Underfermentation (Instagram Recap # 6)

So this series of posts focuses on the problem of underfermentation (for more info on these recaps please see this post). And a rampant problem it is. By my own observation this seems to be the most common problem for those bakers new to sourdough. It was a problem that I suffered myself back when I first started baking. It’s practically a right of passage.

But it’s also a very frustrating problem — especially since it so often goes undiagnosed. More than a few aspiring sourdough bakers have given up before they even really started because they just couldn’t figure out why their loaves were spreading flat or their bread was so heavy and dense with gummy crumb and just a few large holes or tunnels under the crust.

This series of posts were written back in November and December of 2018 with the aim of helping folks to fully understand the challenges that come from underfermented dough, and to better enable them to correctly diagnose the problem when it arises. If you’re a newer sourdough baker then perhaps you too might find this info useful.

I should also probably mention that the final post in this series was promotional to help drum up some sales for my book (hey, we all gotta make a living), but I’ve included it here since it was a part of the series and it did provide a useful summary. But I hope you’ll find that the rest of the info more than makes up for the bit of self-promotion at the end. Enjoy!

Link to Instagram post (11/25/18)

What is the most common problem for new sourdough bakers? Aside from actually creating a viable starter in the first place, it seems to me that most difficulties actually trace back to underfermentation, particularly during bulk. The problem is that underfermentation can manifest as several seemingly different issues. One malady, many symptoms.

A new baker may see their flat loaves and mistake dough that spreads for dough that deflates, leading to an incorrect diagnosis of overproofing rather than the correct one of underproofing. Reducing proof time to fix the problem only makes it worse.
They may find their loaves sticking uncontrollably to the banneton – – despite heavy flouring – – and determine that their dough is so sticky due to insufficient mixing and gluten development. But actually the problem arises due to the lack of structure in their underproofed dough – – without structure it oozes and spreads into every nook and cranny, and no amount of flour will prevent sticking.

Perhaps they are fooled by a crumb that has a few big holes or tunnels, but is otherwise dense and gummy. What they see as “open and custardy” is actually underfermented and underbaked. I call this “Fool’s Crumb” in my ebook (link in profile) because it’s not so different than the Fool’s Gold that fooled so many prospectors during the California Gold Rush.

Underfermentation has too many symptoms to cover in a single post (perhaps a series is called for 🤔). And underfermentation itself can have several different causes. Is bulk too short? Too cold? Maybe both? Is it a problem with the starter? (Hint: it usually is). If so, what is the problem? And how can you fix it?

Unfortunately, new sourdough bakers simply lack the experience necessary to make an accurate diagnosis of the problem. That’s not a knock against them – – we’ve all been there – – but it can easily lead to confusion and mistaken judgement. It leads one to attempt curing the symptom rather than the disease. I can’t offer any good answers in such a short space, but when faced with a problem that stumps you, often the first place to look is fermentation. Cheers! #opencrumbmastery

Link to Instagram post (11/26/18)

It seems folks want me to talk a bit about underfermentation. So I guess we can call this Part 2 in a series (see my previous post for the intro). Now, obviously this loaf is not underfermented. It exhibits a nice and full shape – – tall, round and voluminous. Not flat, not sloped. The crumb in the 4th picture shows nice fermentation and structure. This loaf is airy, and light in the hand. Not dense in any way. All around, a well-structured loaf.

And we might as well begin with dough structure. Because it is the lack of structure that leads to so many of the problems associated with underfermentation. First of all, it’s important to understand that dough structure is not the same thing as gluten. Gluten is just one component of dough structure. Fermentation gas is the other. No matter how well developed your gluten may be, if there is no gas to fill it then you will have no structure.

