sourdough bread sticky after baking sourdough bread sticky after baking

Second sign: The dough has become loose and slack, and doesn't seem to hold any kind of shape. As gluten develops more readily in a drier environment, this method allows the extra hydration to be easily incorporated into the dough. Your email address will not be published. If you see anything inappropriate on the site or have any questions, contact me at floydm at thefreshloaf dot com. Plastic and metal dough scrapers are useful tools and both have their own pros and cons. CAUSE - gummy sourdough can be caused by a starter that's too young or inactive and or under fermentation. Can you just add more flour to your sourdough? 4.Under-baked bread 5. 16 hour cold (38F) retard, in closed plastic bags. Second, to the wet ingredients, add the bread flour, whole wheat flour, and salt. Excess flour at shaping can mean that your dough does not seal back onto itself, causing tunnels of air to form when baking. Step 4: Bake. So I added 390 flour, plus 45 more from the starter ( assuming your starter is 100% hydration) to get 435 flour. Sourdough can take up to 24 hours to fully cool and come to room temperature. SOLUTION - reduce proofing time. Below, Ive listed the main reasons your sourdough is sticky, so have a look through and see how they might be affecting your dough. We will hold on to the knife the next time and be sure to wait longer. Make sure that you develop your gluten network really well during the stretch and fold stage. Sourdough bread problems are often multi faceted and you will find that they are not always caused by one issue. 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. 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. Make sure that you do your best to avoid this mistake by learning about sourdough fermentation timing and knowing when its ready to move onto the next step. Having a strong gluten network means that the carbon dioxide produced by the yeast will be evenly distributed. After 30 minutes, take the parchment paper with the dough on it and place the entire thing in the preheated dutch oven. Ensuring that you a strong gluten network is also essential in aleviating this issue. Sticky dough isn't necessarily a bad thing, although I appreciate how frustrating it is for a new baker. Steps: Autolyse for an hour before adding the starter (rest 30m) and salt (rest 15m) all by hand using the folding and pinching method. 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. Matching my work schedule. A well developed gluten network has the strength to hold the gases and produce an even crumb. Mix dry ingredients together. Thanks for the suggestions about leaving the bread to cool longer. Bread needs gluten development in order to trap gas and rise, but this also helps the dough to become less sticky. The dough should be a little sticky before you start kneading it. Damaged starch absorbs water during mixing as opposed to undamaged starch where the water merely coats the outer surface. It could be using the slap and fold, stretch and fold, rubaud kneading, or whatever youd like. CAUSE - There are a few reasons your crust is too pale. Add the sourdough starter to a large mixing bowl. During this time, the flour has the chance to fully hydrate and gluten network is able to develop in spite of the lack of mechanical mixing. The more gluten it contains, the better it holds together. If youre using a lot of wholewheat, youre going to be left with a very sticky dough, especially if its paired with high hydration. There are lots of things that can go wrong when baking sourdough bread. Wet and sticky dough is caused by a few different issues. We all know that drier dough is easier to handle since it sticks less, so use this to your advantage and make a basic low-to-medium hydration sourdough before you try the more difficult higher hydration ones. A new bake this morning. 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. The water absorbed from the damaged starches is then gradually released and the dough that was initially dry and strong becomes wet, sticky and weak over time. The exterior was perfectly brown. SOLUTION - Allow your bread to cool for AT LEAST 90 minutes (much longer for rye bread). This will ensure that the bread is cooked all the way through. Hi @Semolina, we waited only an hour before cutting into it, hasty on our part! When you have finished Sourdough Bread Baking 101, you will have the confidence to not only bake using your own sourdough starter, you will be ready for more advanced sourdough baking techniques which will enable you to bake all sorts of sourdough artisan breads. 