7 Sourdough Mistakes to Avoid by Reading Your Crumb

These are 7 common sourdough mistakes that you can identify by looking at your bread's crumb.
Get the book: thbrco.io/book
My starter: thbrco.io/my-starter
Slight overfermentation: The dough is flatter than usual. The pockets of air are quite small.
Overfermentation: You fermented your dough for too long. The gluten starts to break down. The dough will start to stick to your hands and/or banneton.
General flatness: Probably a lack of dough strength and/or you fermented for too long
Baked too hot: You have large pockets of air towards the top. The crust sealed too quickly.
Baked with too little steam: Similar to baked too hot.
Underfermented: This is also known as fool's crumb. Your gluten hasn't broken down. The dough is still quite stiff.
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:10 Slight overfermentation
1:47 Severely overfermented
3:54 Underfermented
4:50 No dough strength
6:35 Bake too hot
7:59 Too little steam
8:56 Underbaked
#sourdough #bread

[@the_bread_code]

Please note - every homemade sourdough bread is a win! No matter how flat, underfermented or whatever your bread is. Don't give up! These are just some tips and recommendations that might help you to better understand what is happening to your bread. May the gluten be strong with all of you! Edit: I mixed up the stiff starter water percentage. Sorry. For 100g of flour use 50g water. Not sure how I missed this obvious mistake 🤣. Apologies.

[@beamoscrilla7691]

I left my career as a union sheet metal worker to enter into the world of sourdough with my wife. She started baking sourdough, then we started selling at farmers markets. We now have 8 farmers markets. While I was working, I would bake for the market on Sunday. I didn’t know why the bread would be flat, or dense, or stiff, etc etc. once I started doing it full time I’ve noticed when the dough is fluffy, or holds shape, etc. I have watched so many content creators about sour dough and so far you are my favorite. I am running an experiment today with a 1-1-1 starter and your advice on a 1-5-5 starter at 75% hydration with using 15%, 20%, and 25% starter for each. About to warm up my ovens to see what happens.

[@beamoscrilla7691]

All came out super flat :(

[@the_bread_code]

@@beamoscrilla7691 awesome that you are pursuing this career. I'd recommend to try making a stiff starter. It will help to have a better yeast fermentation 🤗

[@cherylmancini7642]

I am so glad I found your channel, I love the way you share your experience with new beginners like me. I have always made home made bread but never Sourdough, well that has changed it has not looked like your's yet but I'm working on it. Can you tell me where I can purchase the Brovn you use I am in the USA and can't find a place to purchase one. I told my brother he needs to move back to Germany so he can ship one to me, I want to watch my creation as it cooks. Thank you for all your tutorials.

[@MrDziuka]

It made me wonder, thanks for correcting this and I will definitely try it . Thanks!

[@stephentayles3229]

A masterclass that summarises 100 hours of research in just 10 minutes. Bravo and thank you.

[@beccacamberos5706]

With overfermented dough, I like the cut the loaf in half horizontally after baking and make a pizza on both sides! It is so so yummy!

[@northwoodfalls1403]

There are other videos on this subject, but none I have seen go into this depth. I have this saved to my sourdough list and I reference it often to help me fine tune my bread as I try new flours, new folding techniques, etc. Your videos have helped me immeasurably in my journey. I was so frustrated I had given up making sourdough for a good year or so and then decided to give it another go and found your channel. Maybe it’s the German in my DNA, but I REALLY appreciate the lengths you go to measure all the variables. Even though I have not gone so far as to purchase a ph measuring thingie, watching your experiments helped me understand the chemistry happening and it all just started to make sense to me. I feel I have all the information I need from start to finish to take full ownership of my own process and I now produce delicious loaves consistently. We haven’t purchased store bought bread in months now. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[@hhmodoc]

Very helpful, thank you for explaining all that!!

[@navidjalali]

You are awesome. Thank you for this great video.

[@dyyyou]

Such a very helpful video! Thank you.

[@simplybeautifulsourdough8920]

I almost passed out when I saw my scores! 😂 Thank you for the mention. 😊 Aside from that, this was REALLY helpful. Thank you for taking massive amounts of time to make it. So. Much. Work! I know time is one of your most precious assets right now, with writing the book!

