Loaf 2, Help

beardedwonder

Hi,

I tried my second sourdough following the beginners guide on this site. It tasted good but there were a couple of problems and I was hoping I could get some tips before I try my next loaf.

 

I think the bowl I proved in was too big, and the dough stuck to the floured tea towel that I used so it was difficult to turn out onto the baking sheet.

There was a little oven spring but not much, I think I knocked quite a bit of air out by dropping it out of the bowl onto the baking sheet. I'm looking to get nice large pockets of air in the bread. Here's what the final result looked like:

LoafSlice

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Willow's picture
Willow 2013 July 17

Hi beardedwonder,

If my second sourdough loaf looked that good, I'd be very happy ! ....

I'm a beginner to follwing a recipe with sourdough and since our fridge recently froze my mother culture, I practiced this recipe from the beginers guide yesterday, using yeast this time, while I attempt to revive my culture. I insisted my partner & critic do the same on the opposite of the bench, so we made two loaves. I've always been of the opinion that yeasted breads - especially sliced loaves, were as satisfying as eating an A4 piece of paper... but this was a great way to feel how the dough changes and comes together with such little effort. My critic's dough was very sticky, relaxed and 'globby' before the final resting and he resisted assistance, insisting he would win what was now a competition. To be honest it looked sad, so when he took a work call I quickly gave it a few kneads and surprise surprise it smoothed over and held together.... resulting in it being the better loaf of the two ! .... although we did have larger bubbles in the top of the loaf as yours did, but not as large. I wonder what causes this ? Maybe too moist ?

For the final proof we used pizza trays with a floured tea towel on top, placed the loaf on and folded the tea towel sides over to cover. To turn out, so the seam was downward, we placed another tray just above the loaf and quickly turned it over to avoid knocking the air out.

Can't wait until my culture is alive and kicking again to try this. 

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