How to Get Large Holes in Sourdough Bread – Perfect Sourdough Tips

Achieving large holes in your sourdough bread is the baking goal. Dense textured sourdough is a common problem, but learning some new tricks will help avoid these problems from arising once again. Especially if you’re wondering how to get large holes in sourdough bread.

Table of Contents

• How to Achieve Big Holes in Sourdough Bread
• Why Large Holes Matter
• Hydration’s Role
• Proper Fermentation
• Proofing
• Baking
• How to Get Large Bubbles in Sourdough Bread
• How Can I Get Large Holes in My Sourdough Bread
• How to Make Poolish Starter?
• So, How do I Get Large Holes in Sourdough Bread?
• FAQs

How to Achieve Big Holes in Sourdough Bread

Large crumbling holes in sourdough bread is the ultimate level of perfection. The divine softness, followed by a wide-mouthed hole that indicates its wonderful texture isn’t impossible for many to achieve.

To get bread with large holes you need to create a strong and extensible dough that rises gingerly to form large pockets of gas.

In other words, strengthening your flour, allowing extended fermentation, and gentle handling are some of the ways that you could encourage and preserve large holes in your sourdough bread.

Why Large Holes Matter

In the world of sourdough bread, those coveted large holes aren’t just for show – they’re a testament to the skill and technique of the baker. These gaps, often referred to as an “open crumb,” are a sign of a well-crafted loaf. Beyond their visual appeal, large holes contribute to the bread’s unique texture and mouthfeel.

Moreover, the presence of large holes indicates that the bread has undergone a proper fermentation process. During this time, the wild yeast and bacteria work together to create carbon dioxide, which gets trapped within the gluten network of the dough. As the bread bakes, these gas pockets expand, creating those desirable voids.

So, while some may see large holes as mere empty spaces, they are actually the hallmark of an expertly crafted loaf.

Hydration’s Role

The amount of water in your dough, known as the dough hydration, can determine the final texture and crumb structure of your bread.

To achieve those beautiful, open holes, you’ll want to work with a higher hydration dough. This means increasing the water content relative to the flour. A wetter dough allows for greater gas expansion during fermentation and baking, leading to a more open crumb with larger holes.

Aim for a hydration percentage of around 75-80% for optimal results. Keep in mind that working with high hydration doughs can be tricky, as they tend to be stickier and more challenging to handle. But with practice and patience, you’ll soon get the hang of it.

Remember, the ideal dough consistency for large holes is one that’s soft, supple, and slightly tacky to the touch. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different hydration levels to find what works best for you.

Proper Fermentation

Give your dough enough time to develop its flavor and structure. Don’t rush the process – patience is a virtue in the world of sourdough.

For optimal results, aim for a lengthy bulk fermentation at room temperature, followed by a cold proof in the refrigerator. This two-step approach allows the yeast and bacteria to work their magic, creating complex flavors and a beautifully open crumb.

Alongside timing, temperature plays a vital role in the fermentation process. Sourdough thrives in a warm, cozy environment – think of it as creating the perfect conditions for your little microbial friends to flourish.

Maintain a consistent temperature between 75-80°F (24-27°C) during bulk fermentation. If your kitchen runs cool, consider using a proofing box or placing your dough in a turned-off oven with the light on. Conversely, if you live in a hot climate, you may need to slow things down by fermenting in a cooler spot.

To further enhance the fermentation process and promote the development of large holes, try incorporating a few simple techniques into your sourdough routine.

Stretch and folds, performed at regular intervals during bulk fermentation, help to strengthen the gluten network while redistributing the yeast and bacteria throughout the dough. This gentle handling also encourages the formation of a more open crumb.

Another trick is to shape your dough tightly before the final proof. By creating a taut surface tension, you’ll trap the gases produced during fermentation, allowing them to expand and form those beautiful, irregular holes.

Proofing

Giving your dough adequate time to proof is essential for developing a light, airy texture and an open crumb structure.

During this stage, the dough continues to ferment, producing carbon dioxide that gets trapped within the gluten network. As the dough expands, it creates those characteristic bubbles and holes that we all love in a well-made sourdough.