[@the_bread_code]

My pleasure. Thanks for the beautiful breads you are making. I wish I was so creative 🤗

[@ChocolateBoxCottage]

Nancy Anne, knew I recognized your scores! 😍

[@user-tm8eu5tu4i]

I learned a lot! Thank you Hendrik!

[@ivan889rdz]

This is by far, the best video of Sourdough Bread I‘ve ever seen

[@kirstenmartin2650]

You are doing a wonderful job!

[@Michael201078]

Thanks for great video. Each your video makes my bakery experience better.

[@markyounghouse2641]

Your videos and start of your book are top notch. I appreciate the detail and science. Keep up the great work!

[@pattivaillant2569]

Thank you sooo much!!

[@nathangerdts1803]

I've seen so many sourdough tip videos but this is by far the most helpful. Great bread diagnostics approach. Thank you!

[@jimreagan6510]

I just love this man good bread baker an good very humor Danke

[@food-yammy]

Lovely thank you!

[@plumbummanx]

Wow, so much information. I'll have to watch this a few times to absorb it all.

[@benstern2079]

Great info in the video. I could identify my mistakes in your explanations. One day I’ll get it perfect. Many thanks.

[@danjohnson6292]

Hendrik, this is a great video. Wish it was around when I started baking sour dough 2-3 years ago.

[@isabelab6851]

Great to see you! This is very helpful. I am finally getting settled in Northern California. And so has my bread making. Will need to see what happens as it gets warmer…cannot wait to read your book.

[@simplybeautifulsourdough8920]

Hey Hendrik! I've been traveling for several weeks and just now got a chance to watch this. What great info!! And thanks oodles for sharing pics of my scored bread. You kinda rock!! 😊

[@jacobcohen9205]

Love your channel, greetings from the Isle of Man. I keep over proofing

[@uweschroeder]

Congrats on the book! That takes me back, I haven't seen anyone use TeX is a very long time. It produces such superior output.

[@carolchristiegardner397]

I'm enjoying the sourdough bread baking journey. Thank you for all your advice 'bread-code'

[@classicrockonly]

I’m definitely overfermenting. Going to stiff starter and feeding it more for the next time. Thank you for the tips

[@jimreagan6510]

Thanks!

[@TheName7293]

thank you thank you thank youuu! :D you are the bread master. I love the sciency side of bread making & your videos are the best for this. I'm going to read your book now, cheers!

[@ift1991]

The content of this video is very interesting and useful, because these mistakes are often common when we experiment: thank you very much for this valuable information

[@grafika1987]

Thank you very much for this knowledge you just share. It's open my mind and explains a lot for me. You got my sub ;)

[@aligeha8514]

Wow 😵 what a F11 debugging !!! Bravo chef !

[@benoitdelvaux7447]

Danke! Habe grad angefangen, dein Video hat mir schon sehr geholfen meine ersten Versuche zu entziffern

[@rebeccacanlas1328]

I’m new in sourdough field and your video is super informative! Thanks a lot for being super realistic! 😊

[@evettc7887]

Until I get a different job I can't bake or have a starter so am currently learning everything I can. Thank you for this video.

[@oscaribf0101]

¡Gracias!

[@dust_to_dust]

This guide rocks, man. When I get something wrong, I come here and find out what it likely was and how to fix it. We owe you. Seriously, and I'm gonna find a way to pay.

[@maryannjolly181]

I love your videos.

[@berenicegonzalez2134]

Hola ! Todo lo explicas de una forma sencilla y con ciencia, vere todos tus videos para aprender

[@nathanbohn4042]

After a string of successes, I baked two flat loaves using your multipurpose recipe. My round loaf had a super wide air pocket in the middle, confirming that I under-fermented it because I was rushed for time. Thanks for this extremely educational video!!

[@salimchowdury682]

This is probably the best video on KZbin. You are literally the MD/PhD of sourdough. Your website inspires me, a total moron, to make sourdough. Besides, you come across as a super nice person and not a pompous prick although it's obvious you have this dialed in. Thank you for helping us out. Good health and much success to you.

[@charleneelovitz3738]

I probably over-ferment my doughs as most common mistake....Big thanks, lots of detail in this one video!! :)😊

[@Foodgeek]

Great information, my friend and I love the new look and editing

[@the_bread_code]

Thank you 🤗

[@barrychambers4047]

I very often push the envelope on overfermentation as my wife and I love that extra sour taste!

