Need help with large holes/alveoli
I am fairly new to sourdough, but lately I keep having an issue with tunneling and large holes. The recipe pictured is:
500 grams KA bread flour
350 grams spring water
100 grams active starter (used float test and smell/appearance to confirm)
10 grams sea salt
Followed this method from The Sourdough Journey (https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story\_fbid=824662280316940&id=thesourdoughjourney):
-Added flour, starter and water (25g reserved) for 5 minutes with a 30 minute fermentolyse rest.
-Pinch and fold for three minutes with a five minute rest.
-Squeeze in reserved water and salt for two minutes; pinch and fold for three minutes. Five minute rest.
-Rubaud mix to smooth ball for three to four minutes. 30 minute rest.
-Three coil folds 30 minutes apart.
-Transferred dough to clear, ver lightly oiled container to continue bulk fermentation.
-Time of initial mix was 8:30am, pre-shaped dough at 5:30pm. Dough was very airy and bubbly.
-Shaping (where I think I’m going wrong): did a letter fold, then caddy clasp before placing it the banneton. Dough was VERY bubbly and came to just over the top of the oval banneton.
-Cold ferment overnight and baked in a DO at 9:30am the following morning at 450 degrees for 25 minutes, and about another 15 with the lid off at 425 degrees.
I feel that my starters (I have 3 🫣) are strong. I feed them at least once a day; one gets KA all purpose flour and the other two get a 50/50 blend of KA all purpose and whole wheat flour. They rise consistently, smell sweet/yeasty when they’re ready and pass the float test (for as much as that’s worth).
I have felt my two main issues are dough strength and shaping. I worked really hard yesterday to develop the dough up front so that my coil folds were just an added support.
When I did my pre-shape, the dough came together easily and did not flatten out much, so I felt the tension was good.
Shaping…I suck at shaping and feel that may be where I’m going wrong. I either get big gas pockets in the middle or I end up pushing them to the end where they cause the same issue. I’m trying to get consistent so I don’t feel like I have to cut into a loaf to check it first.
Thought this one would be better. 😔