Sourdough No Knead Method
The process of making a sourdough leavened no-knead loaf (at least the way I do it) is almost identical to the instant yeast variety. I just substitute 1/4 cup of sourdough starter for the 1/4 tsp. instant yeast.
Of course, working with sourdough can alter things quite a bit depending on how wet you keep your starter and how healthy it is. Some starters are very liquidy and can be poured out of their containers. I keep mine pretty thick. It has to be spooned out of the jar. I go into quite a bit of detail on how I manage my starter in the various related videos.
That said, here’s the most basic recipe that I use quite frequently.
- 1 cup (5 oz.) whole wheat flour
- 2 1/2 cups (11 oz.) white bread flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 1/2 cups purified water
- 1/4 cup starter
The baking times and all that are the same as the basic no-knead method. So you can easily just watch that video but follow this recipe. I usually bake the bread at 500° for 30 minutes with the lid on and then remove the lid and continue baking for 15 more minutes at 450°.
You might have noticed that there’s a bit of difference between what I say in the video regarding recipe quantities and what’s written. The weights shown are probably more precise, but you should be fine either way as there is a fair amount of leeway in this recipe.
Generally speaking, the wetter your dough the bigger the holes will be, which many people really like. However, a drier dough will make it easier to get the bread to rise while baking, giving you greater “oven spring” and a more spherical loaf versus a pancake. With practice, you’ll get so you can come closer to predicting how your bread will turn out just based on the consistency of the dough when you’re mixing all the ingredients together. You can adjust the amount of water and flour to get the consistency that suits you best.
Many people want to know how to make their bread more sour. Breadtopia reader, Rhine Meyering, enjoys success with this by using just 1/8 cup of sourdough starter and extending the fermentation time by refrigerating the dough. Click this link to his October 7, 2007 post to read what he says. It makes a lot of sense based on my understanding of sourdough baking too.
Also, click the following link to Ariela’s post of November 25th, 2007 where she describes her success with the sourdough no knead method using spelt flour. She includes the actual recipe she uses too – very nice.
| No Knead Revisited – A Three Year Check Up
It’s been over 3 years since the original New York Times no knead bread recipe was published. That’s also about the same time Breadtopia was born. By far the most common difficulty people write or call in about is with the dough being too wet to handle at the end of the long first proofing period and also when it’s time to place the dough into a covered vessel to bake at the end of the second rise. When you run into this, there’s not a whole lot you can do about it other than attempt to follow through on the instructions and ultimately wrest the dough into your heated baker and into the oven. Your “mistake” may turn out better than you expected and if nothing else, you’ll learn from it. The next time around you can do one or a combination of a couple things differently.
The same principle holds true on the second rise. While 1-2 hours is the suggested range, I’m almost always at about 60 to 75 minutes. Another concern we hear a lot is about the dough not rising much during that second short proofing period. I don’t see mine rise much then either and it doesn’t matter so long as you see a good rise during the first several minutes that the dough is in the oven. That’s called oven spring and it’s a very good thing. By keeping your proofing periods on the shorter side, you’re more likely to get good oven spring from the still vigorous yeast or sourdough starter. Of course all of the above is assuming your yeast or sourdough starter is fresh and viable to start with. In summary, most problems can be helped or solved by stiffening the dough a little and/or shortening the rising times. If you’re new to bread baking, don’t think from reading this that it’s difficult or tricky to get great results. Most people find it a breeze and enjoy success right out of the blocks. Others may find it takes a few tries. It’s important to have fun with it and don’t worry about bombing. There’s no significant downside to bread baking but the upside can be fabulous. Enjoy! |
March 20th, 2010 update: Beadtopia reader, Beth Adams, emailed this:
I have been a follower and contributer (through the comments sections) to the site for a few years. I just tried something that I wanted to share. I added a tsp. of lavender to the regular sourdough recipe and had great results when using it for sandwiches. Hope you are able to enjoy it!
For more no-knead recipes using sourdough, check out No-Knead Recipe Variations.