It’s like a brick wall – – you need both brick and mortar to build a solid wall. Mortar alone will not stand. Gluten = mortar, gas = bricks. A common mistake of newer sourdough bakers is the belief that it is simply the gluten that forms the structure and holds the loaf up. That is incorrect. They do not realize that it is the *gas* that actually holds the loaf up – – the gluten merely holds the gas. A dough that is underfermented during bulk is one without sufficient gas to hold a shape. All mortar, no bricks. And therefore no structure.

Without sufficient structure, a dough will flow excessively. It spreads. If you try to shape the dough it will only flatten out (pancake) shortly thereafter because it has no structure – – no bricks – – to hold it up and help it stand. Even placing the loaf in a supportive banneton to rise cannot compensate for the lack of structural development during bulk (I’ll explain why in a later post). So how do we know when the dough has sufficiently risen enough during bulk?

Well, I was gonna get to that but I ran out of space. So I guess I’ll have to save that for another post. Cheers! #opencrumbmastery

Link to Instagram post (11/27/18)

Underfermentation Part 3: I know I left off last time by promising to discuss how to properly judge bulk fermentation. Don’t worry, I’ll keep that promise. But perhaps it’s best that we start at the very beginning – – and everything begins with the starter.

The vast majority of novice sourdough bakers’ problems with underfermentation are due to an underactive starter. They see that their starter bubbles and rises (very slowly), and think they have a nice and active starter. As I point out in my ebook (link in profile) they are mistaking signs of life for signs of healthy activity. A man in a coma also exhibits signs of life, but we would hardly say he is active.

So if a bit of bubbling and slow rising isn’t enough to prove that a starter is healthy and active, then what is? Well, it depends upon the starter, of course. Different starters will behave differently. A whole wheat starter may not bubble as much or rise as high as a white starter, a rye starter perhaps even less so. And we haven’t even discussed starter hydration. This is why it’s so important for new sourdough bakers to get to know their starter. It’s best that a new starter be kept at warmish room temperature for at least a few weeks (though a few months is better) and fed around twice a day so that the baker becomes very familiar with its signs and rhythms. And this helps ensure the starter reaches a strong, vigorous, and stable state before it’s faced with the hardship of refrigeration.

In my opinion, the best way to judge a starter’s activity level is by measuring its rate of rise – – how quickly (or slowly) it takes to double or triple in volume. Again, this will differ depending upon the qualities of your starter (so get familiar with your starter), but for a typical white 100% hydration starter fed at a 1:2:2 ratio at comfortable room temp, I like to see it at least double in volume within 8 hours. Tripling in volume is much preferred. And the most vigorous starters – – the kind that make the lightest and most open InstaWorthy breads – – will typically triple in 6 hours or even less, just as the starter in this video did. Cheers! #opencrumbmastery

Link to Instagram post (11/28/18)

Underfermentation Part 4: This is an old video I found on my phone that seemed appropriate for this post. I don’t remember much about the dough, but looks like it was at least 80% hydration, maybe 85%. And looks like quite the bulk – – maybe almost doubled in volume, probably an 80% increase or thereabouts. Higher than I usually go. So let’s start there…. When trying to determine if bulk fermentation is complete, there are a few things one might consider. Are there bubbles on the surface? That’s a good sign for wetter doughs. Is the dough starting to “dome”? Also a good sign. Smooth glossy surface? Excellent. How about aroma and taste? Does it smell of fermentation? Does it have an acidic bite? All good then. But these are admittedly subjective signs and do require a bit of experience to consistently determine with accuracy. Is there another way? Why yes, yes there is…. Percentage rise in volume.

Though not perfect, it does tend to be a more objective way of measuring the progress of bulk fermentation. This is a very big topic, and I can’t do it justice here (though I go very deep into the subject in my ebook – – there’s a link to it in my profile). Generally, for the modern Tartine-style breads that are so prominent on Instagram, you are looking for a 30% to 50% increase in volume.

Why this range?

Because below 30% you risk underfermentation, and above 50% the dough becomes very difficult to handle without excessive degassing. Since this series is about underfermentation, let’s focus on that.

