In this blog you speak of crumb.
"...Speaking of an open crumb (i.e., large holes in the finished loaf), how do you make that happen?
Generally the higher the hydration (amount of liquid in the dough compared to flour), the more open the crumb – think ciabatta. However, sourdough’s acidity tightens the dough’s gluten, making it more difficult for large holes to form. Thus, kneading it less will keep the dough relatively relaxed, encouraging that sought-for open crumb.
Another factor affecting the crumb is the protein content of the flour. In general, if you’re looking for a more open crumb in your bread, our unbleached all-purpose flour is a better choice than our unbleached bread flour, since the higher protein content of the bread flour will tend to give you a stronger dough, which often leads to a tighter crumb structure..."
I have not seen in any anecdotal nor research-based writings on bread crumb the claim that stronger dough tightens crumb. What is the source of that claim?
Thank you for the good writings on working with stiff starters, a new area of my quest to build more tang in my bread.
September 14, 2018 at 5:43pm