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AGAIN! Perfect results.
This recipe pulls thru 100% of the time for me. Since my last post, I’ve made a whole lotta loaves. But this last bake today, ( a doubled batch, using the equivalents for the cranberry pecan recipe/video. but I also added a bit of Old Mill Rye, maybe 1 cup just for the fun of seeing what would happen, also added the cup of whole wheat, I weighed it all out with the main flour being good old Robin Hood bread flour)
These loaves, well…. they were the best tasting and best looking loaves yet. Pretty little ears, nice caramelization…
The starter was left out in our kitchen that is subject to the temp outdoors. It went down to around 50d last night. The dough fermented for almost 20 hours at the same type of temps..
I couldn’t have been happier with the results. The Lodge style D.O. works for me in my goofy commercial propane oven. I know I don’t get a true 500d even though I set it to 550d.
No pics as they was consumed in minutes by my guys, me, friends and Guests at the Lodge.
Can this be quadrupled? I guess I’ll have to look at the bakers equivalents and check it out.
Thanks again Eric, this is just such faithful easy recipe bread!
I hope that those with not so great results keep trying. It will work!!!
I need more proofing baskets. This is getting to be too much fun!
Happy baking.
Ruth
I spoke too soon. Although the bread stuck to the pot and was really hard to get out and it didn’t rise very much the 2d time, so the loaf is rather stubby, the flavor is fantastic. So I’m on the right path. Just have to keep trying.
My sourdough bread tasted great using the starter I purchased from you (in fact one loaf disappeared when my son walked in and devoured it.) But, the crust didn’t caramelize into that lovely bark brown. Any thoughts on why? It look pale and uninviting.
Looks like my 2d SNK is a flop. Five loaves in toto and only 2 were decent. This is NOT good.
The recipe that came with my starter includes yeast. Is this necessary?
Hi BJ. I use the proofing basket that Eric supplies (http://www.breadtopia.com/store/bread-proofing-basket.html). I had a rough time getting the dough not to stick, but I’ve finally learned a way that suits me, at least: I flour the basket liberally with all-purpose flour, followed by a second coat of rice flour. Nothing seems to stick to the rice flour. I’ve found the combination to be the best at preventing sticking.
If you’ll look back in this thread to Jun 14, there’s a couple of photos there of a loaf I made without scoring, then back to May 15 is one I did score. Both were proofed in the basket.
Bill, Thanks. Your right, the blow out does give the bread some uniqueness and charm.
One other question, do you use the basket to proof your bread in? I was thinking of buying a cheap wicker basket instead of the bread proofing basket. Just a thought.
Scoring the bread is the tried and true method of preventing a “blowout.”
Personally I live with the blowout. For me it gives the bread a unique “old world” charm. The trouble is that it’s the rim of that blowout that burns if you leave it in the oven just a minute too long. I’ve got my timing down pretty good: 30 min @ 450ºF in the covered La Cloche, then 10 min uncovered. YMMV!
Can’t seem to get the pic to upload. Sorry, still it looks pretty good!
Made a loaf this morning and it was much better than previous try. Here is a pic. I proofed 10 hours and then about 45 min.
Is there any way to keep the top from blowing out like this one did? Should I score the top?
Suggestions?
Thanks again for the tips!
Hi Eric,
I’m really glad you added that information, you must have been reading my mind. Since I’m such a novice I wasn’t sure, and until very recently I was letting it rise too much I think. And I wasn’t getting much oven spring. So with the measuring cup and your good advice I’m going to be much more conservative with the first rise.
Just for clarification… is it possible for the sourdough, during the first rise, to consume too much of the available nutrients BEFORE it doubles? For example, if it’s in a cold room and it takes 24 hours to double, would that be a problem? Well… now that I’ve said it, I think I know the answer because it’s common for some of the people here to let the dough sit in the fridge for way more than 18 hours, right?
Thanks again.
Carolyn F.
