I'm after ideas and suggestions of how to prevent my sourdough dough
from sticking to the banneton at the end of the proving stage. This
has been happening more often the last three or four bakes. (I only
make my sourdough loaf once a fortnight as some members of
my household don't really like it.)
The flour I use is my prime culprit. My artisan organic miller seemed
to change their white strong/bread flour formulation around the time
of my first failure. It had a slightly coarser texture with some meal
content, now it doesn't. But I might just be blaming the flour for
some poor technique on my part. This "new" flour works beautifully
with all the other breads and rolls I make.
My sourdough culture is a 50/50 mix of spelt flour and water. The jar
is covered with a glass lid held down with a wire clasp. I top the
culture up after making each loaf with a 75g/75ml shot, mix it in
well, then store it in the fridge for two weeks. Before I make the
dough I get it back out the fridge give it another 75g/75ml shot, mix
it in well again, and leave it to stand for 12 hours by which time
the surface is covered in (small) bubbles.
The main flour I use is (now) this rather fine strong/bread white
flour. And 460g of that is added to 300g of the culture, those two
top up should equal this, and 230ml of water (which is about 10ml
less than I used with the previous flour formulation) with 10g of
finely ground sea salt to regulate fermentation. I knead for 15
minutes. It rises for 3 or 4 hours before being knocked back, shaped
and put in the banneton. The loaf is left to prove for 12 hours. The
rise and prove are generally okay with the dough doubling in volume
each time. But the dough is very sticky with this new flour formulation.
I have tried dusting the banneton with more flour before putting the
dough in it for proving. Including adding some semolina flour into
the "dust". Also tried putting the banneton inside a plastic bag
rather than just covering the top to prevent a skin forming on the
sides and "top" of the loaf. But neither of these has solved the
problem. So now more drastic measures are necessary.
I am unsure whether because of that change I'm now putting way too
much water into the mix. It is rather wet but still around the same
as my doughs for my other breads and rolls. Perhaps I need to add in
some strong/bread wholemeal flour to balance out the change. Or in
the extreme change to a completely different flour.
I'm hoping amongst all you more knowledgable bakers some of you will
have the answer(s) to my problem.
Regards, Trevor.
<>< Re: deemed!