Working on my Sourdough boules

Re: Working on my Sourdough boules

This is sticking my neck out because those are rather strange looking loaves that suggest a number of issues and you have told us almost nothing about how you made the bread or baked it. Photos can be misleading so I could be all wrong, but here is my take on what is going wrong.

It looks like you are baking in a cold Dutch oven with no lid. The bottom and sides look way undercooked and the boule expansion looks like the dough has a dry skin. The only part that looks "right" is the top and I am going to bet you spray it because I cannot rationalize a loaf that is so dry and underbaked on the sides and so "proper" on the top. Hmmm...I am going to guess you have a rather hot oven (475 to 500), put in the cold DO without a lid, and bake for about 20-25 minutes. If so you will do far better to 1) use the lid for it will slow the baking of the top and give more even results on the top and sides, 2) heat both the DO and the lid to about 450 (yes it is dangerous!), and 3) find a temp that lets you bake for closer to 40 minutes before the top looks like the photo.

The white dots look like clumps of unmixed flour. If you sent us a photo of an unbaked loaf they should show as bumps on the skin of the loaf. (Could also be you used clumpy flour to dust the bowl/form and/or loaf) This last observation suggests that you are using a "no knead" approach and are no mixing your ingredients enough. Mix and knead more - until everything is fully blended and has uniformity. Learn to do a window.

I am even willing to guess that the loaves may have a fairly nice open crumb but that they have some rather large holes also (due to inadequate salt and yeast mixing).

The loaves probably taste fairly good but...would be better if more evenly baked and finished.

That's my read. As I said, I may not be right. I always welcome correction to my analyses because that way I can learn too.

Good Luck!
Jay

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