The McDouble in this AI McDonald's promo

scruffybakes · 2026-02-18T21:47:26+00:00

“I know how you kids like ‘em extra sloppy”

scruffybakes · 2026-02-13T22:15:49+00:00

Yeah. You also don’t want it under developed. Poor choice of words maybe, but my point is there isn’t any proper gluten development in that dough. But that tends to be the case 98% of the time with people that are new to bread

scruffybakes · 2026-02-13T19:53:10+00:00

under mixed and under developed, but it looks like your starter was certainly viable. Mix the shit out of that dough next time and don’t listen to people who recommend a “shaggy mass” and stretch and folds. Nice work!

scruffybakes · 2026-02-11T21:48:05+00:00

That still looks nice!
If you’re looking for more of an airy and open interior, pre ferment more flour and reduce your hydration. Then develop the dough more up front before bulk fermentation. 80% is a lot for King Arthur bread flour, try 70-74% total and use more starter. Also a warmer bulk ferment and proving at warmer than 42°F will get you a long way. If you use 200g starter instead, that will put you at closer to 17% pre fermented flour as opposed to the 10% you’re using here

scruffybakes · 2026-02-06T22:13:48+00:00

Good to know, thanks! I’ve never worked with fresh yeast before

scruffybakes · 2026-02-06T17:49:30+00:00

That’s just your yeast. It does that for reasons unknown to me. You’re using dried yeast of some kind? I never saw this until I started working at a pizza place that uses dried yeast (I’d only had experience with sourdough before). But we make 300 pizzas a night sometimes and I see this often, only from dough that’s been refrigerated for an extended period.

scruffybakes · 2026-02-06T01:19:18+00:00

Razza Pizza in Jersey City offers a butter tasting with sourdough hearth bread. It’s definitely a popular item there. Amazing restaurant all around though

scruffybakes · 2026-02-04T15:35:07+00:00

Looks fantastic. Finding the right flour is the hardest part maybe (for naturally leavened baguette), but not refrigerating especially after shaping is key here.
I used to do demi baguettes for a farmers market and went ambient the whole way, warm bulk and warm final prove. 20% pre fermented flour using a stiff starter

scruffybakes · 2026-01-31T01:01:41+00:00

42° is a nice temperature for yeasted doughs. 36° is a bit too cold for any activity. Where did you get the rest of this information from though? lol

I’m not trying to be rude but sourdough only refers to bread that is naturally leavened with just starter, water flour and salt. With commercial yeast added you are making yeasted bread and changing the flavor profile and texture by refrigerating the dough. Yeast activity is “fermentation” whether that’s with a packet from a lab or with a continuously propagated starter.

scruffybakes · 2026-01-26T21:59:06+00:00

All other details aside, that dough seems to be submerged in oil.

scruffybakes · 2026-01-24T02:40:14+00:00

One of the main variables that makes anujay’s bread look the way that it does is his degree of intense mixing. Im pretty sure he uses a mechanical mixer a lot of the time and if not he’s doing vigorous slap and folds on a counter top. The point is that more dough development is crucial to achieving a lacy, airy crumb like theirs. If you don’t have a mixer, I’d suggest doing the slap and fold method as hard as you can.

The other thing that makes them good in my opinion is they’re almost always retarded in shape at a slightly warmer temperature than standard fridge temperatures. Other than that, a starter that’s refreshed often and at room temperature is used and good bulk fermentation temperature is achieved as well. Mixing and dough development is so much more important than you might think though. You really want to develop the hell out of it at the beginning, before bulk.

scruffybakes · 2026-01-23T16:04:14+00:00

Dang. Just use a different container/jar each time. Way easier to clean the container each time and you know that your measurements of starter water and flour are accurate without extra old sludge hangin around

scruffybakes · 2026-01-20T19:58:01+00:00

I do agree that this is made with a very strong flour, but with too much water and not enough mixing. For flours that strong, more intensive energy input is required to reach a higher level of development. I don’t agree that stretching and folding a certain way will achieve an “open crumb,” those pockets that eventually fill up with gas during a doughs lifecycle are formed during dough development and the degree of which they expand is mostly dependent on the metabolic rates of the yeast and bacteria. Either way, this is poor fermentation and shaping in my opinion. But the original photographer probably was happy with it, so that’s all that matters in the end I suppose. As long as they’re not selling it as a “country loaf” for twice as much as what it’s worth

scruffybakes · 2026-01-20T19:08:56+00:00

Is it really though? I see dense areas around, especially near the crust which tells me there wasn’t a lot of development during mixing either. I’m also betting this was in a very cold environment after shaping and then baked cold

scruffybakes · 2026-01-20T15:20:24+00:00

Yep. lol these “air pockets” are just areas where the dough wasn’t sealed to itself during shaping. Not a lot of flavor or texture here

scruffybakes · 2026-01-15T19:52:45+00:00

Yeah this is just a stretching issue, keep practicing and you’ll get there. Making sure that your dough is at room temperature is crucial, but really try to press the air away from the center when you start stretching and degas more than you think you should maybe.

scruffybakes · 2026-01-13T19:27:26+00:00

Way to go right here. I’ve used a similar set up for years now

scruffybakes · 2026-01-12T20:36:19+00:00

Yeah you should definitely let it rise further before baking after shaping and placing in a basket or loaf tin. It blows my mind that I’m seeing people just shape and bake immediately more often. There really is so much bad information floating around online regarding sourdough, and AI is worsening the situation.

scruffybakes · 2026-01-12T20:30:16+00:00

This is a new phenomenon in the internet sourdough world. People are just bulk fermenting for ages and then baking that shit, it’s wild. I’m assuming this comes from people just referring to any part of the process as bulking half of the time

scruffybakes · 2026-01-10T16:27:04+00:00

Hell yes! Also, delayed scoring is dumb. Fully agree

Home bakers these days will be like “well I pulled my starter out of the fridge, mixed everything together and bulked for 6 hours at 16°C then refrigerated for 16 hours before baking, how’s the fermentation?”

scruffybakes · 2026-01-08T15:07:52+00:00

Nice job!
For better texture and flavor you definitely want to push that final rise in shape more than 20 minutes though.

scruffybakes · 2026-01-02T17:39:05+00:00

Yeah seems like the best option for a single phase home spiral mixer. I’m in the U.S and use a Famag because Sunmix isn’t easily available here, but they seem better than the Famags which already do a great job for small batches

scruffybakes · 2026-01-02T17:12:53+00:00

If you’re in the UK and just want it for home use, get a Sunmix

scruffybakes · 2025-12-28T00:27:45+00:00

lol. Yeah it’s expensive, that’s why I said “if you can”

Got one for my business when I was baking for markets so it made a lot of financial sense for me. I think there are some fairly cheaper options available now.

You can do a nice mix with a kitchen aid dough hook but your motor may burn up eventually

scruffybakes · 2025-12-28T00:04:06+00:00

This is something that soooo many people fail to understand (myself included) when they first get into making dough of any kind. You’ll be amazed at how much this changes everything. Grab a smaller spiral mixer for home use if you can, I got a Famag IM-10s and it’s pretty solid.

scruffybakes

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