Why, oh, why…

I think I’ve used this title before, but seriously.  Why will Maggie Glezer’s beautiful sourdough challah not work out for me?

This week, I was very respectful of the rise times for the sourdough and STILL the braids lost their shape and the breads flattened out miserably…

Will report back on the taste after Shabbos!

Dough, kneaded, before first rise, 10:00 p.m. Thursday night:

glezer challah 005

Braids, braided, 1 a.m. Friday morning, after first rise:

 glezer challah 006 

Out of the fridge, 9:15 a.m. Friday morning:

glezer challah 008

Three hours later, 12:15 noon Friday, still not much growth:

 glezer challah 009

Oven preheated, as ready as they’ll ever be:

 glezer challah 011

Baked and yes, the braids are almost completely GONE.  :-(

 glezer challah 012

Sigh… these had better taste fantastic.  That’s all I can say!

Comments

  1. I can't imagine why you're having that problem--this recipe works so well for me.

    1. Check your yeast.

    2. If you have refrigerated at any stage, RLB's rising times will not work. You are going to have to let the dough come to room temperature and then rise. Is your house cold? That will slow things down even more. RLB recommends a temperature of 75 to 80 F for rising temperatures (my house is never warmer than 63 F in the winter!). I make a "proofing chamber" by boiling a cup of water in the microwave and then putting the dough in the closed microwave next to the hot water.

    3. Just an FYI, I don't retard these loaves. The sourdough acts as a "pate fermentee" (old dough) and gives the challahs their flavor and moisture. So there's no need to retard (refrigerate)at any stage for flavor development. I start the recipe in the morning (I bake ahead on Sundays and freeze) and just keep following along the timeline suggested. I'm sure that's a challenge with your brood and schedule.

    Don't give up yet!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog today! I was going to try this sourdough Challah recipe tomorrow, I sure hope it turns out????

    I had just done some reading over at "the fresh loaf" that there was an exchange made from all purpose flour to bread flour(because of the gluten content) I wonder if this could be the reason your braids aren't staying???? Just a thought :)
    Shalom,
    Moira

    ReplyDelete

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