Baking the Sourdough: Preheat your oven to 450F (225C) and a baking pan. When using a proofing basket, line it with a clean cloth and dust its surface with flour by using a sieve to ensure an even coating. It can be leathery rather than crispy. We actually followed this recipe twice, the first time was in the exact proportion mentioned with a hydration of 81% and "Betty" turned out tacky and moist. Your dough should be split into two sides. When you have to stretch and fold or pick up your dough, you can do it with ease if youve got a layer of moisture on your hands. Make the dough. Mix until no dry patches remain. Both of you mentioned a point in common on the hydration where I made a huge mistake on as I did not account for the hydration of the starter added. It should be room temperature. It is possible to make 100% hydration (or even higher) so there's really no such thing as too wet. You'll find 6 of the most common reasons for wet and sticky dough explained below, along with possible solutions. . Only add more flour if it remains excessively moist or sticky after youve kneaded it in. Ensure that you have scored enough - you need one good score to ensure that your dough expands. Remove the lid and bake for another 10 minutes to get a brown crust. You just need to reduce the heat on the base of your Dutch Oven or baking tray. If you only want decorative scoring, you will need to push your bulk fermentation to the limit. Alternatively, you'll need to adjust the amount of starter in your dough to suit the temperature of your kitchen. Always shape your loaf on a piece of non-stick, silicone paper, then when it's proved, stick it straight onto the hot stone and reduce the temperature of the oven down to around 180-200C. If using a stand mixer, change to the dough hook. Make sure that you develop your gluten network really well during the stretch and fold stage. Lets look at some of the common problems with sourdough bread and how to deal with them. You can try to fix things like high humidity in your house or waiting until the kitchen has warmed to room temperature before getting to work. 2. And where in the process the wet, sticky dough is a problem. Thanks for the tip! The sticky side should only touch the dough. I went here and checked the recipe -https://www.abeautifulplate.com/artisan-sourdough-bread-recipe/ it called for 350 BF and 90 WW, for a total of 440, plus 45 from the starter ( which was 100% hydration) for a total of 485. Learn how to make bread and pizza with this awesome book. Alternatively, you could add a little oil to the work surface and your hands. Some things to have on hand to work with really wet dough are: So how do you fix wet and sticky sourdough? Soft water has <50ppm, medium 50-100ppm (best for bread baking), hard >200ppm. You can use wet hands during the stretch and fold stage or even when you need to gently handle the dough in almost any situation. The solution here is to either use the exact same flour the recipe requires or adjusting hydration levels, watching the dough instead of ingredient ratios. Thank you so much for the guidance! The gluten structure has become weak and is unable to hold up. The recipe technically calls to bake the bread in a preheated dutch oven (I use a casserole dish because I don't own a dutch oven), but the dough is so sticky that if I preheat the dish and transfer the dough to it once it's preheated, I find that the dough deflates and I get a flat loaf. PROBLEM - You may have baked a loaf of sourdough which appears to have large tunnels of air or just one big hole surrounded by a tighter or dense crumb. Why Is My Sourdough Too Sticky? BE CAREFUL, IT'S HOT! It is often easier to make. The solution is to give it a few more folds after you add the dash of flour so that the flour mixes in fully and makes it more manageable. Sourdough starter is wild yeast and bacteria. Some doughs are sticker than others because of the type of flour. It has more energy than it should have left when it hits the oven - meaning you might get a great oven spring - but it destroys your scoring (and will more than likely be gummy inside). This will give the sourdough a chance to find new pockets of sugars and starches to consume. Rest uncovered for 25 minutes. PROBLEM - My sourdough looked great when I removed it from the oven - it was crusty! The average total mixing time when using a spiral mixer is around 6 minutes of total mixing (includes first speed mixing time and second speed mixing time). Step 3 - Total amount of flour is 80 grams + 600 grams = 680 grams. If you see anything inappropriate on the site or have any questions, contact me at floydm at thefreshloaf dot com. One set of strong Stretch & Folds. @halfbakedharvest.com Cheaters No Knead Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread. However, the dough may be too hydrated for your location. Alternatively if you want to use all purpose flour, you'll need to reduce the hydration of your dough. As the flour is better hydrated, more