First bake not going so well! Yeast issue?

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FrancisK7 on 25 Jan 2019 at 10:27

After weeks of reading and getting everything I needed I finally tackled my first bake yesterday and it's not going so well.

Following this recipe: http://weightloss-slim.fit/recipes/rusticbread%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EI woke up to a pre-ferment that had not risen AT ALL. I used a brand new bag of SAF red instant yeast to make the pre-ferment.

Seeing as how nothing seemed to be active,  this morning I decided to test the yeast in a bit of warm water (125F-ish), a bit of sugar and waited a 5 minutes.

The SAF yeast did nothing at all. 

The Fleischmann's bread machine yeast (which was brand new) produced the best foam and most activity

The Bob's Red Mill active dry yeast I got two weeks ago and always kept in the fridge produced some activity but not as much.

Our city water smells of chlorine so I decided to get some spring water and opened bag 2 of 3 of SAF instant red I got from the same retailer, and even then, nothing happens.

Since I'm a noob I assumed I might have done a mistake. Am I suppose to wake up the SAF yeast somehow? How can two bags out of three produce no results, even in spring water?

My ambient temperature is 72F.

Maybe aim for a warmer temperature? I usually aim for around 78 to 80 degrees and I'll put a light piece of cloth around the container to seal in the heat. That usually helps to get things nice and bubbly for me.

I'm not the most experienced baker so I'm sure other more experienced bakers can provide more insight.

 

if you put me into 125°F water.   Try something closer to 85°F.   Use boiled and cooled water.  And toss in a few spoonfuls of recipe flour to help see the action.

In spite of the fact the pre-ferment had not risen at all I went ahead with the recipe and gave a bit more time for the rises and hoped my first bake ever would not end in a total disaster.

Decided to bake one loaf at a time to see what's what. 2nd one is baking now.

The bottom turned out perfectly (used a 3/8" steel") as did the crust, which is really crispy (maybe too much). 

The top did not turn to the perfect goldish-brown like the bottom, so I raised the oven temp a bit for the second loaf to see if that will help.

It tasted really great, so it's not a disaster. 

Our house is kept at 68F in winter and around 72F in summer. Montreal's climate is always changing and often yoyos at extremes (-40C in winter, +40C in summer).

I have a Brod & Taylor proofing box coming that will help with proofing and maintaining higher ambient temps. I've tried to get a sourdough starter going for two weeks without success.

 

The bottom is perfect gold-brown but the top is white-brown. 

If the bottom and middle cook in time (around 30min at 450F) but I'm not getting the color that matches the bottom, can I turn on the broil for the last 5-10 minutes to help brown further?

Simply trying to keep improving and understanding what I can do to further the quest to the perfect loaf.

The color of the crust in the photo seen in the recipe link looks so much better! Something to aspire to :)

shot.  I appreciate those.  :).  Agree the loaf looks great!  

Tweaking ...  what are you baking on (what color is it?) and does it crowd the space to the oven walls?  Are you using a fan setting?  Do you have upper/lower heat setting?  What position in the oven?  Photo?  Check the cold oven to see if top coils are working as they should.   Are you using any added steam?  Steam will give a nice sheen on the crust, then remove the steam after the initial spring to give a nice colour.   Sorry about all the Q's.    :)