A 30% rise is often where real dough structure begins to form (see previous posts in this series for more info on structure). Structure is what allows dough to hold tension and hold a shape. If you bulk much below a 30% increase, then you will need superior hand skills in order to shape a loaf with sufficient surface tension that can make up for its lack of structure.

If your dough lacks structure – – if it is underfermented – – it has no “body,” no ability to hold a form. It will ooze and spread and flatten out. Your loaves will pancake. Ovenspring will be minimal, your cuts will not bloom (no ears), and you’ll get the dreaded “Fool’s Crumb.” To be continued…

Link to Instagram post (12/2/18)

Underfermentation Part 5: The relationship between structure, shape and spread. For reference, this loaf is 85% hydration – – quite wet. Notice how tall it stands, how little it spreads when tipped out into the pan (#jimsbreadpan prototype by @jimchall). Granted, this loaf was pulled straight from the fridge (cold dough is more firm than warm dough), but even still, there is relatively little spread. That is due to structure.

In an earlier post in this series, I made the analogy comparing dough to a brick wall. Gas bubbles are the bricks that hold the dough up while gluten is the mortar that holds the bricks in place. You need both for a loaf to stand up and hold shape. If your loaf is underfermented there will not be sufficient gas for the dough to hold a shape. No bricks. And just like mortar without bricks, the dough will ooze and flow along the path of least resistance.

If you shape this underfermented dough into a loaf, it will quickly lose surface tension and flatten out because there is insufficient gas to hold a shape. That’s what we call “spread”. A dough that flattens from spread is not the same as a dough that flattens from deflation. Though both may result in a flat loaf, the causes are opposite – – spread is due to underproofing (primarily in bulk) whereas deflation is caused by overproofing. Overproofed dough deflates because it has too much gas for the loaf to contain, underproofed dough spreads because it does not have enough gas for the loaf to stand.

You cannot make up for underfermentation during bulk simply by extending the final rise of the loaf (unless your dough is very stiff). Since the loaf lost its tension and shape (pancaked) before it began to accumulate significant gas structure – – since it spread *before* inflation – – the extended final proof will only result in a flat and floppy loaf with poor shape and little potential for ovenspring. If the dough is proofed in a supportive basket, the lack of internal structural development will simply cause the loaf to spread once it’s been turned out. Without internal support, the external support is meaningless. Imagine trying to stand if you had no bones. 🤔

Cheers! #opencrumbmastery

Link to Instagram post (12/3/18)

Underfermentation Part 6 (Final): If you’ve been following along, I hope this series has proven helpful. As noted in the series intro, underfermentation is probably the most common problem for newer sourdough bakers.

Unfortunately, underfermentation can manifest as quite a few different (and seemingly unrelated) symptoms. But their common underlying cause is the lack of structure that comes from insufficient gas production in the dough. Gas = structure, and lack of structure will wreak havoc with your dough. To sum it up clearly…. 1) Healthy starters generate healthy fermentation.
2) Healthy fermentation (gas production) builds solid dough structure.
3) Solid dough structure allows a loaf to stand tall and hold a shape. No spread, no pancakes, no Fool’s Crumb.
And we haven’t even touched on how folding the dough affects the development and organization of dough structure. That’s probably a series unto itself. 🤔

If you’ve enjoyed this series, then you’ll enjoy my ebook “Open Crumb Mastery” even more (there’s a link to it in my profile). I cover this kind of info, and much more in even greater detail than I did here. It is not a recipe book. It is a conversation. It teaches concepts that can’t be found elsewhere, but which are foundational to a baker’s understanding of the process and the product. It was written to fill the knowledge gap, and so the material it covers is original and exclusive. It does not rehash the same old info covered so often in other bread books (for proof, swipe to see the Table of Contents). It provides a framework of understanding from which the baker can make intelligent decisions and adjust the variables to suit preference and need. No more guessing. 😎 Cheers! #opencrumbmastery