So, how do you know when your dough is ready for the oven? There are a few telltale signs to look out for:

1. Your dough should have visibly risen and expanded during the final proofing stage.
2. Gently poke the surface of the dough with your finger. If it’s properly proofed, the indentation should slowly spring back, leaving a slight depression.
3. You may notice small bubbles forming on the surface of your dough, indicating that fermentation is still active.

Keep in mind that the proofing time can vary depending on factors such as the ambient temperature, humidity, and the strength of your starter. Be patient and trust your instincts – with practice, you’ll develop a keen eye for when your dough is ready to bake.

To help your dough maintain its shape during the final rise, use a proofing basket, also known as a banneton. These baskets, often made from rattan or lined with linen, provide structure and support to your dough as it proofs.

Not only do proofing baskets help your dough hold its shape, but they also contribute to the development of a beautiful, patterned crust. The spiral ridges left by the basket create an artisanal look that’s sure to impress.

When using a proofing basket, be sure to dust it generously with flour to prevent sticking. Rice flour works particularly well for this purpose, as it has a lower gluten content and won’t absorb moisture from the dough.

Baking

Preheat your oven to a scorching 450-500°F (230-260°C) to ensure a rapid rise and a crispy, caramelized crust. Bake your loaf for about 20 minutes at this high temperature, then lower the heat to 425-450°F (220-230°C) and continue baking for another 25-35 minutes, depending on the size of your loaf.

Introducing steam into your baking process can work wonders for creating an open crumb structure with large holes. The moisture from the steam keeps the dough’s surface soft and pliable, allowing for greater expansion during the initial stages of baking. To achieve this, place a shallow pan on the bottom rack of your oven while it preheats. Just before loading your bread, carefully pour a cup of boiling water into the pan, and quickly close the oven door to trap the steam inside.

Using a baking stone or a Dutch oven can take your sourdough game to the next level. These tools help to maintain a consistent temperature and provide a burst of steam, which is essential for creating those beautiful, open holes. If using a baking stone, preheat it in the oven for at least an hour before baking. For a Dutch oven, preheat it with the lid on, then carefully transfer your dough into the hot pot and cover it for the first 20 minutes of baking. This creates a mini steam chamber, ensuring a perfect crust and crumb.

How to Get Large Bubbles in Sourdough Bread

Essentially, you could take a look at your bread and compare its appearance to foam. The holes in the bread are the result of bubbles that have been baked and hardened. These bubbles have to be nurtured in order to hold their shape, so that they remain large without bursting in the oven.

The durability of the holes rely on the status of the dough. If the dough is too weak, the gas bubbles will become too large and burst which will cause the sourdough to emerge dense from the oven.

Similarly, if the dough is too strong with a very organized gluten then it won’t be able to expand and create large bubbles.

A large open crumb finish can be achieved through strong gas production from fermentation that has its gas intact. It needs a highly developed gluten network that locks the gasses, and an extensible dough that had a lengthy fermentation time in order to achieve a light and super-soft bread.

There are many techniques that can result in a sourdough bread with large holes.

Use High Hydration

The most important factor in achieving a sourdough bread with a light, open crumb and large holes is through very high hydration. The use of high hydration, sometimes elevating to 100% hydration, allows the dough to be mixed reaching a very high gluten development, whilst remaining very stretchable and supple.

The very developed gluten network entraps the gasses that are released during fermentation. The stretchable nature of the dough allows the dough to extend at its own will, producing very wide holes.

During lower levels of hydration, the dough stiffens, with an elasticity that is obtained when mixed to full gluten development. Despite its stiffness the dough is quite capable of trapping gasses. However it won’t extend as easily, resulting in a restricted expansion with smaller holes of a baked loaf.

The wetter dough is also great during fermentation. Fermentation is a crucial period, during which gasses will be produced, determining the size of the holes, as well as the density of the dough and crumbs, from the consumption of starches and sugars in the dough.