[@kseth6992]

I have learnt a lot from your channel , been making sourdough breads and pizzas . Ambient temperature variations for me are from 0 deg Celsius to 46 degrees Celsius ( one home in the plains ,one in the mountains ) and now after 3 years have realised that the time variable is utterly useless , most imp is watch the dough - how it feels n looks , watch the increase in size , and control the amount of starter being added to compensate for such huge temp variations . Thanks .

[@susansmith7415]

Have been baking sourdough for several years now and this summer, for whatever reason, have had some misses. I needed to go back to basics and this video was really helpful. As you have noted, every loaf of sourdough is still good to eat (unless its underbaked!) but some are better than others, so putting my learners cap back on and looking forward to not only better looking results but more consistently good loaves.

[@thepeacefulenemy4026]

Super helpful, just like all your videos. I had the issue where my crust formed and browned too soon (probably not enough steam), so it was dark and crusty already by the time it hit that internal temp of 197f (actually I overshot and it was just over 200f) but I still had a tiny bit of gummy dough at the bottom. Thoughts? Either way, it was still a pretty damn good loaf of bread for only my second ever attempt-for which I give full credit to you. I really appreciate what you do.

[@scoobtoober2975]

Thanks for the stiff starter. My flour is definitely not super high protein. 11 or so. Always had flatter loafs. Always more floppy and saggy.

[@markyounghouse2641]

Really one of the best videos on the topic. It is so helpful to really understand instead of just using recipe blindly. Great. Really

[@the_bread_code]

Thank you 🤗

[@M_M_ODonnell]

It's helpful to have all of this in one place. As a beginner, I keep looking at my dense bread and thinking I need to give it longer to rise...so I keep over-fermenting. (You're right, though, the bread is still tasty.)

[@trijezdci4588]

If the bread is dense, you likely need to add more water. And if you want longer fermentation times, you need to reduce the amount of starter or ferment the dough in the fridge. If your flour is weak and it can't absorb the water, you can employ one or more techniques to make it absorb more water without becoming runny. The simplest technique is to add a bit of (fine) rye flour, say 3-5%, and if that is still insufficient, add some (finely ground) bran powder, up to about 10-12%. Another technique is to pre-gelatinise a small fraction of the flour. Yet another is to add water absorbing fibres from other seeds for example fleawort, aka psyllium. Keep in mind though that the more fibre you add, the longer the dough needs to absorb the water and that means the dough needs more resting time, often several hours.

[@dami2001]

Hello, very useful and interesting video, I wonder if you could use a pH meter to decide if your dough is sufficiently fermented, thank you very much for your help.

[@mrgreenbudz37]

Such a fascinating and informative video. I feel I learned a lot watching it. Thank you so much. I love your videos. One, I have been under fermenting and need to work on getting more tension in my dough so that when I dump it out of its bowl to bake it retains its shape.

[@nazirnaame8432]

Thank you for your valuable lesson, the best for me as flour is Italian 00 , with gluten 13%.

[@clearblueskies1145]

Thanks for sharing….my dough is always wet-tish despite reducing the water by 10-20g. It takes few folds before it smooths out yet it’s still sticky. I work in air conditioned room of around 23-24C but the weather outside is often hot & humid

[@INXPhase]

Hey man, just wanted to say that these types of videos are worth GOLD for ppl like me trying to learn and trouble shoot. Godsent, love you! You doing good for the people, providing all this info for free, in english, and in such a concise and to the point matter, bravo. Only the very best wishes!!

[@the_bread_code]

Thank you 🤗

[@fonsalvarado]

thank you!!!

[@maithilidipali8002]

Thank you for this video it’s helpful for me as a beginner I live in mumbai my breads are flat may be because of hot baking I bake at 250 C and I never get beautiful oven spring

[@growabundant]

I’m committed to baking only 100% organic whole grain sourdough bread. The flour I buy has been finely milled so there is not an issue with big razor blades of bran in the dough. But I’ve had my share of over fermentation, to the point of tears when it sticks to the banaton cover. Because my kitchen can be chilly, I use a fermentation chamber (picnic cooler with a heat mat), so an easily controlLed environment. But I ferment my starter on the counter overnight before baking and it’s easy to let it overferment if we happen to get a warm night. Thanks for the excellent videos!