water is absorbed by the dough, and less water is coating the doughs surface which makes the dough feels less wet and sticky. Then, mix in 70 grams of active sourdough starter. This allows the gluten to start to develop on its own before any kneading. Then remove lid and continue to bake for another 20-25 minutes. Gluten is the foundation for good bread, so you wont get very far if its not developed. Sticky and wet crumb means the crumb is too wet; there is too much water in the finished product. Second, mix the dough using a previously fed, active and bubbly sourdough starter, water and a mixture of bread and whole wheat flour. The recommended method to prevent wet and sticky dough from sticking to our hands is to wet our hands with water whenever we are handling the dough; wet dough sticks to dry hands, but wet dough does not stick to wet hands. water) slightly (eg. There are lots of things that can go wrong when baking sourdough bread. full guide to stopping your sourdough bread from collapsing here, Flavored Sourdough: How To Make Additions To Sourdough Bread. Place the bread pieces on a parchment lined baking sheet in a single layer. Another tactic is adding flour to the work surface before you start working with the dough. It'll just take about 30 minutes in the fridge for the dough to firm until it's ready to roll. 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 bread is heavy, hasn't puffed up in the oven and has a moist, dense texture inside. Sourdough that has hydration levels of more than 72% tends to be sticky and tears apart easily when it is handled. Thank you for going the extra mile to check the recipe! Dough made with a young sourdough starter just won't develop. 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. Turn out the loaf out onto a floured peel, make a cut in the top with a grignette and slide it onto the baking stone. The good news is, there's always a way to fix your sourdough bread problems for your next bake! Avoid using cake or pastry flour for dusting as it contains a higher starch content and tends to lump up more than bread, rice or semolina flour. Stir vigorously until combined; it might look like a sticky, thick dough. The next day, preheat the oven to 500 degrees for 60 minutes. This makes it easier to handle. Sourdough generally contains more water, which makes the gluten more likely to cling to everything. PROBLEM - Base of my sourdough bread is thick and chewy. Sourdough bread problems are often multi faceted and you will find that they are not always caused by one issue. Bake the Bread. At the same time, we should dust the work surface lightly during shaping as we need some level of stickiness and friction between the dough and the work surface to create sufficient skin tension. Extending bulk fermentation will help to fix this problem. Hi @Semolina, we waited only an hour before cutting into it, hasty on our part! It's a good thing for bread dough, but it also means that it makes the mess you're attempting to clean up extra sticky and impossible to clean up . If your dough is sticky, its going to stick to whatever is dry, so if youre touching it with dry hands, youre going to struggle. Mix until dough comes away from the sides of the bowl . CAUSE - Spreading can be caused by a few factors including under fermented or over fermented dough as well as poor shaping technique. Im the face behind The Pantry Mama and I want to help you bake delicious sourdough bread, no matter what your schedule. Place on a floured cake or bowl with a tea towel and fold over. If the bread dough feels correct but is the baked loaf is fragile and sticky inside, it is under-cooked. Wet and sticky dough is caused by a few different issues. It is normal when working with dough of very high hydration for it to feel quite wet and sticky after it has finished mixing. PROBLEM - My sourdough never puffs up in the oven. Charlie was a little better probably because we increased the bake time, but the higher hydration did it in. How Long Does Cookie Dough Last in the Fridge. High temperatures can cause premature over fermentation, which will result in wet, sticky sourdough. It can be caused by over fermenting or under fermenting your dough, but also by other things like shaping issues. if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'crustylabs_com-box-4','ezslot_1',121,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-crustylabs_com-box-4-0');It is completely normal for very high hydration doughs at more than 75% hydration to feel excessively slack, wet and sticky after the mixing phase. link to Yeasted Pre-ferment (Poolish & Biga) VS Sponge VS Dough, link to Pate Fermentee VS Poolish VS Biga VS Sourdough Starter, Stand Mixer (KitchenAid Type All Purpose Mixer). When mixing, hold back a portion of the intended total water quantity called for in the formulation. Stir together until the starter is dissolved and the water looks cloudy. Jack Sturgess. However, it's much better to find out the cause of the problem so you can fix it and prevent it from happening again. So I added 390 flour, plus 45 more from the starter ( assuming your starter is 100% hydration) to get 435 flour. The dough should be a little sticky before you start kneading it. Would really appreciate some pointers, thank you in advance!! A large mixing bowl A round cane banneton 2 clean tea towels A Dutch oven, La Cloche or bread pan A large heatproof pan, a sharp knife or 'lame' to slash the dough with. 