Yeast and bacteria prefer warmer temperatures. Here are some of the problems that can cause wet and sticky sourdough: Many people say "just use wet hands" if your dough is super sticky or wet. Thank you for the pointers, will be reducing the temperature to allow a longer bake the next round! STEP FOUR: Pour the starter/water mixture into the flour mixture and stir, using a fork, into a thick, sticky ball. Once you get it all set to go try this delicious Sourdough Focaccia recipe yum! The gluten network serves to provide structure and strength to the dough but it also plays an important role in containing and holding water and moisture. full guide to stopping your sourdough bread from collapsing here, Flavored Sourdough: How To Make Additions To Sourdough Bread. Place on a peel, slip into the oven, and watch. If you're using all purpose flour, it can be a good idea to add some vital wheat gluten to the mix. A tightly shaped dough that has been stitched when placed in the banneton will hold together better when tipped out for baking. I have, however, always let my bread cool for at least 4 hours, until its at or very near room- temperature, and it continues to be sticky - even when left in the oven to steam out for a little while after baking is completed. When I first started baking, everything that could go wrong, went wrong; it felt borderline alchemy to me. Bread flour. It is generally healthier and easier to digest. Factors like temperature, humidity, air pressure and elevation play a role here. Read more about me and Breadopedia story here. Begin mixing the flour in with a spoon or fork, then continue mixing with your hand, until all the flour is incorporated and you have a shaggy dough. The bassinage technique is used to help build the dough up to the desired high level of hydration in stages. Over fermentation is a cause of wet, sticky dough. A dough scraper is your best friend when handling any kind of dough. Second, mix the dough using a previously fed, active and bubbly sourdough starter, water and a mixture of bread and whole wheat flour. PROBLEM - Base of my sourdough bread is thick and chewy. Evenly roll out your small 2- to 4-ounce balls into small circles a scant quarter inch thick. 480F is not as hot as you could bake. Sourdough bread offers a number of benefits. If your dough does not develop a sufficient gluten network, it will be wet, sticky and have no structure. CAUSE - This is typically caused by under fermenting your dough, but can also happen through using too much flour when you shape your bread. More often than not a thick crust developing on the base is caused by cooking your bread in a Dutch Oven. Modified: Dec 27, 2022 by The Pantry Mama This post may contain affiliate links. 1 our is defently to short. It is normal when working with dough of very high hydration for it to feel quite wet and sticky after it has finished mixing. Just dont freeze it. Step 4: Bake. Rest for 30 minutes @76F. Then, mix in 70 grams of active sourdough starter. If the dough breaks before you can pull it so thin that you can see the light, resume kneading. You might get a drier dough, but you wont get the same rise in the dough and a solid crust that you were expecting. Add the sourdough starter to a large mixing bowl. Place the lid on and bake for 30 minutes. You can still bake it and eat it, but it will be a solid mass, not the light, airy sourdough you were expecting. Many people use food thermometer to measure the internal temperature of their bread. If youre struggling with high hydration dough, then you should absolutely lower the hydration and see if you get better results. Oiling works just as well as dusting to create a non-stick surface which prevents your sticky dough from sticking and tearing. Then, I use my wet hands to pick up a side of the dough, stretch it up, and fold it over. No matter how long you leave it to ferment, the yeast and bacteria won't actually grow or change. How Do You Know When Your Sourdough Starter Is Ready To Bake With? It will only improve the flavor. If you've just completed autolyse and you feel that your dough is too wet, it is possible to add some more flour at that that stage. We will hold back from slicing it too early the next time!! This method works better with slack dough anyway. Bread SOS Episode 5: STICKY / TACKY Sourdough Crumb. 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. Q: My dough is too slack and is not developing good strength. However, it shouldnt be so sticky that it is hard to knead. If it sticks at this stage, youll have a much more difficult time and it could throw of the results of your bread. If your dough is sticky, its going to stick to whatever is dry, so if youre touching it with dry hands, youre going to struggle. Extend your bulk fermentation time. Add the sugar and salt. When using the autolyse method which call for the initial incorporation of only flour and water without salt, we may sometimes forget to include salt in the final mixing phase. Why Is My Sourdough Too Sticky? Placing a baking tray underneath your Dutch Oven should do the trick. For example a gummy crumb can be caused by a starter that's too young and or under fermented dough. A starter is a collection of yeast and bacteria that feed on flour. 