This is really only an issue once you've done bulk fermentation and you are trying to shape your dough. SOLUTION - Depending on the cause of your spread, you can implement the following fixes: PROBLEM - Dough splits in places other than where you've scored or even splits messing up your decorative scoring. CAUSE - This is typically caused by under fermenting your dough, but can also happen through using too much flour when you shape your bread. When Im not baking sourdough, I love to hang out with my three boys on our farm, tend to my jungle of indoor plants and drink good coffee. Then the dough cannot stick to the surface. A starter is a collection of yeast and bacteria that feed on flour. First, in a large mixing bowl, whisk the starter, water, orange zest and juice, and maple syrup or honey. BAKE TIME: 30 Minutes with the lid on at 230C/450F plus 10-15 Minutes with the lid off at 210C/410F. If the dough breaks before you can pull it so thin that you can see the light, resume kneading. Sourdough bread problems are often multi faceted and you will find that they are not always caused by one issue. The strength of your dough should build as you perform stretches and folds. Factors like temperature, humidity, air pressure and elevation play a role here. The higher hydration the dough, the stickier its going to be. Also, remember that sourdough is extra sticky when the gluten isnt fully developed. When I first started baking, everything that could go wrong, went wrong; it felt borderline alchemy to me. Making good sourdough bread is something that takes plenty of practice, but you can learn how to handle it fairly quickly. First, in the evening, prepare the soaker by pouring hot water over the mixture of seeds and grains. Ensuring that you a strong gluten network is also essential in aleviating this issue. If you're not sure about some of the terms used in this article, you might find this sourdough glossary helpful. Then, introduce the remaining water in stages and mix only until the water is incorporated into the dough. Alternatively, you could add a little oil to the work surface and your hands. CAUSE - gummy sourdough can be caused by a starter that's too young or inactive and or under fermentation. This is the sourdough baking course you need if you are just starting out in sourdough bread baking. Mix until dough comes away from the sides of the bowl . Having a strong gluten network means that the carbon dioxide produced by the yeast will be evenly distributed. All Purpose flour is ok, however it generally doesn't have the protein necessary to develop a strong gluten network. sourdough before baking. Beginner bakers are best to start off with low to medium hydration dough before moving onto high hydration. Semolina (used for dusting pizza dough) however is much coarser in texture and it really comes down to your personal preference; if you like the coarse texture by all means go for it. However, it shouldnt be so sticky that it is hard to knead. We actually followed this recipe twice, the first time was in the exact proportion mentioned with a hydration of 81% and "Betty" turned out tacky and moist. Throughout the shaping, the dough felt aerated and light and bouncy and it was easy to handle after dipping our hands in water. Help! Steps: Autolyse for an hour before adding the starter (rest 30m) and salt (rest 15m) all by hand using the folding and pinching method. Sourdough made with bread flour can take up to 6 hours to cool properly. The recipe I followed was from "a beautiful plate". 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. To make the levain, combine the sourdough starter, water and flour (see image 2) in a medium bowl and mix until well combined.Cover with plastic wrap and stand in a warm, draught-free place (approx. Add of the water and dissolve or break up the sourdough with your hands. Mix the drier dough until it has developed into the desired dough strength. We would like to share the recipe we used here, hopefully to get some help from the experienced bakers around! It will only improve the flavor. Sourdough does not stop cooking when you take it out of the oven. Within eight to 12 hours of feeding your starter, you want to see a noticeable increase in volume and it should be putting off a pretty pungent. Place on a peel, slip into the oven, and watch. All original site content copyright 2023 The Fresh Loaf unless stated otherwise. Sticky sourdough isnt something anybody wants to work with, but it is completely normal and something that you need to get used to if youre going to get good at making sourdough bread. Mix well. It's a good thing for bread dough, but it also means that it makes the mess you're attempting to clean up extra sticky and impossible to clean up . The flour you choose can have a big bearing on how your dough feels throughout the whole sourdough process. Turn the oven off, leave the door slightly ajar and place your bread directly on the oven rack. Some things to have on hand to work with really wet dough are: So how do you fix wet and sticky sourdough? . If the sourdough is unworkable at the very start, this obviously isnt because the oven temperature isnt set right for your elevation. Sometimes the issue is the kneading technique. It's when this doesn't happen that problems start to occur. You just need to reduce the heat on the base of your Dutch Oven or baking tray. Salthand-mixed, Rubaud style, for 5 minutes. You can use wet hands during the stretch and fold stage or even when you need to gently handle the dough in almost any situation. The