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. If you're looking for troubleshooting your sourdough starter - you'll find a list of the most FAQ here. Turn the oven off, leave the door slightly ajar and place your bread directly on the oven rack. If adjusting the bake times is something you want to explore, I'd suggest trying 450 covered for 25 minutes, then 400 uncovered for 25-30 minutes. For example, the problem may be a recipe that calls for more hydration than the flour youre using requires. To solve this problem, try taking the bread maker out of equation by baking in an oven. 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}. Or you need to give the sourdough starter more salt.Another root cause may be the recipe relative to your environment. 16 hour cold (38F) retard, in closed plastic bags. When I first started baking, everything that could go wrong, went wrong; it felt borderline alchemy to me. 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. Thank you for visiting! Oil the mixing bowl, the bowl used for bulk fermentation and folding, and the proofing vessel. I baked a loaf this morning and I dont gone cute it until we ready to eat it. SOLUTION - reduce proofing time. Other ingredients, like honey, may also make your sourdough wet and sticky. If the dough breaks before you can pull it so thin that you can see the light, resume kneading. Excess flour at shaping can mean that your dough does not seal back onto itself, causing tunnels of air to form when baking. The bacteria on the other hand create a sour taste and ferment the bread. Score the bread on top with any design you like. After sourdough fermentation, the lactic acid bacteria produce acetaldehyde. If your sourdough has a very thick base which is burnt or just very tough, there's a very simple fix for this. We are compensated for referring traffic and business to Amazon and other companies linked to on this site. - lower hydration in the total dough formula (already noted above). If youre going from low hydration (60-65%) bread dough to a sourdough (65-80%) hydration, youre most probably not going to know how to handle it properly. If so, fix that, and try it with your standard bake temps/times, And then, if the problem persists, then add to the lower hydration the lower/longer bake temps/times, too. We performed up to 6 sets of stretch and fold during the first two hours of fermentation before leaving it to bulk ferment for the next two hours. CAUSE - cutting into your bread too soon! Stretching and folding the dough is a common method of gluten development in sourdough bread making. Sourdough baking is a never ending journey of learning - and that's what makes troubleshooting it so damn interesting! When the percentage of damaged starch particles in flour exceeds 10%, your dough will become wetter and stickier over time. 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 Autolyze reduces the wetness and stickiness of the dough and makes mixing and handling of the dough much easier. It really is a delicate balance to ensure that the yeast have consumed enough of their food to produce those beautiful pockets of air - but not too much so they can still provide oven spring at baking time. Some recipes are simply wetter and stickier than others. One should be sticky, and one should be dusted with flour. 4.Under-baked bread 5. I find that I need to bake the moisture out before the top crust gets too hard and seals in the moisture, and if that happens then you just end up over-baking the crust while it's still gummy inside. If your dough is too dry, add a little moisture and mix it, adding just a little more water if necessary. This is the sourdough baking course you need if you are just starting out in sourdough bread baking. Step 4: Bake. We should aim to minimize the use of dusting flour in the baking process as the introduction of additional flour into our mix can significantly change the hydration level of the dough, resulting in a crumb that is drier and denser. It affects pretty much every part of the process. 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). When water is excessively soft, the lack of minerals results in a sticky andslack dough. Perhaps your sourdough is too sticky when you start working with it. If you've found this article on handling wet, sticky sourdough helpful, you might also enjoy these: What a great resource you've created here. Be sure you open with an autolyse, a step far easier than it sounds. It has a more uniform appearance than a quick bread, and it cant leave you with a nasty chemical aftertaste. I wouldn't reduce temperature, but rather increase baking time. How Do You Know When Your Sourdough Starter Is Ready To Bake With? You haven't let your dough bulk ferment for long enough so the yeast and bacteria have not been able to do their jobs effectively. 