Sourdough Bread Made Easy by John Carroll

Author:John Carroll [Carroll, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-06-25T23:00:00+00:00

The loaf after cooling and slicing

10: TROUBLESHOOTING

We all have the occasional problem, particularly in the early days of baking sourdough bread. These are some of the more common ones:

Bread Fails to Rise Or rises very slowly. There are two common causes for this: (a) too much salt (in addition to flavouring, the salt also acts as a yeast inhibitor, which slows down the rise) try using a little less salt; (b) the ambient temperature is too cold, try putting the dough somewhere warmer for proving. I use the oven with just the electric pilot light on.

Dough Collapses This is the opposite of the first problem, and usually happens because the dough has risen too quickly. The most common causes are also the opposite: (a) you forgot to add the salt or didn’t add enough, make sure you add the amount in the recipe or increase it slightly; (b) the ambient temperature is too warm, either shorten the proving time or prove in the fridge to start with.

Poor Crust Ideally we want a nice crisp, golden crust. The most common causes of a soft crust are: not baked long enough or at too low a temperature (all ovens are different so try increasing the bake time or increasing the temperature); not enough steam in the early stage of baking or too much steam later (see getting a crisp crust on page 27). The other possibility is that the loaf has become damp after baking, typically by putting the bread in a sealed container before it has cooled down completely. Wait at least four hours after baking.

Not Fully Baked Also known as ‘soggy bottom’. The loaf looks fine when you take it out of the oven but when it cools down the bottom is soggy and not fully cooked. The answer is to check the loaf when you think it is baked by taking it out of the oven and tapping it on the bottom. The bottom should be tight and sound hollow when tapped. If not put it back in the oven for another fine minutes and try again. When it sounds right, turn the oven off and put the loaf back in the cooling oven, with the door slightly open for a further five minutes.

Dough Too Sticky While the dough will become less sticky as it is worked, if it is too sticky it will be very difficult to handle. Just add a small amount of flour at a time until it becomes easier to handle, but try to keep the dough slightly on the sticky side to start with.

Dough Too Dry If the dough won’t stick together, it’s the exact opposite of the sticky dough problem. Just add a little more water, but be very sparing or you will just flip to the previous problem. A little at a time is the rule for both problems.

Dough Spreads Out

If the dough spreads out on the baking tray during proving it is probably too wet. Try making it a little dryer or use a proving basket.

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