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. One reason why people add too much flour and mix it in is to try to get the dough more manageable. Will be back to update! It affects pretty much every part of the process. If your dough is too dry, add a little moisture and mix it, adding just a little more water if necessary. Send your bread making problems to breadsos@bakewithjack.co.ukInclude your name, your location, a method or recipe if possible and the temperature of your kitchen if you know it and we'll get to the bottom of your most common problems right here. . They are purposed for cakes, slices, muffins, and other cooking. Place in bannetons. Now it is the sourdough starter or its use that is suspect. 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. You ideally want to achieve a window pane. Step 1 - My starter is at 125% hydration. There are lots of things that can go wrong when baking sourdough bread. Mix well. Sliced through the bread in an hour and it left sticky residue on the knife and the insides was tacky. if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'crustylabs_com-box-4','ezslot_1',121,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-crustylabs_com-box-4-0');It is completely normal for very high hydration doughs at more than 75% hydration to feel excessively slack, wet and sticky after the mixing phase. An under fermented sourdough loaf will have a shiny, pale crust that lacks crunch. Once you get the hang of the sourdough process and the various phases, then start introducing whole grain flours into the mix. Is rye flour good for . This is the dry mixture. How to handle sticky, wet . This step hydrates the flours and helps with gluten development and dough structure. Makes 1 x 800-g/1-lbs. This happens because it is more difficult for gluten network to be developed in a wetter dough, which makes it more difficult for water to be retained into the dough, and the dough tends to stay wet and sticky throughout mixing. Instructions. We should aim to minimize the use of dusting flour in the baking process as the introduction of additional flour into our mix can significantly change the hydration level of the dough, resulting in a crumb that is drier and denser. Turn out on to a surface and knead for 10 minutes or until the 'windowpane effect' is . You can get the tool under the dough so you can pick it up or manipulate it. Mix until dough comes away from the sides of the bowl . The Fresh Loaf is not responsible for community member content. Large mixing bowl Measuring cups and spoons Bread thermometer ( fancy or a budget one) Scoring lame Extra (nice to have): Kitchen scale Dough scraper and bowl scraper (yes, they are different) Cooling rack Baking stone (you don't need a dutch oven if you use this) Learn how to make bread and pizza with this awesome book. For the most recent of these, I used the following recipe/process:66.67% 600g King Arthur Bread Flour33.33% 300g Whole-Grain Einkorn (locally grown and milled by River Valley Community Grains, in NJ)20% 180g Liquid levain (King Arthur AP Flour)2.1% 19g Kosher Salt75% 675g Water, Levain built and matured for 3 hours @85F . This site is powered by Drupal. Stretching and folding the dough is a common method of gluten development in sourdough bread making. 16 hour cold (38F) retard, in closed plastic bags. Perhaps your sourdough is too sticky when you start working with it. Learn how to make bread and pizza with this awesome book. If you simply cant handle sourdough with medium-to-high hydration, its better for you to either gradually knead in more flour or start off with less water in the first place. High temperatures can cause premature over fermentation, which will result in wet, sticky sourdough. Hot water strengthens the gluten in the flour. It can be leathery rather than crispy. Extending bulk fermentation will help to fix this problem. Undigested sourdough bread can ferment byproducts in your gut when it reaches your colon. When the lame scores the dough, the air escapes causing the dough to collapse. Starting at a lower hydration (70% is good) is best for beginners. Signs of over-proofing are: A huge puffy ball of dough after the end of the rising time. Copyright 2021 The Pantry Mama 2021 - All Rights Reserved, 5 Ways To Strengthen A Sourdough Starter: Give Your Starter A Boost, Sourdough Discard Crackers Recipe with Parmesan + Rosemary, Easy Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread Recipe, Sourdough English Muffins {with a discard version too}. Mix everything together. The higher hydration the dough, the stickier its going to be. As the flour is better hydrated, more water is absorbed by the dough, and less water is coating the doughs surface which makes the dough feels less wet and sticky. The average total mixing time when using a spiral mixer is around 6 minutes of total mixing (includes first speed mixing time and second speed mixing time). Remove the lid and bake for another 10 minutes to get a brown crust. Id recommend keeping a bowl of water next to your dough at all times so its always there when you need it. The easiest thing you can do to handle your sticky sourdough is to simply make it less sticky by cutting back on the water. For example, the problem may be a recipe that calls for more hydration than the flour youre using requires. Copyright 2021 The Pantry Mama 2021 - All Rights Reserved, 5 Ways To Strengthen A Sourdough Starter: Give Your Starter A Boost, Sourdough Discard Crackers Recipe with Parmesan + Rosemary, Easy Sourdough Discard Sandwich Bread Recipe, Sourdough English Muffins {with a discard version too}. 