Waiting for the dough to double can get you into trouble. The problem with that is it’s too easy for the dough to go “over the hill” (over proof). Your yeast consumes too much of its available nutrients too early and you either don’t get much of a second rise and/or not much oven spring when you go to bake it.
Catching the right time to go on to the next step is one of those things that comes with practice and blowing it a bunch of times. Changing weather conditions just add to the challenge. If I’m going to err, I try to do it on the early side. In other words I’ll go to the second proof before the dough has fully risen and again go to the oven before the dough has fully risen on the final proof. The more you bake the better feel you get for the timing.
Carolyn and Eric, Thanks for the tips and going to try the 10 hour/ 1 hour and I found a place in my a/c closet that is about 72 F that I am going to set it to proof.
I am basically looking to double the dough with each proofing time?
I have made some great breads with this starter and this method, so I will keep at it!
Thanks again, I’ll keep you posted.
Carolyn, Thanks for the tip!
Great tip, Carolyn.
Others have mentioned that shortening the first proof to something around 10-12 hours and the second to about an hour has worked in the really hot weather when things can get pretty wonky. And, like you said, eye-ball it.
BJ and Hans….
I have a tip that may help you both. We’ve had some very warm weather this summer, too, and my sourdough has been rising much faster than usual. So to keep an eye on it I mix it in a giant 8 cup measuring cup and note where it is. It’s usually at about 3 cups. I consider it ready for the next step when it has doubled, in this example that’s 6 cups. If it starts to rise too quickly I pop it in the fridge for 2 hours or more. I don’t think it matters whether that’s at the beginning of the 18 hours, in the middle, or near the end. The cold fridge is sort of my friendly neighbor traffic cop, slowing things down as needed
The second rise I just eye-ball. Interestingly enough, it seems to be just about 2 hours even when the first rise went very fast.
Good luck!
I am having trouble getting my breads to rise. It has been really warm here in NC and I am guessing that I am over-proofing. My starter is quite active and I have tried to make sure that my dough is not too wet.
I have seen several that have put their dough in the fridge to proof and wonder if this might be a good thing to do in a rather warm apartment (83 F). How long would I let it proof in the fridge and then how long for the 2nd proof? I have been using a 5qt cast iron dutch oven.
During the winter my NK breads were coming out just fine.
Any suggestions?
Don’t forget to feed that starter every week!
Thanks Bill, for your suggestion. I actually used the basic no knead recipe with 1/2 cup of olives and a twig og fresh rosemary chopped up.
I must say that the temperature in the house was about 78 degrees. I also live at 2600 altitude. But I’m going to play it safe for the time being and use instant yeast instead. When I have gathered enough courage I’ll take the starter out of the refrig again, and give it another shot.
Hi Hans,
I don’t know if you’re referring to my recipe above, or Eric’s recipe at the beginning of this thread. Either way, it seems you have a very active starter! 6 hours is a very rapid rise indeed.
I have noticed that bulk fermentation times differ from summer to winter, but nothing quite as quick as you’ve experienced. In the summer, when the house is obviously warmer (72º F, vs 67ºF in winter), I’ll either cut back the fermentation time from, say, 18 hours to 12, or I’ll put the batch dough in the “cool room;” (I have a room dedicated to wine storage set at 58ºF). I’ll leave the dough in there for as much as 48hours, then take it out the morning I wish to make bread, let it work for another 5 or 6 hours, then fold it, form it, let it rise for approx. 3 hours, then bake.
My starter is not what I’d call overly active. I use a levain starter (http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/la-4-french-sourdough-starter-5g) and have had it going since spring.
I like to weigh everything. Try this basic formula:
500g bread flour
350g water
10g salt
1/4 c starter or 1/4 teaspoon yeast.
Note: if you substitute any non-white flour for white, you’ll have to add water, as ww flour absorbs more. I’ll use up to 375g water when incorporating up to 200g ww flour, or 150g ww plus 50g rye.
Good luck.