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. if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'crustylabs_com-leader-1','ezslot_6',124,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-crustylabs_com-leader-1-0');The table below is extracted from Jeffrey Hammelmans Bread Book that shows the relative mixing time between different mixers and hand mixing to develop the same dough to the same strength. Add the all purpose/bread flour and whole wheat/spelt flour. You'll know you have sufficient gluten development by performing the window pane test on your dough. Damaged starch particles also varies from one milling facility to another. When water is excessively hard, it tightens the gluten as well as decrease fermentation rate. Without salt, the dough becomes sticky and slack in nature, making it difficult to work with. Bread has been baked too soon after shaping / under proofed. Bread flour. Take the temp before cutting into it. To make the levain, combine the sourdough starter, water and flour (see image 2) in a medium bowl and mix until well combined.Cover with plastic wrap and stand in a warm, draught-free place (approx. I would like to share with you what I have learnt from the many hours spent researching and testing these baking techniques myself. Also check the temperature of your fridge to ensure it's 4C or under. During shaping, a light dusting of flour is what you need to prevent the sourdough from sticking to your kitchen counter. 1. Content posted by community members is their own. If you cant shape it, the sourdough is too sticky. Then the dough cannot stick to the surface. Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.Thanks!Jeff. This makes it easier to handle. And sometimes the issue is the recipe. This is the most comprehensive and easily understandable explanation of sourdough I have read. If your kitchen is too warm, the dough can become a sloppy, wet mess. This is particular difficult if you're working in humid conditions. 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 While the dough is proofing, preheat your oven to 230 C (450 F) and place your Dutch oven inside to preheat as well. Levain hand-mixed, Rubaud style, for 5 minutes. That's one of four for the set. Switch to a wood spoon. It can also be called Fool's Crumb where the bread appears to have an "open crumb" however the holes are large and surrounded by an uneven, tight crumb that is not desirable. A new bake this morning. First, it's helpful to have a small bowl of water nearby to dip your hands into before touching your dough. What to do: This is a heavily over proofed dough. A good example of a low protein flour is general wholewheat flour. If you're not sure about some of the terms used in this article, you might find this sourdough glossary helpful. The Fresh Loaf is not responsible for community member content. Is rye flour good for . Beginner bakers are best to start off with low to medium hydration dough before moving onto high hydration. CAUSE - the dough has been over fermented and/or over proofed and has too much air trapped in the shaped dough. BAKE YOUR SOURDOUGH Preheat your oven to 450F (230C) half an hour before the end of proving. Ensure that your dough is well fermented prior to shaping. Your dough can become sticky when you add too much water or the flour isn't suitable for the type of dough you are making. More often than not a thick crust developing on the base is caused by cooking your bread in a Dutch Oven. Send your . Often the bottom of your sourdough is burning. Bread needs gluten development in order to trap gas and rise, but this also helps the dough to become less sticky. bread sticky after baking. Even with parchment paper, the base of your bread is sitting on the hot base of the Dutch Oven causing it to cook more quickly. We should fold once every hour of bulk fermentation. Too much dusting of flour can also reduce stickiness to the point where sufficient skin tension is not able to be developed. 