The Likely Culprit Behind Inconsistent Sourdough Results | Proof Bread

Are you fighting the inconsistent results of your sourdough bread? Wondering what you're doing wrong? Pay very close attention to temperature.
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Proof Bread
125 W Main Street
Mesa AZ 85201
Proof Bread is a modern throwback to a way of life that values small-scale craftsmanship, local community, and creativity.
We are a team of passionate bakers working in a historic building in downtown Mesa that has been converted into a retail bakery.
Everything we bake is long-fermented with our sourdough starter ‘Harriet’. Each product is artisan, crafted by hand, from the best local ingredients, with no shortcuts.
We bake in line with 13,000 years of human history, avoiding artificial processes and unnecessary ingredients. Honoring tradition and serving better bread for our community.
#sourdough #bakery #arizona

[@hu_b]

Kudos for not burying the lede and saying first thing the "likely culprit" is temperature.

[@don_mc_ron320]

Ngl I’ve been picking this channel’s videos back up after forgetting about it and it’s so awesome seeing the industrial size bakery and how it still hasn’t changed the underlying mood and vibe of the videos

[@michaelgrant6003]

I’ve been baking sourdough at home for over 3 years and as you’ve commented, I’ve recently discovered the importance of maintaining temperature control of the dough from initial mixing to the beginning of cold proofing. I didn’t use to pay attention to the initial temp of the dough and figured that it would warm up quickly in the proofing box. I started checking the dough temp at each stage of the process and found that it takes a while to warm up in the proofing box and that it doesn’t warm up evenly. I’ve discovered that by heating the water another 6º before mixing that I can hit a dough temp of 78º at the beginning of bulk. The result is consistently a little more oven spring, a consistent ear and many more big, beautiful crackling blisters.

[@clsieczka]

Water goes in first, then the flour so no clumping on the bottom! Another learning point for me after years of baking. And yes temperature is also another ingredient to the list. Thank you, Chris Polish baker Chicago

[@michaelwilkinson5693]

Glad to see your back to making videos for us all to enjoy. I hope you all are well and remember, life is a recipe. Make sure you find a perfect balance between work and family so your kids will rise perfect just like your sourdough.

[@CallMeCain]

Jostling equipment: Can also mean the dough is under hydrated making the mixer work harder w/clumpy and stiff dough. You would also hear the slight struggle of the motor trying to power through it

[@deanfordcreative]

Wow, what a difference than your early garage days!

[@ciaheadmechanic0809]

Weighing ingredients was a game changing moment in my home bread baking. Much better ability to adjust recipes to suit my flours.

[@PolarWolarBear]

At the bakery I work at the mixers hand down notes for each other about water temp, dough temp, and mix size. Most of our breads we aim for 28 °C in winter months, 26 in the summer. The notes are also where we adjust hydration.

[@AlexandraAndStuff]

I make sourdough bread at home and yes, the inconsistency is so frustrating. After one year of baking I was able to achieve this nice spring and ear, and lately it's been flat discs all over again. So annoying! Bread is still delicious and smells insane, but I get really ambitious in the kitchen and my struggle for a consistent oven spring is real.

[@rebeccabriggs9416]

I love central mill here, too! You could expand to here!!!

[@caronin]

I keep coming back to your channel for inspiration. While I'm a good baker and have very good success with anything else. Sourdough starter and thus sourdough have eluded me. Across the last four years I've tried almost a dozen methods and everyone has failed completely. So I keep coming back to your channel and others as encouragement to keep trying.

[@xzysyndrome]

One thing I have noticed looking at recipes is the wild variation in temps...

[@dalewilson7855]

To the owner I love the way you do things and the love and care and knowing what you doing.... I'd really love to taste your products

[@jas57264]

The "proofing vat" should be redesigned with a 45 deg downward spout and a screw inside the tube to force the starter out.

[@michasosnowski5918]

Happy to watch another one of your videos. I would reccomend fixing that rusty wall behind the sink. Some sanding and painting with rust proof paint would be great :)

[@sheilam4964]

How about making a wooden or metal "paddle" to clean/scrape the last bits of starter out of the bowl, instead of using your hand? And, if you want, you could also have a two pronged fork (sort of) make to pull the bits out of the spout as well.

[@abhijeetsalvekar]

Insightful 😊

[@docbrown7513]

Thanks to Proof everyone thinks I am a bread genius. Its all about the gluten baby. The biggest factor is the amylase enzyme added to most flours (or malted barley flour). It destroys the gluten (converts it to sugar for yeast quick breads). Arrowhead mills produces a great high protein bread flour (steel mill type 85')... only one I can find in 50 miles. After finding the right flour (2 months) and about 5 loaves with the right flour I can make the best bread I ever had. The crust is a little much but after 1.5 days (4 hrs cooldown, overnight covered by cloth, and ~1 day in a plastic bag) it softens up and I can cut it so thin I can see through it. I am looking forward to pastries and inclusions.

