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Finally got my sourdough crust to stop cracking like a dry riverbed
For months, my sourdough loaves would come out of the oven looking great, but as they cooled, the crust would split open in these huge, deep cracks. It was so frustrating. I tried adding more water to the dough, but that just made it sticky and hard to handle. The real fix came from a baker I met at the farmers market in Portland last month. She asked about my proofing time. I was letting my shaped loaf proof for about 4 hours at room temp, which I thought was right. She suggested I cut that final proof down to just 2.5 hours and then do a cold proof in the fridge overnight. I tried it, and the difference was night and day. The loaf rose just as much, but the crust stayed smooth and only cracked where I scored it. Has anyone else found that over-proofing was the culprit for their crust problems?
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james_singh71mo ago
Oh man, that was totally my issue too. I kept blaming my oven or the flour, but it was the proofing all along. Letting it go too long at room temp just overinflates it, so when it bakes and sets, it has nowhere to go but crack. The cold proof is a game changer, it slows everything down so the structure can catch up.
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michaelchen1mo ago
That part about the crust having "nowhere to go but crack" makes so much sense. I was doing the same thing, letting my final proof run way too long because I was scared of under-proofing. Switching to a shorter room temp proof followed by the fridge really did fix everything for me too.
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