30g flour (in this case I'm using 15g organic rye flour and 15g organic white flour) 30g water (preferably filtered and room temperature - not straight from the tap) Weigh the flour and water, and combine them in the container. Required fields are marked *. Youre aiming for maximum gluten development for the dough to become easier to manage. In order to have an easier time handling the dough, you need to maximize gluten development. If you want to you can spritz your dough with extra water before you put the lid on. The yeast is responsible for the rise in the bread and will help create a light and airy sourdough. A tough crust can also be caused by a lower hydration recipe. Another reason we want to minimize dusting is because the additional flour from dusting is not well hydrated and when baked can leave unsightly gray streaks on your sourdough bread that taste raw. Insufficient gluten development is what makes the dough so sticky, so if youre using a low protein flour (protein in flour creates gluten), it wont be able to create as much gluten in the dough and it will, therefore, be stickier. However, it's much better to find out the cause of the problem so you can fix it and prevent it from happening again. Use a 65% water content and you should be able to handle the dough and shape it with little to no problem at all. How Do You Know When Your Sourdough Starter Is Ready To Bake With? Mix with the paddle on low speed until it forms a thick batter. Home Why Is My Sourdough Too Sticky? How to handle sticky, wet . More often than not a thick crust developing on the base is caused by cooking your bread in a Dutch Oven. 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. Skin tension during shaping is developed when one side of the dough sticks lightly on the work surface while the hands pulls the dough inwards from the opposite side, stretching the surface of the dough taut. This site 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. Modified: Sep 13, 2022 by The Pantry Mama This post may contain affiliate links. Gluten development is strengthened by adding salt to your dough, so don't forget to do this! First, it's helpful to have a small bowl of water nearby to dip your hands into before touching your dough. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Add the all purpose/bread flour and whole wheat/spelt flour. A tightly shaped dough that has been stitched when placed in the banneton will hold together better when tipped out for baking. CAUSE - This odd shape is caused by under fermentation. One of the most obvious causes of wet dough is using too much water in the dough. 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. 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. BEST TOOLS FOR MAKING BREAD AT HOME (Links to Amazon below). If you only want decorative scoring, you will need to push your bulk fermentation to the limit. Salt is called for in every bread formulation, but it is the one ingredient that we most commonly tend to forget to include into our mix. Place the bread pieces on a parchment lined baking sheet in a single layer. Different types of mixers uses different mixing arm which develops the dough at different rates. American flour has a damaged starch percentage of roughly 8-9% while European flour has a lower damaged starch percentage at about 7%. Cutting the bread while still warm will create a gummy interior as the crumb hasn't finished setting. Without these it will be sloppy and hard to handle. The Fresh Loaf is not responsible for community member content. Once you get comfortable, you can gradually increase the water content of your dough and see how you manage it. Cheaters No Knead Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread: so EASY, only 6 ingredients, made in 1 bowl, 5 mins mixing, then just rise + bake time! Q: My dough is too slack and is not developing good strength. Stretching and folding the dough is a common method of gluten development in sourdough bread making. Youll notice that you can stretch the dough further and less will cling to your hands by the time youre done. It's really important to develop the gluten in your sourdough to ensure you don't end up with a wet and sticky mess. Id recommend picking up one metal and at least one plastic scraper to aid you in handling your sourdough. If you're not sure about some of the terms used in this article, you might find this sourdough glossary helpful. Final internal temp 211F Sliced after cooling for 4 hours. In this article we will look at all the factors that makes your sourdough excessively wet and sticky, as well as various ways we can reduce the wetness and stickiness of sourdough without changing its hydration level. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. The reason most recipes are so high in hydration is that more water in the dough makes it easier to have a lighter, more open crumb, and a better crust, so its favored by most bakers. 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. Add a little flour and knead it a few times to make it more manageable. I've been making breads recently which, while they're delicious, seemingly well-baked, and with an open crumb, are a bit tacky/sticky to the touch and during slicing. After every fold, you will notice a significant improvement in dough strength and significant reduction in the wetness and stickiness of the dough. 