[@MarcMunoz1]

Love to see that the book is in LaTeX :-)

[@jessu.9166]

Hi Hendrik! Thank you for all your help on my sourdough journey. I love watching your experiments. I've been maintaining a very active starter for the last year and a half, but recently (last two months) I've noticed more bacteria development (sourness, hooch, etc) and this has been leaving me with sticky dough. I followed your instructions to create a stiff starter over the last 3 days. My question is-How can I maintain my stiff starter as a home baker who bakes bread once a week? Should I continue with a weekly feeding schedule using more flour than water? I am curious to see how the flavour of my converted starter holds up to my regular starter! Wishing you well, Jess

[@user-tv1cd6co7c]

Only just discovered your videos and I love them. When you give the temperature, is that for a conventional or a fan assisted oven? I use a Dutch oven in my fan assisted oven - bread has been tasty but quality very mixed.

[@alinajupe568]

This is so awsome Hendrik, I didn't know you are a celebrity! 😄 I started to feed my starter Dudley more after I've watched your videos and he looks so happy and fluffy already - very excited about its first outcome tomorrow! Will send you pictures! :D All the best, Alina

[@the_bread_code]

Please do either via instagram or email 🤗

[@DougBrownVancouver]

Another über video. You mentioned a very important point about having unique flour and to not rely 100% on internet recipes. I'm in Vancouver and we have excellent flour in Canada from big, national brands like Robin Hood. I started buying Silver Star bread flour from Costco, milled in Armstrong, BC from Rogers Flour, which has higher protein and produces lovely dough. When I switched, the hydration tolerance of Silver Star seemed to be about 10% higher than all-purpose supermarket flour. My suggestion for bakers is to try three hydration levels (65%, 70% and 75%), follow the same bread process, and see what the final result is. Same goes for fermentation time overnight. I'm going to try a range of times from 9-10-11-12 hours to evaluate the final product. Based on your video I'm sure I'm over-fermenting. I already adopted your "control" method of watching a dough sample rise during bulk fermentation, but there's no visible alternative for the overnight rise and I think I have to just try different durations. Any comment on that? Also, I roll and fold my dough now during the stretching phase to build dough strength. If I do this more than what you show, will that improve or harm my dough strength? I can experiment but you've already done all this I assume! Thanks!

[@the_bread_code]

Great points. Thank you. Folding the dough like you mentioned should add additional dough strength. I recommend to just use way less starter provided that you want to make an overnight dough. Try 1-2% starter based on the flour.

[@ExperimentalistBrewing]

Especially in the summer, I tend to let my bread over ferment just a little bit. Your other videos have already helped me to learn to bake at a lower temperature and that made a big difference to get rid of those big pockets near the crust!

[@trijezdci4588]

It is advisable to reduce the amount of starter in your recipes during summer. As a general rule of thumb, use half the amount the recipe asks for.

[@maryannjolly181]

I packed a tbs of my starter with rye flour and pressed it flat wrapped in cling wrap. I posted it to my sister inlaw bc She is just starting her love affair w sour dough and was struggling with her starter. It had to travel 2000km, took 5 days. It was so active when she fed it because, her first loaf was better than all mine to date. Lol.

[@L-36]

I have had good luck with my latest method. I take a small 50ml glass beaker and put 28mg of water in it and mark a line. I use a scale that can read to 0.1mg. Then after kneading the dough, I put exactly 25mg of dough in the container and press it down to remove all the air bubbles around the glass. I set the beaker close to where my dough will ferment. When the sample reaches the line my fermentation is done. I use this method rather than saying let it rise 30% because you can measure the starting and ending points accurately. Going for a percent depends on how well you press your starting dough down and how rounded the top is. When the dough gets to the 28ml line, it tends to be very flat and easy to read. Cheers.

[@richards2072]

Very interesting video. Don't really care for open crumb loaves. I and at least some others prefer closed crumb as we use bread primarily for toast and open crumb loaves let all the butter and jam drip out on the plate so I would go for the closed crumb photo you showed.

[@kirstenmartin2650]

I use a cast iron dutch oven and I often put 3-4 ice cubes under the parchment paper before I put the lid on. It creates great steam

[@TrishasMusic]

Thank you for this video, Hendrik! I always, ALWAYS get an ear, even in the case of over fermentation or not enough dough strength (I think it has to do with the way I hold my blade), but my problem is the ear is often too big and difficult to slice. Any suggestions? I have tried holding my blade less horizontally but I still seem to get the giant ears. The blade on my lame is curved, would that have anything to do with this?