Bassinage Technique

It can be quite challenging to mix dough of very high hydration to adequate gluten development. An effective method for mixing very wet dough is to reduce a portion of the water when mixing, as the gluten develops more effectively in a drier environment. This method is often referred to as the “bassinage.”

When the dough’s gluten has developed to a high degree, make a hole in the centre of the dough, and pour the remaining water into the dough, mixing until the liquid has been thoroughly incorporated in the dough. This step can be repeated several times, for dough of very high hydration, gradually increasing it to the intended level of hydration.

Mix the dough until its surface begins to moisten and glisten. The element of strong gluten is fairly important, when hoping to achieve a baked loaf with large, widened pores. Without this, gasses can escape out of the dough, causing poor loaf volume, and dense closed crumbs with tiny holes.

Autolyze and Fold

High hydration doughs are naturally feeble and require all the strength they can receive. Autolyze and folding are crucial steps that should take place during the baking process, which will initially add essential dough strength on top of the gluten that has already been developed during the mixing stage.

Autolyze takes place before mixing by incorporating only the flour and water minus the salt and sourdough starter, allowing it to rest for 20 to 60 minutes. During this period, the flour fully hydrates and gluten bonds develop despite the absence of mechanical mixing. After the autolyze the dough will have gained enough strength for you to work with.

The wetter the dough, the more fold is required to build its strength. One fold involves the folding of all four sides of the dough into its center. Include one fold for every hour of bulk fermentation.

The length of the bulk, as well as the number of folds, is heavily reliant on the overall result of the loaf and its crumb. With a longer bulk fermentation resulting in a lighter and more open crumb.

Refrain from Degassing

We should refrain from degassing our dough, if we’re hopeful in achieving large holes in the crumbs. The idea is to retain as much carbon dioxide gasses as possible from the fermentation reaction in the dough that will eventually expand, providing you with that airy and light crumb.

The carbon dioxide gasses produced also plays an important role, in helping the wet, weak and slack dough in holding its shape. Very high hydration dough still lacks in strength in spite of good gluten development, which causes its shape to slacken.

The carbon dioxide gasses trapped within the dough would increase the internal pressures of the dough through the baking process, causing an internal inflation.

Longer Fermentation

The next step is letting the dough ferment in the fridge for 12-18 hours. This will encourage the yeast to slow down and continue developing its flavor.

If you are baking in a home oven, it may take up to 2 hours for your dough to warm up enough before baking, so be sure to plan ahead! This is one of the most important steps for getting large holes in sourdough.

You need to maintain a temperature of around 75 degrees Fahrenheit. This is a bit cooler than the traditional temperatures for bread baking. But it allows for a slower rise in the dough and hence better flavor development.

The fermentation time at room temperature is fairly short, only 2-3 hours. If you’d like your bread to have larger holes, keep an eye on it. Remove from the oven when its size matches that of your desired loaf.

Shaping the Dough

Lightly flour your hands, and take out the dough from the bowl. Gently round it and place it seam side up in a banneton (a round basket with holes). Alternatively, you can place the shaped bread on a greased baking sheet or parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.

Let rise for 1 to 2 hours at room temperature until doubled in size. This should take around 30 minutes if you have refreshed your starter with water again after shaping.

Preheat the oven to 425 °F for 20 minutes before baking.

As a general rule, the longer you allow your dough to rise, the more sour it will be. The longer rise time also results in large holes and an open crumb.

The ideal time for rising is between 6 and 8 hours, depending on how sour you want your bread to taste and whether you prefer bigger or smaller holes.

Some Steam

Steam is the key to a great loaf of bread. It helps your dough rise and develop, and keeps it from collapsing as it bakes. Steam also helps give your bread a nice crust, which is especially important if you’re using whole grain flour.

In order to get steam into your oven, you’ll have to create some kind of water bath. This will essentially trap the steam in around your baking pan and keep it there until all of the moisture has evaporated.

You can attempt this by putting a bowl full of hot water in your oven with a baking pan on top. The bowl should be deep enough so that when you put another pot or pan on top of it for weighting down everything will be fully submerged.

