Two weeks ago I tried to make an oatmeal porridge loaf and it turned into soup. I tried again today and I thought it was going really well, but when I tried to pre-shape after a 4-hour bulk at 82 degrees (significant mixing followed by 4 sets of stretch and fold), the dough was extremely stringy (more like starter than dough) and I found it impossible to shape.
While it wasn't liquid like my last attempt, I just couldn't do a normal shaping job as it stuck to everything. I did my best to get it somewhat round and just placed it in a bowl and into the fridge. I then tried shaping again after a few hours and it was much easier with the cold dough. There wasn't much oven spring and the crumb was super dense and wet. I am assuming this is because I broke the gluten strands or they were destroyed from over proofing. I only did bulk for 4 hours at 81 or so degrees, but do oats and honey really speed up the fermentation process? It had only expanded about 35% so I thought it was well proofed. Do you think it was over proofed + a bit too much liquid?
This recipe I used:
200g starter (100%)
190g multi-grain porridge
377g water in the soaker
414g water in final dough
800g flour (20% whole wheat and 80% bread)
22g salt
55g honey
20g yogurt
Is the hydration meant to be at 85% or am I misreading? Perhaps cut your hydration back to something lower.
377 water + 414 water + 55 honey + 20 yogurt = 866
190 porridge (I assume this is just dry flakes?) + 800 flour + 22 salt = 1012
This will be 85% hydration, unless I misunderstand something.
I was following a recipe others on this site have used many times. http://weightloss-slim.fit/node/59457/honeyed-spelt-and-oat%3C/a%3E.%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EMy understanding is that honey generally is not supposed to count towards the hydration level, but I've also read with porridge soakers that if you were to include the water and grains from the soaker, the overall hydration can often approach 100%! I'm a new and obviously have not been able to master this type of bread, but I think the recipe I used is fine (at least for people able to handle sticky dough). I'm thinking maybe it over fermented really quickly.
There wasn't much oven spring and it felt like the gluten had started to deteriorate when I tried to shape the dough. Do you think the honey and oat soaker would cause really quick fermentation? I am surprised it could get so overproofed in just 4 hours. The dough had only expanded by 35% or so.