Hey everyone! Beginner baker here 👋🏻 the loaves pictured are my 4th and 5th loaves. Worked through some of the first timer mistakes and now im working on getting the ultimate rise out of my loaves in the oven. The first few have been a bit flat, but I think I’m on the right track.
The first couple loaves I baked were a higher hydration around 70-75%, and being a beginner I’m still learning how to work with the dough which is especially tough at higher hydration levels.
I think I was struggling to build good structure in the first couple loaves due to the higher hydration dough, which was leaving me with a flat loaf. The second photo I uploaded is a load I used a lower hydration, around 60-65% which allowed me to get some really solid and strong stretching and folding in and it held its shape much better during proofing and baking.
So here’s my topic of discussion: what other tips do y’all have for getting the best rise out of your loaf and avoid a flat loaf?
Recipe: (mini loaf for practice)
150g bread flour
50g whole wheat flour
50g active levain
5g sea salt
125g water
Process:
Autolyse water, flour, salt for 1 hr.
Add active levain, mix 2-3m, perform slap and fold.
3 stretch and fold spaced 15m apart followed by 3 spaced 30m apart.
Final shaping and proof in fridge for ~20 hrs
Bake covered for ~16m and uncovered for ~20m
by Economy_Map_3818
1 Comment
I think either your starter isn’t strong enough, it’s a little underproofed, or both. Lots of small holes and a few big ones usually indicates these kind of things.
The easiest way to track is to take a portion of your dough after adding the starter to a small, straight sided jar which you mark the level of and set aside. When it’s risen by 35-50%, it’s time to shape then ferment in the fridge.