I bake bread from a starter mostly but it always comes out very dense – very traditional way of where I am from which is fine but I want to bake a very ‘spongy’ non-dense bread like in the picture? What makes the difference ?
by rolandopax
1 Comment
togtogtog
Increased water content for the most part.
The water forms steam bubbles during baking, and that is why you get those large bubbles.
In addition, if the dough is in a moist environment as it bakes at first, this will enable the crust to stay moist and stretchy, allowing the bread to rise to accommodate the bubbles. For most people, the easiest way to do this in a domestic oven is to cook your bread inside a ‘dutch oven’ or cast iron pan with the lid on for the first part of the bake.
1 Comment
Increased water content for the most part.
The water forms steam bubbles during baking, and that is why you get those large bubbles.
In addition, the gluten content of the flour that you use. Gluten forms long strands of protein in the dough, which can form a cage to trap bubbles. Before baking, your dough will be very stretchy and you will be able to do the [windowpane test](https://emmaduckworthbakes.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Window-pane-test-for-enriched-dough.jpg).
In addition, if the dough is in a moist environment as it bakes at first, this will enable the crust to stay moist and stretchy, allowing the bread to rise to accommodate the bubbles. For most people, the easiest way to do this in a domestic oven is to cook your bread inside a ‘dutch oven’ or cast iron pan with the lid on for the first part of the bake.