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 . Cover the bowl and set aside for 30-60 minutes. Then the dough cant stick to them. Wet and sticky dough not only sticks to the work surfaces but also to our hands, increasing the risk of tearing and making it very difficult to work with. If you do have a watery starter, you'll need to adjust the amount of water in your dough or set about finding a solution to thicken it up. It's when this doesn't happen that problems start to occur. The usual choice of flour for dusting includes bread flour, rice flour, semolina; all these flour works just as well for preventing sourdough from sticking. You see, when your hands are wet, the dough cannot stick to them easily, so it just slips right through them. Cover with plastic wrap and keep covered in a warmish place in your kitchen at around 77F (24C) for 1 hour. . In this blog we will explore what causes wet, sticky dough and how to fix the issue so you can bake amazing sourdough bread. If the dough is too sticky at this point, add a little flour and knead it in. It's possible that the dough is rising too much during the cold retard which will also cause this issue. First, in the evening, prepare the soaker by pouring hot water over the mixture of seeds and grains. Under fermented dough will also cause you to have a pale crust that just doesn't brown up, even when you cook it longer. If your dough does not develop a sufficient gluten network, it will be wet, sticky and have no structure. You should also wet your hands with cold water before folding the dough. 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. Steaming is one of the most crucial steps when baking bread. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Ensure gluten development and fermentation are correctly executed. This method works better with slack dough anyway. The speed of your actions when handling your sourdough makes all the difference. Making good sourdough bread is something that takes plenty of practice, but you can learn how to handle it fairly quickly. 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. Cutting the bread while still warm will create a gummy interior as the crumb hasn't finished setting. If youre using a lot of wholewheat, youre going to be left with a very sticky dough, especially if its paired with high hydration. They give you what is called slack dough.If the dough is very slack and it isnt because you added too much water, then autolyze. On the other hand, rye sourdough is a bread that starts with sourdough starter instead of yeast but has at least some rye flour. Make sure that you're not using too much flour when shaping your dough. Required fields are marked *. Allowing your sourdough starter to mature (it needs AT LEAST 14 days to be viable and often several months before it's mature). A tell tale sign that you haven't let your bread cool properly is having a "sticky" knife when you remove it from your bread. If you find your sourdough bread dough is too sticky when you are dividing and preshaping, it might be because it's over hydrated, under strengthened, or under proofed. Required fields are marked *. Bread Baking Tools A Must Have For Any Baker, Learn how to make bread and pizza with this, Why Did My Quick Bread Not Rise? The strength of your dough should build as you perform stretches and folds. However, it is possible to get sticky sourdough that is hard to get out of the pan or cut into pieces. Second sign: The dough has become loose and slack, and doesn't seem to hold any kind of shape. 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. Cheaters No Knead Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread: so EASY, only 6 ingredients, made in 1 bowl, 5 mins mixing, then just rise + bake time! Youre right, the actual hydration is around 77%, and I understood that from the start. Mix everything together. This is really only an issue once you've done bulk fermentation and you are trying to shape your dough. SOLUTION - The solution to this problem is to ensure that your dough is fermented correctly. This site is powered by Drupal. Place in bannetons. We would like to share the recipe we used here, hopefully to get some help from the experienced bakers around! Nothing smells better than the wheaty aroma of freshly baked goods; I enjoy it so much that I decided to quit my day job as a management consultant to teach others about the delicate art of baking! Maybe try leaving it a bit longer? In my other courses, I teach how to bake all sorts of sourdough breads, but in this course, I won't load you down with lots of information, just enough so it is easy and fun to bake your first loaf of sourdough. SOLUTION - Allow your bread to cool for AT LEAST 90 minutes (much longer for rye bread). How to handle sticky, wet . The loaf will also feel light in your hand, rather than heavy. (Rest for45 minutes @76Ffollowed by coil folds) - repeat 3x. Similarly, the reason we use baking parchment paper when baking is to minimize the use of additional flour in the baking process. I've written a full guide to why sourdough deflates after scoring here. The yeast has too much energy when it hits the oven and this excess energy causes a "rush" when your dough hits the oven. no one but me would notice or care). How long did you wait before slicing the loaf in the photo? Your colon naturally contains healthy probiotic bacteria called Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli. If youre struggling with high hydration dough, then you should absolutely lower the hydration and see if you get better results. Dough is sticky and wet from under mixing as insufficient gluten network is developed to hold in the water molecules.