Don't make this ONE STUPID MISTAKE when Baking Bread

Comments · 1.6K

• SV

  @svenleeuwen · 5 years ago

  Even the "failed" bread would be a succes for me.

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• R3

  @r3art · 5 years ago

  So I watched a 15 minutes Videos with the title "don't make this ONE STUPID MISTAKE" and I still have no idea what the stupid mistake is. Amazing.

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• SE

  @seon-hwa · 5 years ago

  Me, a german, listening to a german explaining bread in english. Hah, globalisation!

  995

• MI

  @milesmorse2619 · 5 years ago (edited)

  You're getting plenty of oven spring on most of your loaves.  The phenomenon you're calling "oven spring" is usually referred to as an ear.  For most sourdoughs the only case in which the heat can be too high is if you don't have adequate steam (and the excess heat sets the crust before the loaf has time to fully spring).  Adding an ice cube to the inside of your dutch oven or just using sufficiently high hydration dough such that it releases enough steam naturally.  If you want to consistently get ears you need to develop enough gas and strength in the dough during bulk fermentation.  You also need to make sure that you generate enough tension in the final shape such that the dough still spreads in the way you want, even as it runs out of gas while baking.  Finally when scoring it's important not to completely relieve all the tension in the dough by cutting too deeply.  This is hard to describe but basically the phenomenon of the dough pushing against the score as it opens plays a huge role in the development of an ear.  You can score an underproofed dough more deeply and an overproofed dough should be scored much less.  Your loaves are fairly small as well so I'm not sure how much steam they're generating inside the challenger pan.  Great looking bread regardless!

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• SU

  @suelawson7273 · 2 years ago

  In my mind, if you can eat it, it's a success 😂

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• DE

  @deannaosterud8534 · 2 days ago

  I like the first one better because I hate bread with holes in it.

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• BR

  @bradrogers5101 · 5 years ago

  I went through a similar troubleshooting process.  For years, my bread had fantastic oven spring, and I was able to develop a great ear.  Then suddenly, with a different starter, and a change to the flour that I was using, I was getting awful oven spring, and no ear.  I tried increasing hydration, decreasing hydration, increasing and decreasing salt, changing my bulk fermentation and final proofing times.  All to no avail.  Then I started playing with temperature.  Previously I had baked covered at 500f for 30 minutes, then uncovered at 450.  The magic bullet was preheating the dutch oven to 500 for an hour (and checking it with an IR thermometer), adding the dough to the dutch oven and immediately turning the oven down to 425.  Bake covered for 30 minutes.  Uncover, and bake at 425f for another 30 minutes.  Turn off the heat, crack the door, and leave for another 30 minutes while the temperature coasts down.  Suddenly I was getting amazing oven spring, a great ear, AND it solved my longstanding problem of overly moist and chewy crumb!  Another benefit is that the bottom of the loaf is now thinner, and doesn't need a saw to cut through.  That has been my standard technique for a year now, and it has never failed.  I was simply cooking too hot.

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• VC

  @VC_27 · 2 years ago

  Too complicated for a beginner. I will come back after a decade. Thank you.

  36

• SI

  @silencerbear9347 · 3 years ago

  This is the most German video about bread in existence. Beautiful.

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• AN

  @angelikaradominska5512 · 5 years ago

  I really apreciate that You show us failures, not only sucseses 👍

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• OO

  @OO_sunflower_OO · 5 years ago

  “Please, try to eat some bread” he yells desperately as his neighbors try to leave his house

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• MO

  @Moriandrizzt · 1 day ago

  The major thing, beyond the tartness, that I don't appreciate from most sourdough breads is the crunch. It always feels like my mouth is getting sliced into tomorrow and my mouth takes a week maybe two weeks to recover. I had a neighbor cook us some sourdough and it wasn't overly sour and the crust wasn't made of steel. It was actually enjoyable. It just goes to show how everyone has their own perspective on what is good. I appreciate your insight into how temperature affects so much. Enjoy your lovely crunch!!