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One of my favourite mixes: cheese and zaatar. I hope you like it! Just look at the swirl of za’atar and the tunnels of cheese – it is sooooooo good!
One of my favourite mixes: cheese and zaatar. I hope you like it! Just look at the swirl of za’atar and the tunnels of cheese – it is sooooooo good!
What makes a gummy loaf? I get asked this a lot so I thought I’d share some answers and possibilities here, there can be a few reasons:
Slicing into a loaf before it’s cooled enough will give you a lovely warm slice of fresh bread, but it won’t be at its best, it will end up gummy from the steam; I leave my loaves for hours and hours before slicing into them. That way they’re light and dry and the texture I want them to be. If you can’t wait, go for it, but just do keep this in mind.
Over proving can produce a moist crumb, if your loaf is wide and flat and pale on the outside with small holes and a slightly damp interior, it may well be over.
Under baking can produce a gummy interior. Try baking for longer.
Is your pan big enough for your loaf? If the pan is too small and your loaf doesn’t have the space it needs to grow as it bakes it will hinder the bake and prevent it from being fully baked inside.
Too much water can also produce a damp loaf. Try less water with your flour.
Uneven heat in your oven can be the culprit – if you loaf is nicely golden on the outside but gummy or moist in the inside, it’s baking too quickly on the outside. Trying reducing the temperature you’re baking at and bake for a bit longer. Experiment until you find the sweet spot, and take notes along the way.
Consider if you’ve added any inclusions? Have they added liquid to the dough you didn’t account for?
If you live somewhere humid and you’ve baked your lovely loaf and left it out for several hours to cool, the humidity can soften the crust and damped the loaf, try to catch it whilst it’s still crisp on the outside and store it in something that will repel moisture.
A gummy loaf could be as a result of one, or more, of these. As always, the best way to find your solution is to go through an elimination process and change one thing at a time and make notes, always make notes.
If all else fails, make toast. Dry your slices of bread out in the toaster and enjoy!
I hope this helps!
For more tips and help check out my FAQ page and my Tips Index.
This was written by one of my bakers, Karen Gardiner, about my new book, Easy Everyday Sourdough Bread Baking..
“⭐️⭐️⭐️ SHOULD YOU BUY THIS? ⭐️⭐️⭐️
⭐️ DO YOU REALLY NEED TO IF YOU HAVE THE OTHER TWO? ⭐️
💖 MY THOUGHTS 💖
Notwithstanding that Elaine’s new book contains the same no nonsense easy to follow sourdough process that you find in the other two books, this one is absolutely jam packed with a plethora of fantastic recipes you will NOT find in the other two, as well as ways to bake your beautiful sourdough that you may not have ever considered.
Elaine shows how you can use baking vessels that everyday kitchens already contain, especially if you are not new to baking. The sandwich loaf section is outstanding with a wide variety of recipes including Pullman tin and traditional loaf tins. But no less impressive is the cake tin section.
The variety of recipes is incredible. Unlike many traditional how to/recipe books where you may flick through and only find one or two you’d happily try, the previous two books were quite the reverse of the norm!! I have found that there aren’t any recipes I wouldn’t try in the other books, and, WOW, this book is no exception. In fact, I would go so far as to say it exceeds them. 👏👏👏👏 The selection of sweeter doughs alone is to die for.
As to whether you should buy this one is, obviously, a decision only you can make. But… if you want to try such deliciousnesses as the ‘holiday chocolate enriched Bundt tin loaf’, ‘raspberry, chocolate and honeycomb snug swirls’, ‘same day cheese and ketchup babka’ or ‘satay swirled black sesame seed loaf’, then this book is a must!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
To sum up, this is a fab sourdough book designed for everyday people, with everyday kitchens and utensils. It contains amazing easy-to-follow delicious recipes.
Happy baking!”
Find the book here.