Controlling oven spring Hearth Bread and Flatbread Discuss Controlling oven spring in the Brick Oven Cooking forums; I've been making the Hamelman Vermont Sourdough for a few weeks new -- taking Jim and Dutch's advice of making ...

[james]

I've been making the Hamelman Vermont Sourdough for a few weeks new -- taking Jim and Dutch's advice of making the same formula over and over to get a good feel. It's nice because to can limit the number of variable that change each time.

Yesterday's bread was probably my best -- the crust was crunch and the crumb was moist and developed. Great to eat and the kids are loving it. On the upside, I don't think we can ever go back to store bread again, and I'm sticking to my goal of never buying store bread.

Here's my problem. My loaves often seem to explode. This one was probably the worst, as it seems to have a growth coming out of one side. :-)

This is 100gr of starter flour/120gr starter water; 300gr KA general purpose; 100gr rye; 205gr water; 10gr salt. The basic Hamelman formula. I did a 30 minute autolyse without the salt, added the salt and mixed for 3 minutes, and did a three hour bulk fermentation with two of the complicated Hamelman folds. I did Jim's boule shaping technique and proofed the loaf in a banneton in the refrigerator for 6 hours. I did a slash pattern, and it was definitely not overproofed.

This one was in the oven with two FB pizza stone and some steam.

Does anyone have an idea on how to control the way these loaves are exploding? It's a lot better than no spring, but I would like to get it under control.

Thanks!
James

[sjmeff]

Hey Jim - are you getting a tight skin when forming the boule (I like the rotating, cupped-hands technique, drawing the dough down towards the underside)? Another thought is that the slashes are two shallow.

S

[Dutchoven]

Originally Posted by james

Here's my problem. My loaves often seem to explode. This one was probably the worst, as it seems to have a growth coming out of one side. :-)

I did a slash pattern, and it was definitely not overproofed.

This one was in the oven with two FB pizza stone and some steam.

Does anyone have an idea on how to control the way these loaves are exploding? It's a lot better than no spring, but I would like to get it under control.

Thanks!
James

James
It kind of happens sometimes...hard to tell when or where. It looks like you had good surface tension...any idea what the temp in the fridge was?...what was the formula's estimate for proofing at ambient temp?...72 is usually what most formulas call for and it is usually 1.5 to 2 hours...if you cut the proof temp by 17 degrees you double the proof time...if it is a fridge that doesn't get opened much and is in the 40F range you could easily need 8 hours(or more) to proof...especially for a sourdough...so maybe a bit underproofed?...does that make sense?
Best
Dutch

[james]

Underproofed=over sprung.

Give me a minute to get my mind around that one. :-)
James

[SpringJim]

Okay, your minute is up.

I'd be happy to have such problems....looks tasty!

The deeper slash is an idea I'd try, also maybe a little more flour.

I'd punish it by toasting too!

Good luck KIMOSABE

[CanuckJim]

James,

The way the loaves burst out, my immediate reaction is that the docking was too shallow. From the look of the crumb, my immediate reaction is that the dough was too dry. Still, as Dutch points out, sometimes this just happens, even with proper surface tension and proofing. With retarded sourdough boule, the development of surface tension should be tighter than for most other breads.

Jim

[DrakeRemoray]

James,
I get this same problem quite a lot, and use the same Hammelman recipe and it sounds like the same techinique. I find that it does not happen with baquettes...so I think it comes down to shaping and docking, but I cannot seem to find the magic formula.

Drake

[rlf5]

Six hours seems pretty short, unless you have a pretty warm refrigerator. Seems to me that your loaves may have been underproofed. I used to get a crumb that looked like that back when my starter wasn't quite as active as it is now. Even with my very active current starter, I tend to do a 12-16 hr proof at 42F. You'll also get a crumb like that with too little water in your dough, as Jim suggested.