Hi,
I proceeded to make a starter and after about 5 days it was nice and bubbly. Then I made your recipe, used a scale, added some chopped olives and rosemary. That was about 2:00pm. At about 8 pm it already had risen so much that I was a little worried because it had another 10 to 12 hours to go.
The next morning it looked like it had died. Collapsed. I baked it anyway, after forming it and letting it rise for 2 hours. The result was as I expected….dismal.
What was wrong with the starter. Maybe I should have used less but how do I know ahead of time?. Each time the starter is a little different. Should I put in the refrig and continue the next morning?
I’m not with it today… that’s a *quarter cup* of starter for 1/4 teaspoon of yeast.
I should have mentioned in the above post that to adapt this recipe to a sour-dough, substitute 1/4 of starter for the 1/4 teaspoon of yeast. Or not. Your choice.
Hi Lydia,
You most certainly can add ingredients to your basic no-knead sourdough. I’ve added raisins, sun-dried tomatoes or rosemary in mine (not all at once!).
Here’s a recipe I like sun-dried tomato and asiago cheese. Mix all the ingredients together just like your ordinary no-knead and let sit for whatever time you normally would. Only additional directions are, if you use sun-dried tomatoes in oil, pat them dry first.
3 cups bread flour
1¾ teasp salt
¼ teasp instant yeast
1 cup finely grated asiago cheese
½ cup sun-dried tomatoes
1 tbsp dried basil
1¾ cups water
Hello! What a wonderful site! I have been thrilled with the results of no-knead sourdough ever since adopting your technique. I can avoid the expense of buying good bread without spending hours at the counter wearing out my arms.
Two questions. First, have you tried this technique using anything else in the dough? A bakery in Vermont (my homestate) makes a wonderful cranberry pecan sourdough bread that I would love to duplicate, but I’m not sure whether I would be able incorporate the dried fruit and nuts into the no-knead dough. Any thoughts?
Also, is it possible to bake a couple loaves at the same time, or to double the recipe and make a bigger loaf in a larger dutch oven? I made a loaf yesterday, and only a little of it is left, since everyone loved it so much!
Thank you!
I have continued my adventures in sourdough bread making using this no knead method. My starter consists of one part water to half part whole wheat flour and half part all purpose. I started it about a month and a half ago. I keep it in my bedroom because it’s warmer in there (no central air, the AC unit is in the living room of my apartment).
Within the past week or so, I’ve discovered that my starter has developed an extremely tangy flavor, which I like. I’m not certain whether or not it’s the mix of flours, the natural Minnesota yeasts, or a combination of both. I stuck my finger into the starter to taste it and my lips puckered and I had to spit it out. It wasn’t bad, it was just extremely unexpected compared to previous days of tasting.
The last loaf of bread I baked turned out perfectly. I posted an earlier comment about flat loaves, however I’ve recently found my bread has been rising significantly while baking, which it hadn’t before. I’m not sure of the difference between the last few attempts and my earlier ones.
I’m short on funds, so I have been using an iron dutch oven, as stated in the tutorial video, instead of a La Cloche. My last few loaves have been perfect, with that “turtle shell” shape. I thank you again for your video. Your website has been extremely helpful in my bread baking endeavors.
Thought I should contribute – and say a big Thank You to eric for this recipe and site. This one was made with 3 cups white flour and just a dash of wholemeal, and about 1/3 cup of starter.
Other ways to contain the dough:
Make a collar out of aluminum foil and place the dough inside it.
If you have a springform cake pan of the right diameter, just remove the bottom and use the rim to hold the dough in.
Hi Nathan,
You could try stiffening up the dough and that would help retain the shape of the dough. But no knead dough is intentionally very wet and tends to spread out a lot. What a lot of people do it put it into a Dutch oven or other baking vessel that’s small enough to contain the dough and force an upward rise. I have a 4 qt Dutch oven that accomplishes this and the oblong La Cloche works very well too.
