Bread shape

[V'nut-Beyond Redemption]

I have tried making free standing loaves but the loaves tend to sag after I roll them up in to big ball.

Any suggestions on how to not let it sag?

[Donna M.]

I made one the other day and I didn't have any trouble with it sagging. It turned out quite nice. I think the dough has to be quite firm. The recipe I made took 1 3/4 cups sourdough starter, 2 cups flour and 3/4 tsp salt. I didn't really care that much for the bread itself, but it looked nice. It was one of those recipes intended to have that really hard, crispy crust. I have decided that style of bread is just too hard to eat

One thing I would recommend for sure is that you are using a high-gluten bread flour, or adding additional wheat gluten to your dough. It makes a huge difference with free-form loaves. Also, if you are using all whole grain flour that could be part of the problem. Wholegrain doughs just do not rise as high. Try adding some unbleached bread flour.

[V'nut-Beyond Redemption]

Thanks, Donna

I'll try again!

[Annie H]

One of the things that has helped me quite a bit is to let a bread rest after kneading and before shaping. The Best Recipe cookbook explains the science better than I can, but basically when you knead bread it creates bands of gluten (?) and if you let it rest between stages, those bands loosen, giving you lighter bread that rises higher.

I hope that made some sense..

[Aroostook]

A staple in our house....
Make them as small (22 per recipe) or as large (3 loaves) as you want
Mini Bread Loaves recipe #107259