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. Place in bannetons. PROBLEM - Pale crust hasn't browned. First, good effort, but where did you get the recipe from? Within eight to 12 hours of feeding your starter, you want to see a noticeable increase in volume and it should be putting off a pretty pungent. As Ive already mentioned, gluten is essential to prevent too much sticking. This could be a result of problems with a thermostat, heating element, or possibly the timer. Some things to have on hand to work with really wet dough are: So how do you fix wet and sticky sourdough? This is the dry mixture. Starting at a lower hydration (70% is good) is best for beginners. Some Student Reviews: by Pam H - Outstanding. Add the flour and mix well with the dough whisk or your hands until you have a shaggy, slightly sticky dough. 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. In the first few minutes of the bake, the surface of the bread must be kept moist and pliable. Turn out to lightly floured counter, divide into 2, preshape. This is a one of the most frustrating sourdough bread problems to have. Youll find that the dough sticks much less and youll have a better time shaping it. In our previous attempts, we thought it was undercooked, hence the longer baking time for Charlie this time round. 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. If you find your dough to be relatively dry after mixing, but gets wetter and stickier over time, it means that the flour you are using contains a very high percentage of damaged starch particles; try changing to a different flour brand and use European flour instead of American flour. What Basic Methods Are Used To Make Quick Breads? The dough was definitely NOT underproofed - I'd recently been overproofing and this particular bake was, if anything, still a little over. If you're using all purpose flour, it can be a good idea to add some vital wheat gluten to the mix. This is the most comprehensive and easily understandable explanation of sourdough I have read. It really depends on where you are in the sourdough process. You can read my five best tips for strengthening a sourdough starter, Extending your bulk fermentation time to allow your dough to rise and ferment properly. The loaf will also feel light in your hand, rather than heavy. Then the dough cant stick to them. A lack of oven spring could be due to a shaping issue, under fermentation or poor gluten development - but more often than not it's a combination of a few things. Score the top of your loaf using a sharp knife, razor or lame. . Loaf In a small mixing bowl, mix the flour and salt together thoroughly. Autolyse for an hour before adding the starter (rest 30m) and salt (rest 15m) all by hand using the folding and pinching method. This increases the chances of tearing, which can make your life more difficult when shaping or kneading it. 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. Some people add too much water to compensate. 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. So I suspect a miscalculation, and you might actually be doing 80% final hydration. Mix the drier dough until it has developed into the desired dough strength. Id recommend keeping a bowl of water next to your dough at all times so its always there when you need it. PROBLEM - Sourdough bread dough deflates (like a balloon)when removed from the banneton and scored. Rest uncovered for 25 minutes. Im the face behind The Pantry Mama and I want to help you bake delicious sourdough bread, no matter what your schedule. More noticeable sour taste, possibly unpleasant. More often than not a tight crumb with a number of larger holes - but it's not even or open. Combine the starter, water, rye flour and 1 cup of the bread flour. Mix until dough comes away from the sides of the bowl . Alternatively, you'll need to adjust the amount of starter in your dough to suit the temperature of your kitchen. Thank you for the pointers, will be reducing the temperature to allow a longer bake the next round! Shaping it and baking very shortly afterwards is recommended. One solution is to use a wet dough cutter or scraper. Day 1 - The Start. 1. Lamination butter for croissants - question, Farmer's Market Week 18 (Whole Wheat Walnut YW/SD Combo), 100% Stoneground Whole Wheat Hokkaido Sourdough Milk Bread, Borodinsky Supreme -- Old School -- 100% Rye. 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). If you are new to sourdough bread baking, I recommend reducing the hydration (ie. sourdough after baking. Cover the bowl and set aside for 30-60 minutes. Sourdough baking is a never ending journey of learning - and that's what makes troubleshooting it so damn interesting! Use mineral water of a known hardness or test your tap water to be sure that your water has the appropriate hardness level for bread baking. Gently pull the dough towards the edge. Cutting it too soon stops your sourdough from completing the cooking process and results in a gummy, wet texture when you cut it. Always taste the mix to be sure that salt has been added before mixing. Sourdough that has hydration levels of more than 72% tends to be sticky and tears apart easily when it is handled. The sticky side should only touch the dough. Also, if you find the outside