Sourdough chocolate cruffin - recipe Sourdough&Olives (2024)

FAQs

What is the perfect sourdough crumb? ›

Sourdough crumb should be even, meaning there won't be any areas that are super tight or with giant tunnels. The crumb should be light and fluffy - not wet and gummy. The holes inside the sourdough may seem shiny. This is a sign that the gluten is very well developed.

One of the most common mistakes is having a dough temperature that's too low for the starter to feed on all the flour in the dough, resulting in a crumb that's dense, with fewer openings. "Starter is happiest and most active at around 75 degrees. If it's a lot colder, the process will be much slower.

Small Amounts of Sourdough Starter - using less sourdough starter in your dough produces a more sour flavor because it takes much longer for the dough to rise, giving the bacteria more time to produce the natural acids that give sourdough its distinct flavor.

Keeping the lid on for the first part of baking allows steam to expand between the gluten fibers to rise the bread and create a fluffy loaf. Step 4: Remove the lid and bake for an additional 12-14 minutes or until the crust is crispy and golden brown. Once you take the lid off, the bread likely won't rise anymore.

What Is Bread Flour? Bread flour (or baker's flour) is a high protein, white flour that is milled specifically for baking bread and sourdough. You'll get the best results for your sourdough bread from using bread flour. The most popular bread flour in the US is King Arthur Bread Flour.

If you over-ferment the dough you run the risk of the gluten structure degrading and the loaf turning into a puddle of goo before your eyes, never to be retrieved and destined for the bin. I would say that more often or not I underproof my dough, I live on what I consider to be, the “safe” side.

Both too wet or too dry dough can result in dense bread. One mistake people make when using whole-grain flours is they add the flour and move on with the recipe. Yet, whole grain flours take awhile to absorb moisture, so it's better to add some of the flour and give it 15 minutes or so to absorb water.

Overworked sourdough can become tough and lose its ability to rise properly. If your dough feels tight and is difficult to shape, it might be overworked. Remember, sourdough requires a gentle touch and should not be kneaded as vigorously as other types of bread dough.

What does perfect sourdough look like? ›

The outer crust of your sourdough bread should be crispy, crackly, and have a glossy, caramelized brown finish. The key to achieving a healthy crust is getting sufficient steam while baking, as it keeps the outer crust moist while the inside cooks.

This doesn't affect the flavor much if at all. There are some recipes that use larger amount of ACV as a hack to create a sourdough flavor without the fermentation. In fact many storebought sourdough breads list vinegar as an ingredient and may be just yeasted bread with acidity added.

And It's not just cakes that benefit from a touch of vinegar, but also biscuits, muffins, and even bread. So when it comes to bread, it's the same concept – vinegar inhibits gluten formation which leads to a more relaxed and extensible dough, resulting in a less dense and chewy bread.

Using flours with more ash, or mineral, content, will yield more sour taste. If you can't get enough ash, adding a bit of whole wheat flour to your recipe, which is what is done with the 20% Bran Flour, will boost the sour of a bread. Conversely, using a lower ash flour will tend to produce a milder bread.

The crumb is open and airy, and this should appear even from end to end. This shows that the dough has been aerated properly. But if the same type of loaf has been under-proved, not giving its gluten network sufficient time to relax, then the crumb structure will appear uneven and random.

The Crumb: The crumb (that's baker-speak for everything inside the crust) in a good loaf should be open and airy, with no unincorporated flour. Most importantly, the crumb should look evenly airy from end to end, which tells us that the dough was appropriately aerated throughout its mass when it went into the oven.

Well, sourdough is a stickier, wetter dough than regular yeasted bread. This is mainly because sourdough is higher hydration, meaning it contains more water. While sourdough is a wetter, stickier dough than what you may be used to, it should still be able to be stretched, folded and shaped without too many issues.

A sourdough starter typically has a consistency similar to a thick pancake batter or a slightly looser dough. It should be thick enough to hold its shape somewhat when stirred but still pourable.