Hi Eric, I’m new to baking bread. I’ve baked about 8 loaves now and recently discovered one of your videos for the no-knead sourdough. I’ve used the technique about 4 times now with excellent results. I have a question though, I don’t have a proofing basket, so I use a smaller pot for on the stove. I coat it with spray oil and cornmeal and the dough rises nicely. My problem is that when I transfer the dough to a dutch oven, it spreads out into an oval shape and doesn’t retain the nice rounded shape of the proofing pot. Does this mean my dough is too wet? Should I add more flour and knead a minute or two before putting it in the dutch oven? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Sometimes, everything just works. I made one of the best loaves yet this morning, and it is a sourdough Spelt no less. I think Eric once said, sooner or later you just get a feel for the dough and the proof times. It was a last minute thought last night to make some bread. I made the dough up just before bedtime. I did the first fold 20 mins after mixing, then 3 folds 15 mins later and 3 more folds 15 mins after that. Covered and set on the counter. I then watched “Harm” save the earth (Impact). This morning after only about 10 hours, the Spelt dough had risen to the top of the bowl. I didn’t let it go any longer. I put some parchment in the oblong basket, oiled it and threw in some sesame seeds. I took the dough out of the bowl, I did not fold. I just floured up my hands sprinkled generously on the dough, picked it up elongated and placed it in the basket. I shaped it a little more in the basket. About 20 mins later it was rising pretty quickley. I went ahead and pre-heated the oblong pot in a 475 oven for 35 mins. Picked up the parchment with the still growing loaf and baked it with the cover on for 35 mins. My plan was to bake 7 mins longer with the cover off but when I took it off the bread had a really nice dark color, darker than my other Spelts. I checked the internal temp and it was 198 so I took it out. The amazing thing is, it tops out at almost 5 inches tall. A really nice oven spring I’d say. The crust is nice and crisp and the crumb has medium holes and oh so soft. I do have pictures just in case.
This is probably the wrong section to be talking about an AKNB Spelt but I wanted Erika to see that parchment does help. If anything is going to stick I feel it would be the spelt. However, I have never had any of my bread stick to a cloche, even Spelt. I did have foil stick to the bottom of a loaf one time that was hard to remove.
Wil
Hi Erika,
Parchment paper works really well. Or try the “hot oven” approach where you preheat the cloche before putting in the dough. The dough won’t stick and I think you get much better results.
After waiting for months, I finally received my La Cloche oblong clay cooker, and I baked my first loaf with it today. Following your instructional comments, I did nothing to prepare the pan, except I put cornmeal in the bottom. The bread baked up beautifully, but it stuck to both the bottom and the sides, and I had to chisel it out of the pan, losing some of the bottom of the loaf. I used the cold oven method Ed Wood likes, and had the dough rise in the oblong cooker. The cooker cleaned up OK with a good soaking and a stiff brush, but I think I should use parchment paper in it next time. Or should I oil it if I’m going to have the dough rise in the oblong cooker itself? Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated. Erika
Hi Caleb,
You can double the recipe by doubling the ingredients. I don’t think it would effect the rising and proofing times much but you would have to adjust for baking times and temps. I would lower the usual temp and increase the time but don’t know how much without experimenting. Here’s a post of someones successful version of a 1 1/2 times normal loaf size: http://www.breadtopia.com/2008/08/09/increasing-your-no-knead-recipes/
Ok, as I said above, I forgot the salt. So taking the advice of Ambimom I tried to fix it. I mixed the salt with a tablespoon of Italian seasoning. (I thought extra flavor was good insurance.) I alternated sprinkling on the seasoning and folding the dough about 5 or 6 times. I also sprinkled more on the top of the loaf. The net result is actually pretty yummy. Since I use beer and vinegar as part of the liquid the bread has a bit of sweetness. The “streaks” of salt and herbs contrast with the slight sweetness and makes an interesting combination. My husband liked it too, I didn’t tell him about my mistake until later so his opinion was unbiased. I think I invented a new “variation” (hee hee).
