Tips for Better Bread Shaping

[Faramond]

Hi,
I'm fairly new to baking bread and so far have only attempted basic white bloomers.
They seem to turn out OK but I suspect they could be better.
I've watched plenty of videos & read quite a lot & my weak point is shaping.
I've tried making boule shaped loaves but they always fall pancake flat so I'm now using a tin.
When attempting to shape the dough I always find that the dough is way too sticky.
Most advice I've seen says that you should use only a small amount of flour on your surface but this makes it impossible to work with.
The dough sticks to my hands and the surface such that it pulls apart when I move it.
I've tried reducing the hydration but it makes little difference so I end up using quite a bit of flour on my hands & the surface.
Regardless, I still end up with a mishapen lump which gets even worse when I try to put it in the tin.
However, the bread tastes OK albeit looking a complete mess. (The pre-bake slashing is a whole other disaster area but I'll leave that for now).
My question is: Does it really matter about shaping when baking in a tin?
The bread is only for my use & I've no intention of displaying it.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Hi,
I'm fairly new to baking bread and so far have only attempted basic white bloomers.
They seem to turn out OK but I suspect they could be better.
I've watched plenty of videos & read quite a lot & my weak point is shaping.
I've tried making boule shaped loaves but they always fall pancake flat so I'm now using a tin.
When attempting to shape the dough I always find that the dough is way too sticky.
Most advice I've seen says that you should use only a small amount of flour on your surface but this makes it impossible to work with.
The dough sticks to my hands and the surface such that it pulls apart when I move it.
I've tried reducing the hydration but it makes little difference so I end up using quite a bit of flour on my hands & the surface.
Regardless, I still end up with a mishapen lump which gets even worse when I try to put it in the tin.
However, the bread tastes OK albeit looking a complete mess. (The pre-bake slashing is a whole other disaster area but I'll leave that for now).
My question is: Does it really matter about shaping when baking in a tin?
The bread is only for my use & I've no intention of displaying it.

You can bake your bread as you please.

The stickiness means you are breaking the skin on you dough.

Have you checked out the videos by Bake with Jack? If you scroll down, tip #4 covers shaping. He covers a lot of other basics. I think he is the best for the basics in the UK.

Videos — Bake with Jack

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www.bakewithjack.co.uk

 

[Faramond]

Thank you. I've watched many of Bake With Jack's videos but not this one.
I've been using almost exactly his method but still my dough is so sticky that at each stage it sticks to the work top, unless I use approx. 4 times the flour he uses.
I also note that he doesn't oil the bread tin - just uses flour. I tried that in the early days & had an awful job extracting the loaf without damaging it. I now smear the inside of the tin with oil.
Maybe my 1st rise is too long - I'll persevere.

 

[daddytroopa]

Hi,
I'm fairly new to baking bread and so far have only attempted basic white bloomers.
They seem to turn out OK but I suspect they could be better.
I've watched plenty of videos & read quite a lot & my weak point is shaping.
I've tried making boule shaped loaves but they always fall pancake flat so I'm now using a tin.
When attempting to shape the dough I always find that the dough is way too sticky.
Most advice I've seen says that you should use only a small amount of flour on your surface but this makes it impossible to work with.
The dough sticks to my hands and the surface such that it pulls apart when I move it.
I've tried reducing the hydration but it makes little difference so I end up using quite a bit of flour on my hands & the surface.
Regardless, I still end up with a mishapen lump which gets even worse when I try to put it in the tin.
However, the bread tastes OK albeit looking a complete mess. (The pre-bake slashing is a whole other disaster area but I'll leave that for now).
My question is: Does it really matter about shaping when baking in a tin?
The bread is only for my use & I've no intention of displaying it.

Sticky dough, sprinkle more flour and knead it in. I always use a mixer with a dough attachment ...

Your dough turns out flat possibly because
[-a-] too much liquid in the dough, use a baking with tall sides for this type of dough
[-b-] over proofing, leaving it for too long ... this will flatten out your loaf.

As for point B, consider buying a proofing bowl (Amazon). When it comes time to bake it, plop it on your baking pan right away and throw it in the oven before it has time to flatten out.

Also remember if you are scoring your bread, do it just before you put it in the oven or else it will "deflate" your loaf.

- daddytroopa

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Thank you. I've watched many of Bake With Jack's videos but not this one.
I've been using almost exactly his method but still my dough is so sticky that at each stage it sticks to the work top, unless I use approx. 4 times the flour he uses.
I also note that he doesn't oil the bread tin - just uses flour. I tried that in the early days & had an awful job extracting the loaf without damaging it. I now smear the inside of the tin with oil.
Maybe my 1st rise is too long - I'll persevere.

What percentage hydration dough are you working with? It may be that you are working with the dough that is too high of a hydration for your skill level. Once you start throwing in all that extra flower you ruined your dough. You’re never going to get a good result when you add flour on the work surface.

You cannot add too much liquid to a dough. Artisan bread has 70% to 80% hydration on average. Whole wheat bread has 100% hydration.

The problem is inexperience bakers lack the skill and don’t feel comfortable handling sticky dough.

there are techniques for handling high hydration dough. But you should be starting with the dough that is about 60% hydration.

I personally am not a fan of the mixer. Planetary mixers do not knead dough. The bowl is stationary. The dough hook simply drags the dough against the side of the bowl and the dough gets wrapped around the dough hook. This creates friction heat and damages the yeast. And it does not develop gluten properly. The proper mixer for bread dough is a spiral mixer. But they’re very expensive.

You need to learn how to test your dough to determine when it is ready to bake. Jack has some good videos on that you should review them.