crumb is open and definitely "finished" - the bread can be compressed and springs right back. You want to be fast enough to limit any sticking, but not too fast or you might make a mess. After sourdough fermentation, the lactic acid bacteria produce acetaldehyde. As Ive already mentioned, gluten is essential to prevent too much sticking. It's really important to develop the gluten in your sourdough to ensure you don't end up with a wet and sticky mess. Bread needs gluten development in order to trap gas and rise, but this also helps the dough to become less sticky. During shaping, we want to wet our hands to prevent the dough from sticking to it. Under mixing and over mixing results in insufficient gluten strands to trap water inside the dough, causing the dough to be wet and sticky. Stretch dough into rough 10"x17" rectangle, laminate and move to clean vessel for bulk. Just dont freeze it. A tightly shaped dough that has been stitched when placed in the banneton will hold together better when tipped out for baking. Rest uncovered for 25 minutes. You just want to make sure it's not too wet for you to handle. Can you just add more flour to your sourdough? You see, when your hands are wet, the dough cannot stick to them easily, so it just slips right through them. Perhaps your sourdough is too sticky when you start working with it. Cut one loaf of sourdough bread into 1" cubes. If you're using all purpose flour, it can be a good idea to add some vital wheat gluten to the mix. Also check the temperature of your fridge to ensure it's 4C or under. This method involves mixing the dough so the flour is fully hydrated before performing a series of stretch and folds. I have done wetter doughs at similar times/temps without the gumminess but I take your point - your lower/slower suggestion makes sense to me and I may well try that on my next go-round. CAUSES - There are number of causes here, but the main one is that it was not baked long enough for the moisture in the dough to be baked out of the bread. . Mix with the paddle on low speed until it forms a thick batter. The exterior was perfectly brown. It can also be called Fool's Crumb where the bread appears to have an "open crumb" however the holes are large and surrounded by an uneven, tight crumb that is not desirable. The hardness of water measureshow much calcium and magnesium ion is present (expressed as ppm). This will ensure that the bread is cooked all the way through. If so, fix that, and try it with your standard bake temps/times, And then, if the problem persists, then add to the lower hydration the lower/longer bake temps/times, too. The dough should be a little sticky before you start kneading it. I went here and checked the recipe -https://www.abeautifulplate.com/artisan-sourdough-bread-recipe/ it called for 350 BF and 90 WW, for a total of 440, plus 45 from the starter ( which was 100% hydration) for a total of 485. Bread doesn't rise when baked. SOLUTION - The solution to this problem is to ensure that your dough is fermented correctly. 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. Don't close the oven door or the crust will become soft and wrinkly. The only time I wouldnt recommend using wet hands is during shaping. 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 you cant shape it, the sourdough is too sticky. if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'crustylabs_com-leader-4','ezslot_20',129,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-crustylabs_com-leader-4-0');If you are proofing your dough in a non porous material such as a metal or glass container, then oiling is preferred over dusting with flour. The next day, preheat the oven to 500 degrees for 60 minutes. A great way to start the gluten development is to simply begin with an autolyse (mixing just the flour and water and letting it sit for one hour or more). CAUSE - a tight and or uneven crumb is generally caused by under fermentation, but can also be due to not having a mature or active starter. 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. At the same time, we should dust the work surface lightly during shaping as we need some level of stickiness and friction between the dough and the work surface to create sufficient skin tension. Below, Ive listed the main reasons your sourdough is sticky, so have a look through and see how they might be affecting your dough. This arguably makes the dough easier to work with. Okay, so maybe sourdough is never going to be extremely easy to handle, especially when it has very high hydration, but you can get to a point where youre very comfortable with handling sticky sourdough. Gently turn the dough out onto a separate floured flat baking tray (not preheated). strengthening and maturing your sourdough starter. This is particular difficult if you're working in humid conditions. The gluten structure has become weak and is unable to hold up. However, the dough may be too hydrated for your location. Since using dry hands can be such a big problem for the sticky dough, Id advise that you get yourself a bowl of water to dip your hands in before you handle the dough. Then, spoon bread flour and whole wheat flour into the bowl. Im the face behind The Pantry Mama and I want to help you bake delicious sourdough bread, no matter what your schedule. An under fermented sourdough loaf will have a shiny, pale crust that lacks crunch. Makes 1 x 800-g/1-lbs. 