bake temps and times. Copyright 2021 The Pantry Mama 2021 - All Rights Reserved, 5 Ways To Strengthen A Sourdough Starter: Give Your Starter A Boost, Sourdough Discard Crackers Recipe with Parmesan + Rosemary, Easy Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread Recipe, Sourdough English Muffins {with a discard version too}. If the dough is too sticky at this point, add a little flour and knead it in. 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. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. However, it shouldnt be so sticky that it is hard to knead. Heres What To Do. Be careful to use the right type of flour for your recipe and play around with the hydration level if you need to. You should aim to handle your dough more like that as you get more practice. Without salt, the dough becomes sticky and slack in nature, making it difficult to work with. If all has gone well, the dough will be in a tight ball and ready for proofing. Add dried bread to the bowl of a food processor. You can read more about this, Take some time to strengthen your sourdough starter (particularly if it's been in the fridge for a while or it's doubling consistently). If those figures do not include your levain, then you have at least 77% final hydration assuming a levain of 100% hydration. The loaf will also feel light in your hand, rather than heavy. If your dough is too dry, add a little moisture and mix it, adding just a little more water if necessary. Its like an extension to your hand and can be used to improve your technique with the dough. Turn the mixer on 1-2 (never higher than 2 or medium-low) and let the mixer knead the dough for about 5 minutes. Rest for 30 minutes @76F. 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. The reason most recipes are so high in hydration is that more water in the dough makes it easier to have a lighter, more open crumb, and a better crust, so its favored by most bakers. Give it around thirty minutes. One of the most obvious causes of wet dough is using too much water in the dough. Your email address will not be published. Simply combine your flour and water before any of the other ingredients, fully incorporating the flour. Just know that it will be sticky early in this process. Over time, youll become more confident and comfortable working with dough, so you can gradually increase the hydration and get better at handling it. If baking in a pre-heated oven, turn on the oven to at least 200C/392F, once heated, add two big glasses of water to a dish on the bottom shelf SOLUTION - Allow your bread to cool for AT LEAST 90 minutes (much longer for rye bread). 3/4 cup (170g) active sourdough starter 1 tablespoon honey 1 teaspoon salt Instructions Add all ingredients together in the bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook. Flip the bowl over onto the countertop so that the dough is now on top of the parchment paper. Learn how to make bread and pizza with this awesome book. The gluten structure has become weak and is unable to hold up. How long did you wait before slicing the loaf in the photo? 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. As the gluten develops, the dough becomes less sticky and more manageable. This site is powered by Drupal. Extending bulk fermentation will help to fix this problem. STEP THREE: Stir down the starter, then mix 1/3 cup of sourdough starter (90 grams) with water (385 grams) using a fork. Concentrate on shaping evenly and with plenty of tension to ensure your dough rises evenly and doesn't split other than where you've scored. Mix until dough comes away from the sides of the bowl . If the dough is too sticky at this point, add a little flour and knead it in. So I suspect a miscalculation, and you might actually be doing 80% final hydration. PROBLEM - My sourdough bread has an unusual cone shape after baking. It's when this doesn't happen that problems start to occur. #7 The bread cooled in the oven When the bread looks ready, some bakers turn the oven off and leave it inside for 20 minutes to make their bread less gummy. Is Cake Flour The Same As Self-Rising Flour? So I added 390 flour, plus 45 more from the starter ( assuming your starter is 100% hydration) to get 435 flour. Place a small oven-safe cooking pot (6x6-inches) with a metal lid into the oven and preheat to 450 F. Gently place dough with parchment paper into the pot. You can find resources on shaping. BAKE TIME: 30 Minutes with the lid on at 230C/450F plus 10-15 Minutes with the lid off at 210C/410F. The crumb is open and definitely "finished" - the bread can be compressed and springs right back. Rest uncovered for 25 minutes. Sourdough made with bread flour can take up to 6 hours to cool properly. Shape into batards. SOLUTION - Tunnels can have a few solutions: PROBLEM - My sourdough isn't cooked all the way through. When the oven floor is clean, but before the equalizing soak, the temperature is ideal for pita bread, which cook in a minute or two. Mix, and add some spices, dried herbs, or even some cheese powder. Unfortunately, this results in tougher bread. 25 minute proof at room temperature. Dough is sticky and wet from under mixing as insufficient gluten network is developed to hold in the water molecules. When it comes to transferring your dough, kneading it, or shaping it, youll have a much easier time with the assistance of some additional water. It can be a mixture of rye and wheat or just rye. Id recommend keeping a bowl of water next to your dough at all times so its always there when you need it. Salt is called for in every bread formulation, but it is the one ingredient that we most commonly tend to forget to include into our mix. Content posted by community members is their own. Bread SOS Episode 5: STICKY / TACKY Sourdough Crumb. If you're having trouble understanding the timing of bulk fermentation, I've written an easy to follow guide. The water almost wholly stops the sticking, so you dont have to worry about messing up your dough. Final internal temp 211FSliced after cooling for 4 hours. Here are some options for working with wet, sticky over fermented sourdough. When you have finished Sourdough Bread Baking 101, you will have the confidence to not only bake using your own sourdough starter, you will be ready for more advanced sourdough baking techniques which will enable you to bake all sorts of sourdough artisan breads. Place in bannetons. 