[@antonybates]

At 1:35 I think you mean 1 part flour to 1/2 part water for a stiff starter?

[@the_bread_code]

Sorry and thank you. I am such an idiot. Even after watching this 5 times I sometimes don't find the most obvious mistake haha. Apologies. I added a marker in the video too.

[@gaborszabo9804]

@@the_bread_code haha, wrote the same comment, but the info marker is also wrong, it says 100g water + 50g flour, which is again 200% hydration :)

[@Freakazoid23]

awesome video as always!! i have a stupid question.. i cant find any video about it. but how do you guys cut this open crumb breads without squeezing it together after baking since there are that many air pockets? is there any trick ?

[@letsfish876]

Thamk you....finally got a crumb that isn't gummy! Cutting off a small piece made all the difference 💗

[@sherz888]

Love all your videos! @1:35, you mentioned stiff starter as "one part water, half part flour". Did you mean to say one part water, 2 parts flour? 1:33

[@chiarag.1845]

Thank you!! Every single loaf I baked had a gigantic air pocket right on top of the loaf and I couldn't figure out why.. it must be the temperature (the recipe said 250-260 degree celsius)

[@aE-bx3cn]

Hallöchen, gibt es eine Auflösung zu den Fehlerbildern, die Du dankenswerter Weise an den Schluss des Videos gehängt hast? Ich backe seit drei Jahren sehr intensiv Brot und Brötchen und erkenne meine Ergebnisse in einigen der Bilder prinzipiell wieder. Übrigens, geniale technisch wissenschaftliche Arbeitsweise, Dokumentation und Präsentation, die Du pflegst! Gehört zum besten, dass ich je gesehen habe. Macht riesig Lust auf mehr.

[@candywalker483]

One of your best videos! Have watched them all and although I have baked regularly x 52 years I am primarily baking sourdough bread now. Am learning how to use my new gas range/ oven with challenges. The range part I love, the gas oven doesn’t seem to leave the top of the boule as brown as I want. But experimenting. Thanks for your expertise and generosity to help us all! 🥰

[@the_bread_code]

Thank you 🤗

[@harrisvangeest5134]

Lately I’ve been thinking of buying cryptocurrency for retirement, I’ve set asides $350k to invest but along the line,I usually get cold feet, maybe because I have no idea what I’m doing, please I could really use some guidelines.

[@maryperry7909]

In situations like this,I always recommend to people on getting guidance at least from someone that understands price action and all that while you strive on improving yourself by watching videos and learning fundamental analysis.

[@mohammedabdulraheem2262]

Investment guidance sounds like a great idea,thought about it before but never knew how to go about it.

[@joachimmilberg2313]

@@harrisvangeest5134 I started investing in cryptocurrency a little while ago and I’ve come to realize nothing beats first hand experience..Investing with Juan Antonio Landa has been the best experience ever.

[@scp234]

Thank you. 3 out of 7, no wonder my first loaf was a disaster.

[@1misago]

This video is so helpful for those of us less experienced, explaining not only what can go wrong but the mechanism behind it. I love the mix of practical advice and technical explanation. One thing, regarding the advice to use a Dutch oven if you cannot turn the fan off, there is another workaround suggested by Foodgeek and Simpel Sourdough. Once you have loaded the bread into the preheated oven, turn it off. After 10 ~ 20 minutes of gently expanding in a hot steamy atmosphere, remove the water tray, then turn the oven on again to complete the bake.

[@jacquelinemcdowall5369]

This is really useful info for me. Its a fan oven i have and i can’t switch the fan off. I do have 2 dutch ovens but if i have 3 or 4 loafs i can only do 2 at a time . Will try it with 1 loaf soon to see if works. Thanks for the tip. 😊

[@1misago]

@@jacquelinemcdowall5369 With a home oven, I think the "oven off" method probably works best with a heat store such as a baking steel/stone or dutch oven (which you have) present. This prevents the oven cooling too much after turning off. Bread Code may have covered it somewhere but I saw it in these KZbin videos "Rustic Round SOURDOUGH Bread" by Simpel Sourdough, kzbin.info/www/bejne/pJWqd4puZduGZ7s and "Better oven spring by using this crazy trick?" by Foodgeek, kzbin.info/www/bejne/laStYXueprNpi68.

