Any sourdough experts?

[alltalknobaby]

I've been making sourdough for a few months and am finding it's bit heavy and waxy/rubbery, almost like ciabatta in texture. What am I doing wrong?

Also any tips on freezing? I use a recipe that makes 2 loaves and often give one away but occasionally I would like to freeze one. I've tried freezing the dough and defrosting then cooking the next day and it has not come out very well 😕

Anyone? 😊

First of all, how old is your starter? And is it at it's peak when you're using it?
What recipe/method are you following? What sort (or combination) of flour? What level of hydration?

With regards to freezing, the best thing to do is to bake both loaves, then put one in the freezer.

P.S I'm by no means an expert but am willing to try and provide some suggestions....

Thank you!

I use
960g flour
380g starter
640g water
24g salt

My starter is a few months old, I get it out of the fridge and feed it when I'm about to bake again, giving it a few days/feeds until it's bubbling nicely.

I am a relative newbie but I think your starter is getting old. Every now and then you need to take a portion out and start over again with it, i do this once every three weeks or so now after suffering the same thing when it got to about 2 months old.

So now I feed it, take a portion out the next morning, feed and use that and put the rest back in the fridge. Repeat about 6 times till you have quite a large quantity in your container. Then take out your usual portion and feed it before use, plus one other identical portion to grow on again and discard the rest - either chuck it out or use it in a sourdough discard recipe, there are lots of these, crumpets are my favourite. So the starter I am using for bread is never more than about three weeks old. I use 40g starter/80g flour/80g water (makes 200g fresh starter) then add 500g flour, 8g salt, 300g water for the actual bread.

I can’t say that I agree with the poster above

What method do you use? How many sets of stretch and fold, how long are your bulk fermentation and second prove? Are you baking in a Dutch oven? What temperature? For how long?

Well, as I said, I am fairly new to it and it has helped mine.

What method do you use?
I follow someone called Brickhouse Bread on Insta and he did a tutorial.

How many sets of stretch and fold, how long are your bulk fermentation and second prove?
4x sets of stretch and fold. What is the bulk fermentation? After the dough is first mixed I leave it 45 mins before adding salt. Then another 45 mins after adding salt (with 20g water). Then 45 mins between each stretch and fold, before leaving at room temp 1-2 hours, and then into the fridge overnight. I take it out an hour before baking.

Are you baking in a Dutch oven? What temperature? For how long?
I bake in a Le Creuset, 220 degrees, 20 mins with lid on, 20 mins with lid off.

Sorry I don't know all the technical lingo! Still learning but very much enjoying it. Thanks for your help!

www.seriouseats.com/2020/07/how-to-ferment-sourdough.html

www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2020/07/how-to-make-sourdough-bread.html

These may help.

That all sounds very technical...

I'm a sourdough newbie, use my own starter. I feed it daily (I do forget sometimes), and when I bake I make the dough, knead 10 mins, leave it 2 and a half hours, knock back quite brutally, shape it and leave the two loaves on floured cloths in bowls. After another two and a half hours I bake it on a baking tray, with a pan of water in the bottom of the oven.

It's a bit more like normal bread than a lot of sourdoughs, but definitely has a sourdough taste to it. DH is picky about bread, and he's keen.

A few questions,

Does it rise nicely?
Is it air bubbly?
Are you letting it cool completely before cutting into it? The bread can be gummy if you cut it whilst it's warm.
What flour are you using?

Try the no kneed one on YouTube.
You start it from scratch the night before.
Then you just shape it and let it prove for an hour in the morning.

I find the best taste and texture is when I use some wholemeal flour in the mix - up to a third of the flour weight.

Different recipes give different results so maybe try a different one. My favourite is this BBC one www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/how_to_make_sourdough_08213

Does it rise nicely?
It doesn't rise very much, it tends to be quite flat.

Is it air bubbly?
Yes there are bubbles before cooking and after.

Are you letting it cool completely before cutting into it? The bread can be gummy if you cut it whilst it's warm.
Yep. A test of willpower though 😁

What flour are you using?
Strong white bread flour, with a small amount (100g) of rye.

Yes I might try a different technique altogether 🤔 The BBC one is next on my list.

I use thescandicook technique - she's on Instagram.

I would suggest if it's not rising, either you aren't leaving it long enough to prove - it's a lot of dough, so that may be the issue. I make half that ammount and just one loaf at a time. Or your starter isn't active enough and you aren't using it at its absolute peak (maybe just before or after).

I sometimes test my starter by dropping a tiny amount in water. If it's ready at it's peak it should float.

When I make a loaf I take my starter out the fridge in the evening and leave it an hour. I feed it before I go to bed and then again first thing in the morning. I then use it exactly four hours later. That works well for me. If I leave it longer, the starter falls back again and isn't at its peak.

I made my starter following the Good Housekeeping website instructions and the bread using the BBC - 10.5oz starter, 1lb 2oz bread flour, 2tsp each sugar and salt and 9fl oz water.

Hmm okay I might be using my starter just after its peak, and I will also give it longer to prove. I might try halving everything too.

Will also look up the Good Housekeeping recipe.

Thanks all!

THIS worked for me - the perfect sourdough loaf:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=HlJEjW-QSnQ

I use very strong bread flour - 14% protein - which was the only way I could get the dough strong enough to hold its shape.

Try looking at the Bake with Jack videos on YouTube - he really helps to break things down and explain them

I'm part-way through the BBC good food technique and excited to see how it turns out! I used my starter when it was at its highest/bubbliest, and the levain passed the float test 😊

Does anyone else find it hard to fit it all into one day!? What with feeding the starter, leaving it to become fully active, then leaving the levain for 8 hours, then the dough for min 30 mins (but up to 4 hours), then stretching every 30 mins x3, and then a 2-3 hour room temp prove... I make that at least 15 hours 😂 If I start at 7am it's ready to put in the fridge by 10pm 😬 You have to be super organised I guess.

Update! The BBC Good Food loaf has not quite risen as much as I'd hoped but I'm putting this down to not having enough time to prove (I ran out of oomph at 11pm!). However it doesn't have that horrible rubbery texture and it tastes amazing! I'm so pleased 😊

Too long to go into here, but I got the Five Minute Bread book. You make your dough in bulk, then pull a piece off each day for fresh bread. Fabulous. Think you can get the book on Amazon. Mine was always fine using this method.

Ooh - off to google five minute bread book 😁

I’m a big fan of the Foodbod sourdough process.
You mix it up in the evening, leave to prove overnight on the kitchen counter, then transfer to a banneton or lined bowl and put in the fridge.
I usually leave mine in the fridge most of the day and then bake in the evening. Gorgeous loaves and minimal faff!
foodbodsourdough.com/about-my-recipe/

OP, if it is any consolation, my dutch oven, no knead bread has always had a slightly rubbery, ciabatta, open cellular texture, and it really tastes like artisan breads from France and Italy. It also has amazing, crunchy crust.