150g bread flour, 150g all-purpose, 90g whole wheat flour with 350g water (slightly warmer than room temperature by the touch), with 90g of starter and 9g of salt. This step hydrates the flours and helps with gluten development and dough structure. Even then the hydration would be on the very high side. If you find your dough to be relatively dry after mixing, but gets wetter and stickier over time, it means that the flour you are using contains a very high percentage of damaged starch particles; try changing to a different flour brand and use European flour instead of American flour. PROBLEM - My sourdough looked great when I removed it from the oven - it was crusty! Factors like temperature, humidity, air pressure and elevation play a role here. Then, introduce the remaining water in stages and mix only until the water is incorporated into the dough. Well, sourdough is a stickier, wetter dough than regular yeasted bread. These need to be done without hesitation. A good example of a low protein flour is general wholewheat flour. After fermenting for too long, the gluten in the dough begins to break down, which leaves you with a thick, gloopy mass of flour and water with no way to make good sourdough. Mix until no dry patches remain. You should also wet your hands with cold water before folding the dough. You can read more about this trick, Use water mist or ice inside your Dutch Oven to ensure you get a, Leave the sourdough bread in the oven to cool after it's baked (you'll find a. When water is excessively hard, it tightens the gluten as well as decrease fermentation rate. Thanks so much. First, it's helpful to have a small bowl of water nearby to dip your hands into before touching your dough. It is normal when working with dough of very high hydration for it to feel quite wet and sticky after it has finished mixing. It can be caused by over fermenting or under fermenting your dough, but also by other things like shaping issues. Shape into batards. Autolyse vs Fermentolyse: Which One Should You Use? Heres What To Do, how to stop sourdough sticking to everything, Good Food Good Mood Sign Free Printable. Your bread may still be sticky after baking if it has been underbaked, has too much water in it, or has had problems with gluten development in the dough. You want to be quick when moving or shaping the dough to prevent sticking. Placing a baking tray underneath your Dutch Oven should do the trick. Sourdough differs from most bread in that it contains no baker's yeast, relying instead on a fermented "starter" of water and flour to provide lift. Rest for 30 minutes @76F. You'll know you have sufficient gluten development by performing the window pane test on your dough. Shaping it and baking very shortly afterwards is recommended. Overproofed bread will also have a pale crust because the yeast has used all the sugars and therefore there are none left to caramelise the crust. Hi @Semolina, we waited only an hour before cutting into it, hasty on our part! Sticky dough isn't necessarily a bad thing, although I appreciate how frustrating it is for a new baker. This method of developing gluten should prove to be much cleaner and easier, but its up to you to figure out which gluten-development method you like the most. CAUSE - This odd shape is caused by under fermentation. Thank you in advance! Many people use food thermometer to measure the internal temperature of their bread. The yeast has too much energy when it hits the oven and this excess energy causes a "rush" when your dough hits the oven. SOLUTION - The solution to this problem is to ensure that your dough is fermented correctly. Add the dry mixture. Only add more flour if it remains excessively moist or sticky after youve kneaded it in. And then mix in the other ingredients and forge ahead. If you're using a young sourdough starter, there's always a chance that it's just not quite ready to bake with and will cause your dough to be too wet and sticky. Mix well. This method involves mixing the dough so the flour is fully hydrated before performing a series of stretch and folds. Instead of kneading your dough manually for 8-10 minutes, youd be better off using a series of stretch and folds to develop gluten. The steam that is trapped inside needs to move towards the outside. SOLUTION - reduce proofing time. This helps keep the dough from sticking. I bake at 525F, sometimes 550. Then the dough cannot stick to the surface. How Do You Know When Your Sourdough Starter Is Ready To Bake With? The gluten network serves to provide structure and strength to the dough but it also plays an important role in containing and holding water and moisture. Add in your white and whole wheat flours. Let the integrated flour-and-water mass sit for up to an hour. All original site content copyright 2023 The Fresh Loaf unless stated otherwise. Steaming. Switch to a wood spoon. It will look like cloudy water. Method. full guide to stopping your sourdough bread from collapsing here, Flavored Sourdough: How To Make Additions To Sourdough Bread. You can then start to increase the hydration if you wish. Wet and sticky dough is caused by a few different issues. However, you should avoid using a mixer to do this, because it can overheat the dough and break down the gluten strands. The dough that is autolysed also contains more gluten strands which is able to trap more water inside the dough. Content posted by community members is their own. Alternatively, you could add a little oil to the work surface and your hands. 150g bread flour, 150g all-purpose, 90g whole wheat flour with 350g water (slightly warmer than room temperature by the touch), with 90g of starter and 9g of salt. It will stay very wet and sticky, rather than strengthen with each stretch and fold. 16 hour cold (38F) retard, in closed plastic bags. Thanks guys!!! We should fold once every hour of bulk fermentation. Dusting with flour is useful for some parts of the baking process for preventing sourdough from sticking, but it is not the best method for every application; other methods for preventing sourdough from sticking is to wet your hands with water, oiling the work surfaces and using parchment paper for baking. Pate Fermentee VS Poolish VS Biga VS Sourdough Starter. Boil the kettle too. It's really important to develop the gluten in your sourdough to ensure you don't end up with a wet and sticky mess. Approximate size of sourdough bread: Approximate cooling time: small dinner rolls: 30 minutes: small white loaf (1 lb): 4 hours: large white loaf (1.5 lb): 8 hours: small wholegrain loaf (1lb): 5 hours Another tactic is chilling the dough for a while. During shaping, a light dusting of flour is what you need to prevent the sourdough from sticking to your kitchen counter. When it comes to building the gluten, everyone has a different preference in how to do it. This is the sourdough baking course you need if you are just starting out in sourdough bread baking.