# Second Bassman sourdough bread,



## DanMcG (Dec 19, 2010)

and looking better then the first. But I got a question. Why did my loaf spread out/flatten out. It seemed to hold it's shape well when rising, but after the final rise it was sticking to the bowl and when placed on the baking sheet it spread out. it was still good but more of a flat loaf then what I was hoping for. I'm guessing to much water in the mix. Plus it was tough to slice the top... the dough was stickin to the knife and pulling.

Thanks for any advice, Dan


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## scarbelly (Dec 19, 2010)

Wow, we have been making bread for years and have not had that happen. We just got some of Keith's starter and are bouncing back and forth between his and the one we got from Carls 1847 site and have not had this happen.   We did have an issue with water. Even with our extensive water filter we were getting some bread that did not rise all the way so we switched over to bottled water and all was well again. You might try some bottled water to see if that helps


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## DanMcG (Dec 19, 2010)

That was another question I meant to ask. we have chlorinated water. and I never thought to use bottled water, so that's probably not helping the rise. (funny thing is I use bottled water for my sausage but never gave the bread a thought)

The bread seemed to rise fine but when It was shaped into a loaf it sort of spread out and didn't hold it's shape. The only thing I can figure is even though i used the recomended 6.5 cups of flour it may have needed more. Being new to bread I'm not sure what it should feel like


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## bassman (Dec 19, 2010)

Dan, I don't measure the flour since I've been baking this for over 25 years.  If the dough feels too soft (i.e. it doesn't hold it's shape), you can always add a little more flour in the original mix.  I've had a couple of freestyle loaves flatten somewhat, but they taste good anyway.


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## mballi3011 (Dec 20, 2010)

So you use it for Hotdog buns Dan......Your bread looks good to me but I haven't started on bread YET.


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## athabaskar (Dec 20, 2010)

Somewhere I read that using sparkling water will make your bread more fluffy. Low gluten flour helps too. Your's is still a nice looking loaf.


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## chefrob (Dec 20, 2010)

over proofed? if yer touching the dough or cutting into it at it seems soft and won't hold it's shape it might be over proofed. if that is the case, just rework the dough, let it relax for 5 min and shape it and let it rise again.


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## DanMcG (Dec 20, 2010)

chefrob said:


> over proofed? if yer touching the dough or cutting into it at it seems soft and won't hold it's shape it might be over proofed. if that is the case, just rework the dough, let it relax for 5 min and shape it and let it rise again.


Thanks Rob, that maybe what I got going on. I'll try it next weekend


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## chefrob (Dec 20, 2010)

i don't always  NEVER go by "time" or "doubling in size" like the recipe states.........one way to tell if something is proofed is press yer finger into the rising dough and if the indentation stays it should be ready. it may take you a while to develope the "feel" for bread making but yer hands are the best indicators of how a dough should be when mixing, forming and rising.


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