How Did We Get Here?

Troubleshooting your dough.

It’s shocking how much can go wrong with just three ingredients.  Let’s talk about some common trouble spots for doughs, and what you can do to fix them.  I’ll be adding to this list periodically.  What would you like to see added to this list?  Comment below!

The dough pulls like taffy; there is no resistance:

Oops, you have overmixed your dough.  Time for Plan B.

Avoid future mistakes: you most likely overmixed via machine, yes?  It’s okay, we’ve all been there.  When this happens to me, the water was usually too warm for the dough to develop properly in the mixer, and it was already a hot summer day to boot.  Next time try using colder water, and mixing for less time.  If you already dumped warmer-than-advised water into your mixer, mix in stages.  Mix for a few minutes, let the dough rest for 10 minutes to develop a bit without the friction of the mixer.  Maybe stick your dough in the fridge for a bit to cool it down as you mix in stages.  Continue this way until your dough is properly mixed.

And now to avoid wasting your dough: I refrigerate and save the dough to use as a preferment for other doughs, until I’ve used all of the ruined dough.  The time in the fridge firms the dough up a bit, slows the fermentation, and it adds a nice depth of flavor to the subsequent loaves I mix it into.  I only mix the ruined dough into dough that was, ideally, the same recipe or the same hydration, so that way I don’t have to futz with hydration percentages, etc.

My dough isn’t rising at all, like AT ALL:

1. Is your room very cold?  Was your water very cold?  Is your dough right now below 74F (23C)?  It will proof eventually, it just needs more time.  If you wanna speed things up: boil a small pot of water, then put that pot of boiled water in your oven along with your dough and check on it every 30 minutes.  The steam and heat from the water will help things along.  DO NOT turn on your oven.  Alert your entire household not to touch the oven.

1. If you’re using yeast, it’s possible 1) you forgot to add the yeast, or 2) your yeast is old and no longer active.  Test the remaining yeast you have by dissolving about 5g yeast, 5g sugar, and 60g water together in a bowl.  If it froths up and is bubbly after about 10 minutes, then your yeast is still active.  But did you remember to add your yeast to your dough?  If you forgot, you can either add this slurry to your dough, or get more yeast and add that instead.  If you’re adding the slurry, try to sprinkle just enough flour in the bowl as you’re mixing to get approximately the same consistency that you had before.  If your test did not produce any bubbles/frothiness: oops.  Your yeast is inactive.  Do you have time to run to the store  or to a neighbor and get more (active) yeast?  You can mix the new yeast with a tiny amount of water to make a yeast slurry, and then remix that into your dough.  Your final dough will be a little tighter than you want, but at least you won’t have to throw the whole thing away.

1. If you’re not using yeast, did you remember to add your starter?  Go back to your recipe and total the weight of all the ingredients.  Now weigh your dough.  If your dough is missing the weight of your starter, don’t panic, just mix the starter in now and start the bulk fermentation over again.

1. Taste the dough.  If it tastes super salty, you probably mis-scaled your salt, and all that extra salt is inhibiting the rise.  It will affect the taste of the final loaf, so waiting around longer for the dough to proof really isn’t an option here (unless you want super salty bread).  Add extra flour, water, inclusions, etc (but NO MORE SALT) so that you have a larger batch of dough that tastes normal.

My dough is rising fast, like SUPER FAST, and it also feels a little weird.  Like…loose?

This dough was mixed in a warm room with warm water, and acted accordingly.

Check that the temperatures are not too warm.  Water?  Room?  Dough not above 78F (25C)?  If all that checks out: did you forget to add the salt?  Taste the dough.  Does it taste dead, like it needs something (like salt)?  Add the salt and just treat this like an extra long autolyse.  Restart your bulk fermentation, but check the dough a little more frequently since the fermentation is already well on its way.

I keep my salt in a small container right next to the dough so I don’t forget to add it later.  Or you can sprinkle the top of your dough with the salt so you will see the unmixed salt and immediately know that the salt needs mixing in.

My boule puffed up like a basketball in the oven.

Your boule was underproofed before you baked it.  Let it proof for longer next time.

I scored my loaf, but the slashes didn’t really open, and the loaf busted open in weird places.

Your scores may not have been deep enough.  Also, if you are baking at home outside of a dutch oven, there may not have been enough steam in your oven to allow for proper loaf expansion before the crust dried out, causing the insides to burst out at weaker/more pliable sections of the crust before the crust dried out.  Try spritzing your loaf with more water before loading your oven, and also having a sheet tray of water inside of your oven to create a steamy environment.  

I preheat my (home) oven with a tray of water inside to create a steamy oven.  I keep a kettle of hot water handy to refill the tray with hot water before I load the oven.  Honestly, this is a tricky problem for home bakers to overcome, because home ovens are designed to vent moisture out of the oven, to promote crispy baking.  No matter what, that bread is gonna taste delicious.

Still got trouble on your hands?  Comment below and check back to see if it makes the list!