Another critical factor in sourdough baking is temperature. The temperature determine the fermentation process and the final structure of the sourdough breads. If the temperature is too low for the sourdough process, it will take a long time for the sourdough to ferment.
If the temperature is too high, the sourdough processes will occur too quick. The sourdough starter rely on temperature to control the multiplication of wild yeast and bacteria. High temperature increase the multiplication of these element.
How Temperature Affects Sourdough
Too high temperature can kill the wild yeast and bacteria. It can also result in sourdough starter developing unpleasant flavor. Lower temperature will make the sourdough starter develop more sourer flavor but take longer to reach the active state.
The doughs temperature determine the fermentation process baseline. Maintaining the perfect dough temperature are essential to sourdough baking. If a person use flour with a low temperature, adding warm water to the sourdough will help achieve the perfect temperature.
Using too low of a temperature for the sourdough will make the bulk fermentation process take too long. Using temperatures that are too high for the sourdough recipe will cause the dough to overproof quick. The faster or slower fermentation of sourdough is based off the temperature of the mixing area.
If the kitchen area is warm, such as during the summer, the sourdough will ferment quickly. In the winter when kitchens are much colder, sourdough will take longer to ferment. Using the refrigerator to ferment sourdough will significantly slows the fermentation process.
This process will increase the sourness of the sourdough bread. This process is also beneficial for oven spring. The oven temperature is another essential sourdough baking factor.
The oven must preheat to a high temperature to provide enough heat to the sourdough bread. Using a heavy pot in the sourdough oven will retain the heat. The heat will create the steam necessary to make the sourdough bread crust stretchily.
It will also allow the sourdough bread to expand when baking. If there is not enough steam, the crust will harden before the sourdough dough expand. The internal temperature of the sourdough bread will determine if it is fully baked.
Using a thermometer to monitor the sourdoughs internal temperature will allow a person to ensure the starch in the sourdough has gelled correctly. If the temperature are incorrect, the sourdough bread may be too gummy or too dry. Depending on the type of sourdough dough, the temperature should differ.
For example, enriched sourdough breads contains butter and need to cook at a more gentler heat. Rye sourdough bread is denser and need to cook at a lower oven temperature for a longer time. The hydration levels of sourdough and the doughs temperature work together to determine the fermentation process of sourdough.
Wetter sourdough dough will ferment faster at the same temperature as dry dough. Therefore, a person must adjust the sourdough hydration level or the sourdoughs temperature to control the sourdoughs fermentation process. Scoring the sourdough dough is another sourdough process influence by the doughs temperature.
Cold sourdough dough from the refrigerator will be easier to slice with a blade. The cold sourdough dough will remain tautly. Room temperature sourdough dough will be slack when scoring the sourdough bread.
Another way to troubleshoot sourdough bread problems is by checking the sourdoughs temperature settings. Pale crusts indicate that the ovens temperature settings were too low or the sourdough bread spent too long in the steam. Burnt bottoms of the sourdough bread indicate that the rack the sourdough bread was baking on was too low in the oven.
Using digital thermometer and oven gauges will give the best measurement of sourdoughs temperatures. Using digital thermometers allows a person to take accurate readings of the sourdough dough and sourdough breads internal temperature. Using an oven gauge will allow a person to measure the ovens actual temperature since the oven dial are usualy not accurate.