Carolyn
Eric,
I just pulled out my first loaf of No knead sourdough according to your recipe and it is perfect. This was my first time using my starter (I’ve been feeding it for about 10 days) so I was nervous but this bread s both deliciously sour and rose even better than when I was using instant yeast. I used 6 ounces AP flour and 10 of WW. I appreciate your videos they really help!
One question I have that I haven’t found anything on through searching the internet. Has anyone made a double size recipe of this? Could I just double all the ingredients and give it a little more time to rise and proof? Also how much longer would it need to bake for? I want to bring a big loaf to an upcoming fourth of July party and am debating either trying the Polaine tyle loaf (which looks incredible) and having tasted the Polaine bread I can definitely agree that it is wonderful, or just doing a double bath of this.
Thanks again for all the info on the site, it’ really well setup and I love the videos; it’s always easier to see the process as opposed to just reading.
If I were you, I’d just add the salt to the mixture before forming the loaf. Knead it a few times so it is incorporated fully. It should be okay. If not, make breadcrumbs out of the loaf and stick it in the freezer.
Help! I mixed a batch of sourdough last night and forgot the salt! Is there anything I can do this morning to rescue it??
Thanks,
Carolyn
I adopted the ‘almost no-knead’ methodology and it has made all the difference in the results. My recipe: 330 grams white bread flour, 110 grams whole wheat, approximately 1 1/4 cup water (more or less depending on just incorporating all the flour); 2 teasoons kosher salt, one cup active starter. Let sit 12-18 hours. Knead 15 times, shape loaf. Set to rise on oiled parchment covered for 4 to 5 hours. Slash loaf. Place (parchment and all) into hot dutch oven. Bake at 425 for 30 min covered. The remaining uncovered. I bake for 30 minutes more, but I suppose checking temp (200 to 210) is more reliable. I can’t believe the difference that those few kneads have made. Check the video on almost no-knead method on this site.
The oblong la cloches are finally starting to arrive and our on line store is once again accepting orders.
After many months of unavailability we have quite a long waiting list and will do our best to get them shipped out as fast as possible. Please allow somewhere between a few days and (I’m guessing here) up to 7-10 business days to get them shipped.
If you’re on the email waiting list, please ignore the email we’ll be sending out about this.
Thanks!
What’s happening with the availability of the LaCloche Oblong Baker? Its past the middle of June, and I’m anxious to order one. Any news, Eric?
The way to remember the water weight/volume ratio is:
A pint’s a pound, the world around.
This is a no knead variation of the original recipe and converted to sourdough. I use 330g of bread flour, 145g whole wheat flour, and 25g of wheat germ and 11g salt. I mixed that with 1/4 cup of starter (100% hydration) mixed into 370g of water. That dough came out just a tiny bit wet, and next time I’ll cut the water down to 365g. Cooked it at 450ºF in a La Cloche, covered for 30 min., uncovered for 10.
Here’s the interesting part: I had to make the dough up at 2PM in the afternoon, on a rather warm day here. That’s way earlier than I normally put the dough together. Leaving it until the next morning wasn’t an option unless I refrigerated it; something I’ve never done. I wound up putting the dough in my wine room, temperature controlled at 56º until 11PM that night, then brought it out to continue fermenting throughout the night on the kitchen counter top at a house temperature of about 70º. Next morning it was perfectly risen. It was stretched, folded and shaped at 9AM, put in the brot form and allowed to rise 2 hours and 45 min., then into the oven.
Sorry there’s no photo of the crumb, but this loaf is going to a dinner party tonight and I couldn’t cut it.
Harvey, given all you’ve done, I have to suspect that your problem lies in the starter. Either that, or you can’t make sour dough at 5000 feet elevation! And by the way, my starter was unfed and one week old.
[img]DSC01588.jpg[/img][img]DSC01589.jpg[/img]
Harvey, try one more time with instant yeast. If you have success, it may be the way your starter is behaving. If you are getting absolutely “Zilch–Zero-Nada”, you might try to rule out your sourdough starter. Sounds like you did everything but that. There are sourdough starters and there are sourdough starters.
