Can high-protein flour cause hard and thick crumbs in sourdough bread?
A hard, thick crumb can result from underfermentation. Try extending your bulk fermentation to 8-12 hours. Use a stiff starter (50-60% hydration) to boost yeast activity, especially with high-protein flour. This helps maintain gluten structure for a better crumb.
Answered by Hendrik, The Bread Code
From the book
To fix issues related to under-fermentation, you simply have to ferment your dough for a longer period of time. Now, there is an upper limit to fermentation time as your flour starts to break down the moment it is in contact with water. That’s why it might be a good idea to simply speed up your fermentation process. As a rough figure, I try to aim for a bulk fermentation time of around 8–12 hours typically. To achieve that you can try to make your sourdough starter more active. This can be done by feeding your starter daily over several days. Use the same ratio as you would do for your main bread dough. Assuming you use 20 % starter calculated on the flour, use a 1:5:5 ratio to feed your starter. That would be 10 g of existing starter, 50 g of flour, 50 g of water for instance. To boost your yeast activity even more, you can consider making a stiff sourdough starter. The bacteria produces mostly acid. The more acidity is piled up, the less active your yeast is. The stiff sourdough starter enables you to start your dough’s fermentation with stronger yeast activity and less bacterial activity.
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