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. 2. A large mixing bowl A round cane banneton 2 clean tea towels A Dutch oven, La Cloche or bread pan A large heatproof pan, a sharp knife or 'lame' to slash the dough with. This blog contains scientific explanation on all matters related to baking written in simple words; I hope you will find something useful here and leave as a better baker. 16 hour cold (38F) retard, in closed plastic bags. Dont try traditional kneading techniques like punch and turn with moist sourdough. It might be that your sourdough is too sticky because there is insufficient gluten development. Generally, flat loaves will still taste ok, they just lack that beautiful airiness we want to see in our sourdough. As the gluten develops, the dough becomes less sticky and more manageable. This allows them to get an understanding of how to handle basic dough before moving onto something more tricky. Sometimes the issue is the kneading technique. Combine the starter, water, rye flour and 1 cup of the bread flour. It really depends on where you are in the sourdough process. I baked a loaf this morning and I dont gone cute it until we ready to eat it. Score the bread on top with any design you like. Sticky dough isn't necessarily a bad thing, although I appreciate how frustrating it is for a new baker. BAKE YOUR SOURDOUGH Preheat your oven to 450F (230C) half an hour before the end of proving. Under fermentation causes a pale crust because it doesn't enable caramelisation of the sugars in the dough. This is the most comprehensive and easily understandable explanation of sourdough I have read. Be sure you open with an autolyse, a step far easier than it sounds. Required fields are marked *. Take the bowl off the scales and mix well, it will look rough and lumpy, but never fear it will soon start to look like bread dough! Both of you mentioned a point in common on the hydration where I made a huge mistake on as I did not account for the hydration of the starter added. 25 minute proof at room temperature. This is a one of the most frustrating sourdough bread problems to have. Gluten is impermeable, meaning it doesnt allow gas or water to pass through, when there isnt enough gluten in the dough, water molecules can easily escape out of the dough, resulting in dough mixture that is only partly incorporated with water. A hollow sound indicates that it's cooked. This is when you let the dough rest after it is mixed but before you start to knead it. If the bread dough feels correct but is the baked loaf is fragile and sticky inside, it is under-cooked. 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. It will be sticky. 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. First, good effort, but where did you get the recipe from? Many thanks for this. Second, most bakers wait more than 1 hour before cutting into the bread. Autolyse vs Fermentolyse: Which One Should You Use? While the dough is proofing, preheat your oven to 230 C (450 F) and place your Dutch oven inside to preheat as well. Mix together the flour, sourdough starter and 250ml/9fl oz water in a bowl. The uneven crumb occurs because fermentation has not been long enough to allow the gases produced by the yeast to evenly distribute, resulting in some larger holes (generally in the middle). bread sticky after baking. Bake in preheated, covered DO at 475F for 20 minutes, then uncovered at 450F for 20 minutes. Making sure you get bulk fermentation correct - you'll find my best tips, You could also make sure that you spray plenty of water onto the outside of the dough before placing it in your Dutch Oven. I bake high hydration (88-90%) near 100% whole-grain loaves. This is really only an issue once you've done bulk fermentation and you are trying to shape your dough. A good example of a low protein flour is general wholewheat flour. And this time we'll be sure to wait longer before slicing up "Danny"! If you're looking for troubleshooting your sourdough starter - you'll find a list of the most FAQ here. Plastic and metal dough scrapers are useful tools and both have their own pros and cons. First, it's helpful to have a small bowl of water nearby to dip your hands into before touching your dough. We retarded the dough for 16 hours. Heres What To Do, how to stop sourdough sticking to everything, Good Food Good Mood Sign Free Printable. Required fields are marked *. Then, spoon bread flour and whole wheat flour into the bowl. If the recipe is overly generous with the sourdough starter fermentation time, you end up adding too much-trapped air to the recipe and get a sticker dough. A well developed gluten network has the strength to hold the gases and produce an even crumb. 