is brown and the inside is moist, that normally indicates you should lower the baking temp. Instructions. This is when you let the dough rest after it is mixed but before you start to knead it. Dont forget about your dough or leave it in a warm area for too long or youll end up regretting it. After fermenting for too long, the gluten in the dough begins to break down, which leaves you with a thick, gloopy mass of flour and water with no way to make good sourdough. Add 850g water to your mixing bowl and mix with your hand until the levain is wholly dissolved. Place on a peel, slip into the oven, and watch. You can read more about this trick, Use water mist or ice inside your Dutch Oven to ensure you get a, Leave the sourdough bread in the oven to cool after it's baked (you'll find a. If you're having trouble understanding the timing of bulk fermentation, I've written an easy to follow guide. So if you're over-shooting the original formula's hydration due to miscalculattion, that would be the first thing to correct. Sourdough does not stop cooking when you take it out of the oven. They are purposed for cakes, slices, muffins, and other cooking. The good news is, there's always a way to fix your sourdough bread problems for your next bake! Other ingredients, like honey, may also make your sourdough wet and sticky. Wetting your hands before handling your sticky dough is a game-changer. Why Is My Sourdough Too Sticky? 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. There are plenty of methods for developing gluten, so its up to you to try out different variations and figure out which is best for you. Bake the Bread. Temperature is one of the most important factors when making sourdough. CAUSES - There are number of causes here, but the main one is that it was not baked long enough for the moisture in the dough to be baked out of the bread. stickiness is usually not cooking off enough moisture. Make the Dough: Meanwhile, in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the boiling water, pumpernickel, oil, salt, molasses, instant coffee, and chocolate. A dough scraper is your best friend when handling any kind of dough. Yeast and bacteria prefer warmer temperatures. Make sure that you're not using too much flour when shaping your dough. side question: Does the 675 g of water, and 75% hydration include what's in the levain? Just dont freeze it. The yeast has too much energy when it hits the oven and this excess energy causes a "rush" when your dough hits the oven. 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. 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 CAUSE - Your sourdough is lacking oven spring, which means your dough is not growing in the oven as it should. This just means that you are taking the sides of the dough, stretching them up, and folding them over the dough 4-8 times, or until the dough is too tight to do any more. 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. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. We would like to share the recipe we used here, hopefully to get some help from the experienced bakers around! We want to mix the dough until it develops adequate gluten network which is indicated by a dough that is stretchable without tearing but at the same time offers a degree of resistance when pulled apart. It's possible that the dough is rising too much during the cold retard which will also cause this issue. It may be that you just need to cut back on the water. SOLUTION - Depending on the cause of your spread, you can implement the following fixes: PROBLEM - Dough splits in places other than where you've scored or even splits messing up your decorative scoring. PROBLEM - Gummy sourdough (dense, moist crumb) is the most common sourdough bread problems facing home bakers. Pour the hot water from the kettle into the tray to create steam and shut the door. But as it cooled, the crust wrinkled and collapsed what happened? The only issue with this is that the oil will mix in with the dough and alter the flavor, so dont use a type of oil you dont want to risk tasting in the end product.Some people suggest waiting for dough to rise. . We can prevent wet sourdough from sticking by oiling our work surfaces, using wet hands to handle the dough and dusting the proofing containers. To solve this problem, try taking the bread maker out of equation by baking in an oven. Then, spoon bread flour and whole wheat flour into the bowl. Bake for 15-30 minutes until golden brown and dry (not burned). Similarly, the reason we use baking parchment paper when baking is to minimize the use of additional flour in the baking process. A basic sourdough is made with only wheat flour, sometimes just white flour and sometimes a combination of whole wheat flour and white flour. Thank you so much for the guidance! This helps keep the dough from sticking. 150g bread flour, 150g all-purpose, 90g whole wheat flour with 350g water (slightly warmer than room temperature by the touch), with 90g of starter and 9g of salt. The answer to this really depends on what is causing your dough to be so sticky and wet.