How to Get A Thinner Crust on Sourdough Bread And Make It Softer & Less Chewy (2024)

FAQs

How to Get A Thinner Crust on Sourdough Bread And Make It Softer & Less Chewy? ›

If you aren't quite ready to try a higher hydration dough, you can also try to increase the amount of steam inside your Dutch Oven. Spraying your dough liberally with a water atomiser helps to thin out your crust. It can also help you to get a beautiful blistered sourdough crust!

Brush With Butter

Butter contains fats that retain gases during baking, ensuring the dough rises properly in the oven and softening the crust. If you forget to brush the dough before you bake, you can still apply it as soon as you take it out. The butter will minimize the amount of crisping a loaf will do as it cools.

tips for avoiding a gummy sourdough loaf - 1) try making a loaf with lower hydration 2) make sure to develop the gluten sufficiently, whether through autolysing, laminating, kneading, or folding 3) make sure to proof long enough 4) make sure to bake long enough and let the loaf cool before cutring #sourdoughtok # ...

Try less water with your flour. Uneven heat in your oven can be the culprit – if you loaf is nicely golden on the outside but gummy or moist in the inside, it's baking too quickly on the outside. Trying reducing the temperature you're baking at and bake for a bit longer.

Bread too dense? It might be cold dough. One of the most common mistakes is having a dough temperature that's too low for the starter to feed on all the flour in the dough, resulting in a crumb that's dense, with fewer openings. "Starter is happiest and most active at around 75 degrees.

If you are rubbing your dough with flour before baking to accentuate your scored designs, this too can dehydrate your crust, causing it to be tougher and more chewy. Try just spraying with water before baking or minimising the amount of flour you're using on the surface of your bread.

Your sourdough crust goes soft after cooling because there is still too much moisture in your bread. The baking process should have removed this moisture, but if it's too short, the moisture remains in the crust and softens it as soon as the sourdough cools.

Most likely when this happens, it's not you - it's your starter. If your loaf is dense, has uneven holes and a gummy texture, most likely there wasn't enough active wild yeast in your starter to make the bread develop and rise during baking. This can be the case even if your starter seems really happy and bubbly.

12- Once the dough is out of the oven, remove from the pans quickly and place on a wire rack to cool, and brush with melted butter. This will help the crust to be soft. Wait at least 20 minutes before cutting. For best results, wait until loaves are completely cool.

Over-kneading has a tendency to result in chewy bread. Here's how to tell if you've kneaded enough. Another possibility—you used bread flour when all-purpose flour would do. If a recipe with bread flour turned out chewier than you like, try it with all-purpose and knead only as much as the recipe directs.

Is homemade sourdough bread supposed to be chewy? ›

No sourdough should not be wet or gummy inside. Wetness or gumminess is caused by under fermented sourdough that has not been baked through fully. Some sourdough breads can be denser in texture, but they should not be wet or gummy.

Sourdough bread can be really light if you know how to play with your ratios. When I want a really fluffy, light loaf with a thin crust I work 300g starter to each kilogram of flour and 500g water (less or more depending on the kind of bread I'm making). A teaspoon of sugar helps.

Splash some water over the top of your bread, just enough to become slightly damp. Place the loaf in a 250°F oven for 5 to 10 minutes. Watch it closely and remove it when warm.

A common solution for gummy dough is adding less water. If excess water remains in the dough after it's baked, it will result in a gummy dough. Excessive water can also get in the way of the gluten structure, resulting in a more dense loaf.

Over-kneading sourdough can lead to tough, dense bread. It's key to knead for 10-15 minutes by hand or 5-8 minutes with a mixer, watching for a tacky texture and the "windowpane" effect. Over-kneading accelerates fermentation, affecting rise and taste.

What is Overproofed? Over-proofed dough has rested too long, causing the yeast to produce too much carbon dioxide, weakening the gluten bonds. The surface of the dough may have a sagging, dimpled appearance rather than a smooth, rounded look.

Wrap the bread in a damp (not soaking) towel, place on a baking sheet, and pop it in the oven for 5-10 minutes. In the microwave: Wrap the bread in a damp (not soaking) towel, place it on a microwave-safe dish, and microwave on high for 10 seconds. Check and repeat if necessary.

So what you do, you take it and you drench it in water. Yes, drench it, put it on a baking sheet. and bake it at 450 degrees for about 10 to 15 minutes. And you pull it out and it's crunchy.

So, with this in mind, I always recommend storing your freshly-baked sourdough loaf in a cotton bread bag or simply wrap it in a cotton tea towel to allow the bread to 'breathe'. Then, leave your bread in a cool place, so it can maintain normal moisture levels without encouraging bacteria and mould to grow.

Take a 'stale' loaf of sourdough bread, splash the top with water, and re-bake at 180/200C (fan/conventional) to restore to its just-baked condition. Indicative times are: 5-8 minutes for small loaves like baguette or ciabatta, 12-15 minutes for a 600-900g loaf.