[@user-pr9uk9jg5y]

Gluten Tag 😊 vielen Dank für deine lehrreichen Videos. Wäre es möglich mal ein Video über ein helles Dinkelbrot mit flüssigem sauerteig zu machen? Ich vertrage Dinkel besser und der Geschmack ist einfach lecker aber die Porung wird irgendwie nicht so schön wie mit Weizen oder, Hartweizen. Ich liebe Brot mit sehr großer Porung, wie deine tollen Brote. Viele liebe Grüße aus Süddeutschland. Sigrid

[@kirstenmartin2650]

what is that glass bowl your bread is being baked under? I think it would be lovely to bake a bread under a glass bowl like that and how do you do it? Do you heat the bowl as you would a cast iron pot?

[@shekharpatel]

Thanks. Great video. Would you please elaborate on protein content of the wheat flour, 11% average (relatively cheap) to insane 13% (artisanal and as expensive as a Rembrandt original).

[@the_bread_code]

You need better wheat for a higher protein content. This is like with expensive grapes, the more sun, the more sugar. For wheat more sun means more gluten.

[@wendylim1915]

Thanks for your enlightening video. I've encountered most if not all the problems you have highlighted in your video. This is really helpful. But how do I know what exactly is the right fermentation time? I live in the tropics with temperatures 27⁰C - 32⁰C. Humidity is above 90% most days. Please help me solve my fermentation problem.

[@the_bread_code]

Thank you! In your case I would go as low as 1% starter. Try to use a stiff starter. Aim for a 50% size increase during bulk fermentation. Shape your dough and then put it directly into the fridge. Bake it directly out of the fridge the next day.

[@SimonStaxPoker]

I was worried that maybe my dough was under fermented because it was still quite springy when poked, but I had already bulk fermented for 8 hours at room temperature + 12 hours in the fridge afterward. It did not grow massively during the bulk fermentation (maybe only 20%) - does this mean I need a more active starter?

[@elaineng9714]

May I know the suggested baking temperature with time please?

[@jamesb.walker9177]

Very nice video, great tips! When you mentioned Stiff starter, do you mean wet soft starter? Double water as flour content? Thanks

[@the_bread_code]

Sorry. My bad. It's half the flours weight as starter. I had too many drinks I think.

[@markparker5585]

@@the_bread_code so for every 100g flour, add 50g of water? (i.e a 50% hydration starter) These days I tend to go for around a 70% hydration starter. It’s still reasonably stiff, whilst for me, has the added advantage that as I nearly always make a 70% hydration sourdough, I don’t have to worry about how it will affect the overall hydration of my dough. 70% hydration main dough, then add as much or little starter as I want, depending on how fast or slow I want it to ferment. No additional calculations needed. Simple. Even if I want a 65% or an 80% hydration main dough, I just use the same starter without worrying about calculating the starter hydration into the mix, as unless you are going to use very low, or very high inoculations of starter, 70% is close enough that it really won’t make any difference to the finished bread.

[@vinaymieux]

Hey. Great info as always. I think you made a mistake at 1:35 when talking about stiff starter that it's 1 part of water and half part of flour. Also, which part of Germany are you from? One of my close friends is traveling to Hamburg today. She has never had a good sourdough bread in her life ☹️. Maybe you can hook her up with one 😋

[@the_bread_code]

Yes. You are right. Sorry. My mistake 🤗. I'd recommend to try back Geschwister in Hamburg. I'm not in the city currently 😅

[@turuanu]

Hey, Bread Pitt is also the name of my starter!

[@SarahBear303]

Wow, so prior to my sourdough baking Obsession, most of the fancy sourdough I have bought has been Under-fermented!!

[@christianheroux1690]

I live in Germany as well. Which flower brand do you use? I guess you dont use what REWE sells?

[@MidnyghtGamer4944]

I get good height but have very few air pockets in my bread. There also isn't a strong sourdough smell. I'm wondering if there is an issue with the activity of my starter or am I leaving it to rise too long before cooking.