[@Dexterity_Jones]

Was 100% expecting you to say, "the biggest factor is you" haha

[@BigChinook]

Is that "stainless" wall behind the sink rusting? Product warranty?

[@kathyk479]

I have just 1 question ! When will you be opening a story in North East Ohio!? 😀 I so would love to try your bread to see if I could tallorat it!

[@Hello1982]

is it possible to set the humidity in a small sealed separate pantry for flour ? that way you could gauge the exact amount of ideal humidity ? idk .

[@MCheekeOutdoors]

Which model is the smaller dough mixer ?

[@mikewurlitzer5217]

What's with all the corrosion behind the sink? Is that a stainless steel back splash? If so, was anyone using steel wool to clean it? That will cause corrosion.

[@patmacrotch5611]

Props to central milling thats the flour I use! :D

[@AlexAlex-gj4jd]

I was wondering what happened to the local flour producer? When and why the change?

[@patmacrotch5611]

@@AlexAlex-gj4jd Maybe for certain products and volumes they need larger supply?

[@heathersheaven7933]

How many loaves do you make a day?

[@jim6100]

After many trials and errors I have finally been able to bake exquisite sourdough bread. You had a lot to do with that. One thing I noticed in this video that I don't understand. You have a magnificent new place there. But I noticed behind the sink in the area where the mixers are, a brown color all over what I guess is the stainless steel wall paneling. Is that rust? Can you get rid of it?

[@ProofBread]

Yeah, the wall is rolled steel which is a poor choice for behind the sink. We will either line it with stainless or FRP, but that is a project for summer or when things are a bit calmer. Currently we are slammed.

[@jeffdunas6721]

Amazing that so many are obsessing about the stainless steel and not the content ?

[@skeeterhmcr]

You could try sealing the sourdough tank during feeding (with a PRV). The CO2 produced would provide back pressure which would aid in dispensing. Just be careful opening, no need to shoot SDS across the room.

[@andrewdean7917]

Why does he weight the water ? Anybody.

[@davidwalters9462]

It *looks* like you used Central Milling on the first batch and another brand for the second? Did I miss something?

[@ProofBread]

You caught it right. We were short a bag of central milling and subbed a nearly identical flour.

[@johnwalsh1648]

So what is that perfect temperature you use? Newbie here.

[@07negative56]

My guess is somewhere between 74-76 degrees.

[@josegomezgil1924]

1:32 Proper Recipe = ( Ingredients + Process + Temperatures ) anything different is recipe for frustration.

[@Plysomack]

This place is a year old. How is that wall already rusted? How can that be mitigated and remediated?

[@hu_b]

Was wondering that also. The stainless steel doesn't seem to be up to spec.

[@josegomezgil1924]

food grade stainless steel or ceramic tiles for the running water zone.

[@solarpony]

Interesting observation

[@ProofBread]

Yes we need to redo the steel around the sinks. Will likely mitigate with the application of FRP in that area. This is rolled steel which is fine for most of the facility but not around water. Symptom of building under duress.

[@barrychambers4047]

@@ProofBread Adds more iron to the bread!😁

[@Mohanadeva]

🧡

[@DANVIIL]

Virtually no mention of temperature mentioned as one of the most important factors.

[@erikborger5041]

You sponsored by ABS?

[@dafresh83]

butter in the mix for croissant ???! Butter when you make layers, ok ( pâte feuilletée )

[@ProofBread]

Come try our pastry and judge then. Croissant was invented around the same time as yeast and traditionally is a yeasted product. Given ours is sourdough our dough is slightly different: trust me, nothing wrong with butter here.

[@hazztalent]

This is common for most sourdough crossiant recipes. Stop being a traditionalist

[@Erri-kb6et]

I began to make them with sunfloweroil in the dough which has no flavour of course. I saw that in Julia Child's book. I made them with sourdough and it was fine . Then I saw others with butter. A small amount of fat is supposed to make the dough softer, smoother. I now use butter in my sourdough croissants like the way shown here.

[@guitarguy483]

still like the content but not a fan of the newer format, music seems really out of place. Sounds more like im watching something on hgtv

[@TheoboldJamzen]

anyone with such advanced machine and doesn't know about temp .... just shows how his machine rumbling at the end .... ALSO, he never specifies his working temps .... this is for worse beginners ...