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Air trapped under top crust?
On 17 Jan 2004 08:21:06 -0800,
(Dustin) wrote:
>I made a batch of sourdough a couple of nights ago and I was pretty
>pleased with the flavor. I made two loaves from the same batch: one a
>pan loaf and the other a boule. The pan loaf turned out great - with
>fairly uniform density throughout the crumb. The boule, on the other
>hand, didn't turn out so great - it looked fine when it came out of
>the oven, but when I cut into it, the bottom half was fairly dense,
>and there was a huge hole all the way across the top - as if all the
>expanding air from the oven spring had collected at the top of the
>loaf.
>
>So, two questions: first, why would two loaves from the same dough
>turn out so differently, and second, how do I avoid the air collecting
>at the top of my boules? I'd really like to have the huge, irregular
>holes throughout the crumb, but I have yet to really achieve that. Any
>ideas? Thanks in advance.
>
>Dustin
Hi Dustin,
Had you slashed the boule? The pan loaf? Were these two loaves baked
side by side, or was one baked after the other?
That "huge hole" problem is called "flying crust" and often, it can be
avoided by slashing....
I ask about the baking order because I believe that the flying crust
problem may be caused by using a dough that is over risen. The acid
lower pH decreases the ability of the dough to hold the gas and it can
be trapped under the hardening crust as the bake gets started. If you
baked the boule second, that would be my guess.
HTH,
--
Kenneth
If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."
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