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kinglukas38 said:
sounds like a strength building issue to me, either during s&f, pre/final shape, or both. I would also skip using the oven for proofing, might be moving things along before you can build that strength.
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Thanks, I think you are correct. So working on the TPL best SD recipe. Changed it up a bit, added some medium and fine 85 WW from central milling + rye. Did a lot of slap folding for the first three folds. Really worked it initially. It has much better structure now. This is after first coil fold. 20240202_163256.jpg
 
Sourdough buns, made with Japanese sweet potato.
 

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Michi said:
Those look great. I’ve never baked bread with sweet potato. How sweet do those rolls turn out?
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Not overly sweet. Just a hint. Nice recipe. Recommended.

https://www.theperfectloaf.com/soft-sourdough-potato-buns/

I used AP and it took a little longer than expected to get gluten formation than I would have thought, but other than that just a substitution from regular potatoes to sweet potatoes. I also added a couple grams of yeast to the recipe.

My dough was pretty wet, so i was generous with flour on the board when shaping.
 
Ok guys I'm getting frustrated. I've worked my starter to peak performance. It easily triples in size with a 1-1-1 feeding program.

My loafs are always under proofed. I've tried longer bulk proofing, more and less water, changing temps during bulk proofing etc. I'm using central milling flours and following recipes to the T

I'm not getting the kind of oven spring I did with the first loaf. My feeling is this is a starter issue and am wondering if I'm adding the stater at wrong time.

I've been arranging my baking schedule to match the peak height of the starter after feeding. No good.

When does starter have the highest percentage of yeast during a feeding schedule? Before peak, at peak, post peak? Are the yeast tired at peak post peak? Should I be trying to catch them on their way up? On their way down? Should I add a little yeast to my recipes to see if that is the issue?

Very frustrating

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Hanmak17 said:
Ok guys I'm getting frustrated. I've worked my starter to peak performance. It easily triples in size with a 1-1-1 feeding program.

My loafs are always under proofed. I've tried longer bulk proofing, more and less water, changing temps during bulk proofing etc. I'm using central milling flours and following recipes to the T

I'm not getting the kind of oven spring I did with the first loaf. My feeling is this is a starter issue and am wondering if I'm adding the stater at wrong time.

I've been arranging my baking schedule to match the peak height of the starter after feeding. No good.

When does starter have the highest percentage of yeast during a feeding schedule? Before peak, at peak, post peak? Are the yeast tired at peak post peak? Should I be trying to catch them on their way up? On their way down? Should I add a little yeast to my recipes to see if that is the issue?

Very frustrating

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are you sure thats underproofed? crumb looks ok to me. did your mixing and strength building methods change at all? could also try upping your starter feed ratio to something like 1-5-5. Starter is best added at or just after peak.
 
Hanmak17 said:
Ok guys I'm getting frustrated. I've worked my starter to peak performance. It easily triples in size with a 1-1-1 feeding program.

My loafs are always under proofed. I've tried longer bulk proofing, more and less water, changing temps during bulk proofing etc. I'm using central milling flours and following recipes to the T

I'm not getting the kind of oven spring I did with the first loaf. My feeling is this is a starter issue and am wondering if I'm adding the stater at wrong time.

I've been arranging my baking schedule to match the peak height of the starter after feeding. No good.

When does starter have the highest percentage of yeast during a feeding schedule? Before peak, at peak, post peak? Are the yeast tired at peak post peak? Should I be trying to catch them on their way up? On their way down? Should I add a little yeast to my recipes to see if that is the issue?

Very frustrating

View attachment 304828View attachment 304829View attachment 304830
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Doesn’t looked underproofed to me. 🤷

When people say underproofed I think a really dense and gummy crumb with isolated big holes.

In what way is it not satisfying you? Are you hoping for a more open crumb? Or just more dramatic spring?

I actually find that underproofed dough still has a lot of oven spring, sometimes even more than properly proofed dough, because it’s less risen to begin with. Lack of oven spring is more an overproofing problem, imo.
 
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ian said:
Doesn’t looked underproofed to me. 🤷

When people say underproofed I think a really dense and gummy crumb with isolated big holes.

In what way is it not satisfying you? Are you hoping for a more open crumb? Or just more dramatic spring?

I actually find that underproofed dough still has a lot of oven spring, sometimes even more than properly proofed dough, because it’s less risen to begin with. Lack of oven spring is more an overproofing problem, imo.
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Yea, its not that bad, better then the last few loafs. One of the things i'm looking for is a dough that has sufficient strength to hold its shape, vs flatening out when it hits the heat of the oven. None of my loafs can hold their sides/shoulders. They flatten and round out as soon as I put them in the over.

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Hanmak17 said:
Yea, its not that bad, better then the last few loafs. One of the things i'm looking for is a dough that has sufficient strength to hold its shape, vs flatening out when it hits the heat of the oven. None of my loafs can hold their sides/shoulders. They flatten and round out as soon as I put them in the over.

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Hmm, could be that you haven’t built sufficient tension, or that they’re slightly overproofed. Higher hydration doughs also flatten easily. I get some spread no matter what… but my baking could use some improvement. Mine don’t look anywhere near as good as @kinglukas38’s.
 
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ian said:
Hmm, could be that you haven’t built sufficient tension, or that they’re slightly overproofed. Higher hydration doughs also flatten easily. I get some spread no matter what… but my baking could use some improvement. Mine don’t look anywhere near as good as @kinglukas38’s.
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Yea, pretty sure they are not overproofed. The tension thing is spot on, thought it is hard when the dough is that wet. I eased up a bit this time, perhaps I need to work the dough more early on.

Need to figure out how to improve the yeast content in my starters. I'm getting very good bacterial production (at least from a taste perspective).
 
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Hanmak17 said:
Yea, pretty sure they are not overproofed. The tension thing is spot on, thought it is hard when the dough is that wet. I eased up a bit this time, perhaps I need to work the dough more early on.

Need to figure out how to improve the yeast content in my starters. I'm getting very good bacterial production (at least from a taste perspective).
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Sometimes I don’t even know what “correctly proofed” is supposed to mean. I guess one is going for a balance where you have enough fermentation for a good taste but still a good bit of spring. Seems a little subjective though.

Re: stopping the spread, one thing that really made a difference for my loaves is stiching them once they’re in the banneton.

Also, with yeast content, I typically find that I get a more sour flavor (which I guess means bacteria) with a long time between feedings. If you want more yeast development, you could feed more frequently, keep it warmer, and maybe replace more of it at each feeding.
 
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Started a sourdough starter a few weeks ago. My first boule is in the fridge after shaping. Today I made a focaccia with some of the starter which is my first sourdough bread ever. Didn’t have the right size pan for the recipe (how do I not have a 9 x 13” cake pan!? Would have been nice to have a bit more height. Topped with garlic, herbs, Parmesan and a bit of sun dried tomato.
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mengwong said:
Brute force? Dutch oven, a la no-knead.
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I always bake in a Dutch oven, but I don’t think you can rely only on that. Or rather, you can, but then it’s a sandwich loaf and you might as well use a loaf pan. If you want a more traditionally shaped loaf, one that doesn’t completely fill up the baking vessel, you have to prevent the spread by building tension in the dough.
 
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