April 17, 2024 - 7:06am
why is my dough so slack?
I have tried my different beginner recipes with the hydration being 60% to 65%. My dough is so slack that I am having a very hard time working it. My dough gets looser as it bulk ferments. I've tried cold ferments and room temp ferments. My starter is 4 month old and I've made a few very good loaves and some very interesting loaves. I have been feeding a 1:1:1 ratio. Please help!
I really love this website and all the amazing breads that everyone is making!
Thank you, Maggie
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It's hard to know without more information. What flour, how often is the starter refreshed, is it stored in the refrigerator or the counter or some other temperature, when and how do you refresh it before use (if you do)? Mixed by hand or machine?
Just to make sure, tell us how you calculate hydration of the starter and the dough.
In general, a 1:1:1 refreshment would tend to favor acid production. Too much acid can weaken the gluten. But having the dough get more extensible as time goes on - that's totally normal. It happens as the gluten relaxes. You can counteract that tendency when you shape, within limits, of course.
TomP
I use King Arthur all purpose flour, refresh the night before - make a levain in the morning. I store my starter on the counter, live in New England - room temp 65 to 70 degrees. I mix by hand.
My research led me to try the basic recipe in The Perfect Loaf by Maurizio Leo. I thought I followed all the steps just like in the book. But something is not right.
Maggie
Would you give a link to that recipe, please? He's got quite a few on the site.
It's from his book.
Ah, I don't have that. Just summarize the steps. would you?
If you go to his website, it's the Beginner's Sourdough. The levain amounts are a little different and ,on the website he uses Rye and whole wheat flours along with white, but I think everything else is the same.
If you've dropped the water amount - the starter may not be ready - or it's gone to far (my guess) - either one will cause this. Enjoy!
I agree, get the starter active, and vigorous without a strong acid "load".
https://youtu.be/beKzcOe6w_o?si=gC8NFTaGnp_AUaM6 shows how to prepare such a levain in great detail.
thank you. very interesting video. alot of good information! I was thinking that my starter wasn't acting right.
Maggie
You could try increasing the hydration level of the dough to 70-75% and doing some extra fermentation to strengthen the dough structure. You could also try using a higher percentage of starter or a more active starter to get more stable fermentation.