I've been making Sourdough bread for almost 2 years and I was really excited to make this Rustic Sourdough bread shaping them into long loaves. They both looked great when I put them into the oven, but they didn't brown on top after 30 minutes and seemed to slightly flatten. They aren't attractive and look nothing like the picture you presented. I was not able to use all 5 cups of flour. It kneaded very nicely with about 4-1/2 cups. I kneaded it for 5 minutes and it rose nicely. The loaves rose nicely as well. When I make my Round Sourdough loaf I make it in a Dutch oven with the lid on for 20 minutes and then the lid off for 15 and they always come out brown and wonderful, so I'm not sure what happened here. Could not using that 1/2 cup have caused them to slightly flatten. Also, why didn't they brown on top at all? Thank you.

• Reply