[@gaborszabo9804]

I guess this is part of the learning process, but now I feel a bit more confused than before. I bought a nice bread in the bakery, seems like nice oven spring, but now I'm not sure if it's a properly fermented very open crumb, or under-fermented :)

[@trijezdci4588]

Hello there, you do not need a high-gluten flour for the dough to absorb 80% or more water. All you need is more arabinoxylan (AX). That's a non-starch carbohydrate polymer that naturally occurs in the grain's outer layers, also know as dietary fibre. The German bakery curriculum also (still) uses the term Pentosan, but that's misleading because pentosan simply means any carbohydrate that is made of 5-carbon atom molecules and there are many of those that aren't found in grain, and there are highly water absorbing fibres that are made of molecules with different numbers of carbon atoms. Anyway, AX is found in the bran of the wheat. Get some wheat bran from a bio-food shop, mill that down to the finest particle size you can, which you can do with a coffee mill. Add the fine bran powder to your dough, about 10-12% will do wonders for your dough's water absorption capacity. AX's ability to absorb water far outperforms that of the gluten, but it takes much much longer. It is therefore advisable if not necessary to let the dough rest for a couple of hours or longer to fully absorb the water. You can either do an extended autolyse before adding your starter, or you can simply reduce the amount of starter so that the total fermentation time is extended by a few hours. IN any case, stretching and folding should be taking place after the dough has absorbed the water. Some experimentation is advisable to find out the sweet spot how much fine bran powder needs to be added to a dough made from a particular flour to absorb the desired amount of water and also how long it takes for the dough to absorb that water. In any event, this will improve the water absorption capacity and lead to a better rise of the loaf. And BTW, AX is what gives rye dough (lacking gluten) the ability to hold gas and rise. Most seeds, including those of cereals contain AX but generally in the outer layers. Rye is unique in that it has a high concentration of AX in both the bran and the endosperm. So, you can easily improve a wheat dough's water absorption capacity by adding a small amount of (fine) rye flour, say 3-5%. Last but not least, you can strengthen the gluten of a dough made with a weaker flour by adding some apple cider vinegar to the bulk water, say 3-5% and perhaps mix in some dried ground up lemon or orange peels for the vitamin C contained therein. Or use dried and ground acerola or camu camu fruit from a bio-food shop.

[@clsieczka]

I’m impressed with the explanation. It’s amazing though, how our ancestors made great bread without even measuring spoons , let alone scales and thermometers. In a wood burning oven, not knowing the temperature at all. Those were bakers. And now we have all this science, and technology, people buy Wonder bread .

[@ThatGuy-123]

Hallo Hendrik, auch wenn es sicher schon oft gefragt wurde: welchen Typ Mehl nutzt du und welchen Proteingehalt?

[@peterwhitaker4231]

Ahem, sorry to be the picky engineer, and I'm sure you will want to set the record straight Hendrik... 1:34- a stiff starter has one part water and half a part flour...oops. great to see your videos again and keep up your top work, L.G., Peter

[@the_bread_code]

Yes. Sorry. I don't know what happened how I missed this 😂😂😂. Thanks for pointing this out. It's of course half the flour as water.

[@paulychannel7914]

If your flour is not very " strong ' .... you can add gluten flour ( vital wheat gluten ) to strengthen it..... some bakers " frown upon it " for no apparent reason.... but believe me it works very well !

[@jamieandrejgersborg2534]

My bread often looks like the one of Jorge Vargas. Any tips? Which category does that one fall under?

[@peat_moss856]

Two loaves ago, it was tall, light, and had an ear. The most recent dough let out a *pffff* when I slashed it and deflated right in front of me. It came out delicious and flat, full of tiny bubbles. I noticed my kitchen was 3°F warmer than previously, so I cut my fermentation time some. But I seem to have overfermented despite that. Any advice on how to monitor a dough’s fermentation so I’m not relying on checking temperature, time, and my best guess?

[@mariepicard5456]

Guten tag ! Is it possible you made a mistake when describing a stiff starter at 1'37" of your video ? It says: 1 part water, half a part flour... Shouldn't it be the other way around ? Thanks !

[@send2gl]

I reckon all the loaves look amazingly tasty..... :-)

[@AbidAli-zx7nj]

Plz tell me if gluten is low in flour then what should I do

[@ryanspear6340]

I make my sourdough and let it ferment for 40-45 min. Then flatten it out, fold it over a few times, form it into loaves, put it into pans. It's usually ready to bake in 2-2 1/2 hours. I bake @ 350F for 35 min. I seldom ever get large pockets. I feed my dough once a week with ground grapes, wheat flour & water. Store in the back of the fridge.