Wil
I myself have found that IF I follow Eric’s direction to a T, the loaves come out perfectly. I have made too many of his loaves to even mention. I have lost count. They have all been SO good.
That being said, it depends on ovens, flour, temp, timing and learnig to get a feel for the dough and how it works within your hands and your oven.
Now that we are out at the summer place, the oven is different, (Ick~ it’s a big ugly commercial propane oven, large and hard to deal with)
it takes a different time and I have had to experiment with many more loaves to figure it out. But the oven and the propane that are the issue since I have learned the recipe with the help of my home oven, I m getting the same fantastic results.
Tomorrow, I am doing the Raisin/Pecan loaves for a special Guest.. He’s been loving the other stuff, slliced, “fresh” from the freezer.
Patience is the main ingredient.
There are so many people that try this one time, just take your time, re-watch the videos 50 times if that is what it takes. I still watch them after at least 100 lbs of flour….
Guess my main point, is learn from the recipe and the video, don’t experiment till you get great, reasonably consistent results.
My starter and I will be making the Pecan Cranberry loaves tomorrow for 16 anxious mouths, I can’t wait till they try THAT ONE. It is the best. And so easy…
well I did give it another try today. Used the scale and made the dough
a little dryer than last time. Formed the loaf a bit early (when dough was just under doubled) and got it into the oven with what would be perfect timing for any other loaf. Still no oven spring. None. Zilch-O. Zero. Nil.
this is 14 attempts at NKSD: being careful, being hopeful, being patient, paying attention, I can say I have wonderful consistency: no oven spring whatsoever.
I will not be trying this again.
Video upload? No way to do that. Although it might be a great help.
dough: overnight in fridge
left out to rise 7 hours (doubled)
left to proof (checked at intervals) just under 3 hours
Baking in a normal size DO – I guess that would be 7 quart
Room temp: 65 in the morning to about 80 by late afternoon
elevation: 5000′
I’d think that by measuring ingredients by weight that would eliminate the probs between flour/water ratios
I have tried different flours. Same results. Shorter proofs, same results.
Longer proofs, same results. working from pretty dry dough to pretty wet: same results.
ticks me off ’cause I used to work in a small bakery helping with some of the yeasted breads.
Thanks for y’all’s encouragement. The last biscotti hit the garbage can. I’ve eaten enough ‘projects’.
Hi Harvey,
I have seen a big difference with oven rise and overall loftiness of my loves (the lack there-of), since summer has arrived. For one thing, as Eric mentioned, it is easy for the dough to be too wet now and I have to watch the liquid amounts going into the bowl, not just the water. The second thing is the “overall” quality of the starter. A starter I was using just a couple of months ago had excellent “staying” power and I kept dough in the frige as long as 24hrs before starting the overnight proof on the counter. That starter did not “bubble and froth” prior to baking but I new it would kick in later. I now use a few months old pineapple starter and it bubble and froths but, it doesn’t seem to have the staying power for my long proofs. So, what I am saying is and again Eric has stated this many times, there are enough varibles to getting a nice lofty loaf of bread it can drive you nuts on the way to frustration. Like you, I am experimenting to get back to an “almost Packer purty” loaf. Don’t give up and enjoy your toasted biscotti along side of a fresh glass of Kefir—–ummmm!
Wil
Harvey,
What are you baking it in? I started with a 7 quart DO and got the biscotti shape. When I switched to a smaller container (a terracotta flower pot and saucer) I got much better rise, although I still want my sourdough to get an even better rise. I just bought some of Eric’s starter and am about to try it.
I guess this is a long shot, but if you’re able to take a video of your bread dough while you’re working with it so we might get a sense of its consistency and post to Youtube, that might help us. In a future Breadtopia release, it’s going to be possible for people to upload videos directly to this site which might help a lot with troubleshooting.
Also, please tell us exactly how long you’re giving for each rise and what the room temperature is.
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