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. This is particular difficult if you're working in humid conditions. Maybe try leaving it a bit longer? Wet and sticky dough is caused by a few different issues. Charlie was a little better probably because we increased the bake time, but the higher hydration did it in. Baking parchment paper is characteristic for its non stick ability without the need for any dusting of flour or oiling. One solution is to use a wet dough cutter or scraper. Rest for 30 minutes @76F. It will stay very wet and sticky, rather than strengthen with each stretch and fold. full guide to all purpose flour vs bread flour here, Baking sourdough when it's really hot or really cold. Boil the kettle too. You need to make sure that you keep your kitchen at a temperature between 24C - 28C (75F-82F). Switch to a wood spoon. At first, the dough will be very sticky, but the gluten will develop more and more after each stretch and fold. If those figures do not include your levain, then you have at least 77% final hydration assuming a levain of 100% hydration. You'll know you have sufficient gluten development by performing the window pane test on your dough. Would really appreciate some pointers, thank you in advance!! American flour has a damaged starch percentage of roughly 8-9% while European flour has a lower damaged starch percentage at about 7%. How to handle sticky, wet . 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. Dont forget about your dough or leave it in a warm area for too long or youll end up regretting it. The sticky side should only touch the dough. Stretch dough into rough 10"x17" rectangle, laminate and move to clean vessel for bulk. Some things to have on hand to work with really wet dough are: So how do you fix wet and sticky sourdough? Make sure that you're not using too much flour when shaping your dough. Yes you read that right! Carefully make it round again pushing the seams underneath. It'll just take about 30 minutes in the fridge for the dough to firm until it's ready to roll. All original site content copyright 2023 The Fresh Loaf unless stated otherwise. We can prevent wet sourdough from sticking by oiling our work surfaces, using wet hands to handle the dough and dusting the proofing containers. Also, remember that sourdough is extra sticky when the gluten isnt fully developed. If you want to you can spritz your dough with extra water before you put the lid on. Youre right, the actual hydration is around 77%, and I understood that from the start. Similarly, if your sourdough starter is too runny you may also end up with a super wet dough. SOLUTION - Lack of oven spring can be a complex problem. Well, sourdough is a stickier, wetter dough than regular yeasted bread. This will ensure that the bread is cooked all the way through. Add 60g of sourdough starter and set the tare to zero again; then add the salt and water, again, I find it easier to set the tare to zero before adding the flour. PROBLEM - My sourdough feels moist or wet inside, even though it's well fermented. Step 3 - Total amount of flour is 80 grams + 600 grams = 680 grams. Heres What To Do. Then the dough cant stick to them. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The Number #1 Reason your sourdough bread might be flat is using the wrong flour. Second, to the wet ingredients, add the bread flour, whole wheat flour, and salt. Damaged starch absorbs water during mixing as opposed to undamaged starch where the water merely coats the outer surface. SOLUTION - Tunnels can have a few solutions: PROBLEM - My sourdough isn't cooked all the way through. The dough has already fermented and the flour you add won't be incorporated well. I tried your suggestions, kinda - 2 large (880g) loaves baked covered at 465F for 25 minutes, then uncovered at 425 for 25 minutes. 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. Sticky and unmanagable sourdough. Be confident in your actions. From a gummy crumb to a lack of rise and everything in between. If using a stand mixer, change to the dough hook. MAKE THE DOUGH Mix the sourdough starter and water together in a large mixing bowl - I use my dough whisk for this. I've written a full guide to why sourdough deflates after scoring here. Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.Thanks!Jeff. 10 Pieces 5 Inch Bread Banneton Proofing Basket Round Dough Sourdough Proofing Basket Rattan Bakery Baking Bread Bowl with Liner and Scraper Tool Set for Starter Gifts Professional Home Bakers : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen Rice flour to stop it sticking to the counter. You can then start to increase the hydration if you wish. In this article, we're going to talk about some of the causes of what makes this happen, as well as how to sort it out if it does happen. Just know that it will be sticky early in this process. CAUSE - There are a few reasons your crust is too pale. On the other hand, rye sourdough is a bread that starts with sourdough starter instead of yeast but has at least some rye flour.