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 . From a gummy crumb to a lack of rise and everything in between. It will stay very wet and sticky, rather than strengthen with each stretch and fold. Your guide to solving sourdough bread problems. This is when you let the dough rest after it is mixed but before you start to knead it. Alternatively if you want to use all purpose flour, you'll need to reduce the hydration of your dough. Insufficient gluten development is what makes the dough so sticky, so if youre using a low protein flour (protein in flour creates gluten), it wont be able to create as much gluten in the dough and it will, therefore, be stickier. If baking in a pre-heated oven, turn on the oven to at least 200C/392F, once heated, add two big glasses of water to a dish on the bottom shelf First, good effort, but where did you get the recipe from? 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. All flour has a certain percentage of damaged starch particles, but when the amount of damaged starch particles exceed 10%, dough becomes wet and sticky. Hi @Semolina, we waited only an hour before cutting into it, hasty on our part! 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. #7 The bread cooled in the oven When the bread looks ready, some bakers turn the oven off and leave it inside for 20 minutes to make their bread less gummy. Pinpointing the cause of your wet and sticky dough will depend where in the sourdough process you are. It's not until all of this steam has escaped that your bread actually finishes cooking. Why Is My Sourdough Too Sticky? Turn out on to a surface and knead for 10 minutes or until the 'windowpane effect' is . Second, mix the dough using a previously fed, active and bubbly sourdough starter, water and a mixture of bread and whole wheat flour. If you do have a watery starter, you'll need to adjust the amount of water in your dough or set about finding a solution to thicken it up. Thank you in advance! Sticky and unmanagable sourdough. Generally, flat loaves will still taste ok, they just lack that beautiful airiness we want to see in our sourdough. When water is excessively hard, it tightens the gluten as well as decrease fermentation rate. Using too much water for the amount of flour you're using will result in a wet dough that's really hard to handle. Cover the bowl with a clean shower cap or plastic wrap and rest at 80F/26C for a minimum of 1 hour or as long as 2 hours. But what if your dough is really wet and sticky and you just can't do anything with it? Jack Sturgess. We know that flour is essential, but you need to make sure that youre using it correctly for the best results. However, it is possible to get sticky sourdough that is hard to get out of the pan or cut into pieces. After fermenting for too long, the gluten in the dough begins to break down, which leaves you with a thick, gloopy mass of flour and water with no way to make good sourdough. Lets look at some of the common problems with sourdough bread and how to deal with them. 24.5- 28C) overnight (12-14 hours). Bake in a preheated 425F oven for about 45 minutes, until bread tests done. Matching my work schedule. Sometimes removing the bread out of the Dutch oven and baking it on the shelf for the last few minutes has a positive effect. 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. This method works better with slack dough anyway. This makes it easier to handle. Heres What To Do, how to stop sourdough sticking to everything, Good Food Good Mood Sign Free Printable. You just get more un-fermented dough that wont stand up. However, you should avoid using a mixer to do this, because it can overheat the dough and break down the gluten strands. Turn out to lightly floured counter, divide into 2, preshape. 1 our is defently to short. Damaged starch particles also varies from one milling facility to another. Sourdough can take up to 24 hours to fully cool and come to room temperature. 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. One of the most obvious causes of wet dough is using too much water in the dough. Bake in a Dutch Oven. The only solution for this is to toss your dough and put your time into strengthening and maturing your sourdough starter. no one but me would notice or care). It is often easier to make. If your kitchen is too warm, the dough can become a sloppy, wet mess. How Long Does Cookie Dough Last in the Fridge. Once one side is stretched and dusted, you should shape the dough and put it into your banneton. Meanwhile chop the cranberries. Use a very sharp knife to cut a cross shape into the top of the . I hope this guide helps you to troubleshoot your sourdough bread problems and ultimately bake a better loaf! I've been making breads recently which, while they're delicious, seemingly well-baked, and with an open crumb, are a bit tacky/sticky to the touch and during slicing. Overproofed bread will also have a pale crust because the yeast has used all the sugars and therefore there are none left to caramelise the crust. If you can see the light through the dough, youre done the kneading. Youre right, the actual hydration is around 77%, and I understood that from the start. Instead of kneading your dough manually for 8-10 minutes, youd be better off using a series of stretch and folds to develop gluten. Place on a floured cake or bowl with a tea towel and fold over. bread sticky after baking. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. This is because of the moisture that remains in your sourdough. Undigested sourdough bread can ferment byproducts in your gut when it reaches your colon. Instructions. This is the sourdough baking course you need if you are just starting out in sourdough bread baking.