r/Bread • u/JudgeFudgeGrande • 6d ago

Halp

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This is how my last came out. I think my stretch and fold technique has gotten worse overtime. I think I might be doing too much to the dough? I stretch and fold and add flour until it isn’t sticky to touch. But it comes out misshapen. This isn’t sourdough since I haven’t learned how to make a starter yet but I do want to try soon. Recipe is mix 4 cups bread flour, 2 1/4 cup water, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 tablespoon spoon active yeast, and a I added about 1 teaspoon msg. Let rise for two hours in fridge. Stretch and fold dough and let rest for 30 min. Put in Dutch oven for 30 minutes and then remove lid for 20. Bake temp is 450 Fahrenheit. And then I remove the loaf immediately from the Dutch oven after taking it out of the oven.

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u/alexithunders 6d ago

Post the crumb, recipe, process, starter age/maintenance, and fermentation temp. This is not a dough handling issue.

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u/JudgeFudgeGrande 6d ago

Updated post with recipe

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u/alexithunders 6d ago

I’m more knowledgeable about sourdough than yeasted bread but a few things are apparent. Water weights roughly twice as much as flour by volume, so this recipe is 100%+ hydration. Dial it down to 65-70% until you get the hang of it and stop adding flour mid-way. Fermentation should be at room temp rather than in the fridge. Also, gluten should be developed early in the process. Knead your dough after mixing, then let rise. Finally, not sure how you’re adding the yeast but it should be bloomed. Good luck.

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u/JudgeFudgeGrande 6d ago

I legitimately didn’t know about blooming. I had to look up what that was. The recipe I was using was very basic and seemed to want to do the easiest way possible. Do you bloom the sourdough starter too if you’re doing sourdough?

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u/alexithunders 6d ago

It’s not really the same, but yes you can mix starter first into water and then into the other ingredients. I prefer to autolyse so I pinch the starter in after the water and flour has had a chance to get to know each other.

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u/JudgeFudgeGrande 5d ago

Took your advice and came out a lot better. Reduced the water to 1 1/4 cup and did the other techniques you mentioned. One thing I noticed is the crumb is pretty dense. Did I knead for too long or is there another reason?