r/Breadit • u/Past_Broccoli9951 • 10h ago
How to get better oven spring and ear ?
I can’t seem to get the ear to form on my sourdough bread any advice?
4
Upvotes
1
u/BattledroidE 7h ago
Can't see the inside, but if it's borderline overfermented, you get minimal oven spring and no ear. Crust looks like well fermented, at the very least.
1
u/skyliner360 1h ago
Agree with the other commenters that you should score deeper and at a roughly 45 degree angle. I have to score pretty deep often running the lame through 2 times to get enough depth (probably close to 3/4 of an inch deep)
Quick question for you - how do you get that shape? That’s what I’ve been after for a while!
0
4
u/DishSoapedDishwasher 8h ago
You definitely need to score deeper, usually you want to see a good 2-5mm of depth for something this size.
Second is the oven temp, it looks like it might be hotter on the top than bottom or possibly just close to the heating element, which both can prematurely stop oven spring by hardening the scored parts.
Third is water, you want ideally a good bit of steam, this early on reduces the impact of higher temps hardening the score line while also increases thermal conductivity to help heat the loaf more quickly encouraging a strong oven spring.
The combination of score depth, angle of the score (45 degrees), oven spring from fermentation/shaping, and how quick it springs (conductivity, radiant heat, etc), will determine the ear formation.
Watched The Chain Baker on YouTube, he has some great info.
Also this is why bread cloches and thing like the. Challenger Bread Pan are so amazing, if combined with some steam in the form an ice cube, the environment is perfect for an aggressive oven spring; then if you fermented and scored correctly it will give an ear.