Avoid Rye Flour

If you are looking for light and airy sourdough bread that has large holes, use strong white flour instead of rye. Strong white flour has a lower protein content than whole meal or plain flour, so it is better at absorbing water and producing an open crumb.

On the other hand, rye flour is pretty good at making a sourdough loaf with larger holes, but it’ll leave you with a dense and heavy bread, which isn’t what you want.

Use Old Flour

One of the essential steps is to use old flour. If you have flour that’s been stored in a cool, dry place, that’s even better. If you can find some in the freezer or fridge, even better.

You can get large holes in sourdough bread by using a mixture of old and fresh flour. The trick is to make sure the dough is not too soft, and to not over knead.

How Can I Get Large Holes in My Sourdough Bread

There are a number of ways to achieve a loaf with larger crumbs.

Consider using a poolish starter. Poolish is French for “stiff” and its exactly what you’d think it would be – a stiffer version of sourdough starter that you would normally use to make bread.

A poolish starter is a sourdough starter with a higher percentage of water than normal starters – around 60% or more. The increased water content allows more carbon dioxide to form when you bake the bread, which increases airiness in your loaf, creating larger holes in your sourdough.

Here are some other ways to achieve larger holes in your loaf.

Freeze your Dough

If you want to get large holes in your sourdough bread, there’s a simple trick. Freeze the dough before baking. It’s not as hard as it sounds—freezing will make the crust crispier and prevent it from shrinking too much when cooked.

To do this, prepare a wet dough with about 80% hydration, by mixing together flour and water with some salt (1% or less). Then place the dough in an airtight container and freeze for at least 12 hours; preferably 24 hours or more for best results.

Once frozen, remove from the freezer and let it thaw for about 8–12 hours at room temperature before shaping into loaves. Bake them as usual for about an hour until done or the internal temperature reaches 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

Use a Moist Dough

The best way to get large holes in your sourdough bread is by making a moist dough, and then baking it in a Dutch oven or cast iron skillet. This ensures that there will be plenty of steam during the first half of baking, which gives you those nice big holes that take so much effort to achieve if you don’t use one of these methods.

You can also use a pizza stone in place of a Dutch oven or cast iron skillet if you don’t have one at hand. It’ll still give you those large holes, but it only works with loaves with sides higher than 1½ inches.

If none of these work for what you need, then try using an unglazed clay pot called a bread stone instead. It’s shaped like an upside-down bowl so that there’s more surface area on top where steam can collect while cooking.

How to Make Poolish Starter?

Poolish is a sourdough starter, and if you’re a bread baker, you probably already know what that means.

If not, here’s the short version: Poolish is a little bit of flour and water that gets fed into the actual dough during mixing. The longer it sits with all those yeast spores (the stuff that makes bread rise) in there, the more sourdough flavor it will give whatever bread you make with it.

Although poolish starter is great for achieving larger holes in your sourdough bread, it is a little challenging to work with. Not only is it delicate but it is also harder than other starters at maintaining consistent flavours in subsequent batches.

Poolish is a mixture of flour and water, with added yeast. It becomes the base for breads and other baked goods. Poolish makes those things better because it’s alive.

You need to treat your poolish right if you want it to be productive and happy. If a sourdough starter gets too cold or too warm, then it can start acting up in different ways. One way might be that the bread will have holes throughout instead of just on top like usual!

To make the poolish starter take 550 grams of flour, sprinkle 5 grams of active yeast and then pour in 550ml of water. Give it a good mix, making sure that the yeast is thoroughly incorporated. Cover this with a lid and leave it to sit at room temperature for 10 to 24 hours when you’ll catch active signs with an abundance of bubbles.

So, How do I Get Large Holes in Sourdough Bread?

To achieve large holes in your sourdough bread, you should take a look at all of your options, before making your changes. With some trial and error you’ll find yourself luckier than the last time you tried, perhaps with larger holes.

Sourdough recipes for you to try:

• Beginner Sourdough Recipe
• Easy Charcoal Sourdough Bread Recipe

FAQs