If you think you've over-kneaded the dough, try letting it rise a little longer before shaping it. You can't really undo the damage of over-worked gluten, but the longer rise can get the dough to relax a little. Loaves made with over-kneaded dough often end up with a rock-hard crust and a dense, dry interior.
When your dough is over-fermented, the scores will not “open up” during baking but instead will flatten and melt into the dough. Scores don't really open up. The resulting bread will be flat and not have a good oven spring. The crumb can look dense and compressed, especially towards the bottom of the loaf.
Overkneaded dough will be tough and make tough, chewy bread. If you've kneaded by hand, you don't need to be too worried about overworked dough—you'll start to notice it getting difficult to manage. It takes a lot of elbow grease to knead bread dough; you'll likely tire yourself out before you can over-knead.
When you cut into an over kneaded dough, you will notice that the interior is very dry and crumbly. The slices will likely fall apart rather than holding their shape. While the general taste of the bread may be the same, it will not have a nice mouth feel but, again, be dry, dense and crumbly- no thank you!
If the dough doesn't spring back when pressed with a finger, or tears when you pull it, it needs more kneading. If it springs back immediately when lightly pressed, and doesn't tear when you pull it, it's been kneaded enough and is ready to rise.
You most definitely can bulk ferment sourdough too long. If you leave the dough to ferment for too long, it will become "over fermented". Over fermented dough will lose its structure and become a soupy, sloppy mess that you will not be able to shape.
Typically, bulk fermentation will take between 6 to 8 hours, but could be longer or shorter by manipulating starter amount and temperature. Ideally, you don't want to allow sourdough bread to cold ferment for longer than 72 hours.
Yes, it is possible to proof sourdough for too long. However, overproofed dough can result in a flat, dense, or overly sour loaf of bread. The dough may also lose its structure and become too sticky or difficult to handle.
You'll end up with a loaf that doesn't expand or bake well, and that is also misshapen and very sour. While some people (including us) like that biting flavor, others may find it too sour. Mistakes are inevitable when it comes to proofing bread, but there's no need to throw out dough if it proofs too long.
Some other signs your sourdough starter is being overfed are: sourdough starter not bubbling or rising. not smelling yeasty. starter is runny.
What to look for in an over proofed loaf. Similar to the signs of over proofed dough, an over proofed loaf will be very flat, without much rise or retention of shaping. Over proofing destroys the structural integrity of the bread, so loaves that have gone over are unable to hold their shape in the oven.
As a very basic time frame, the very minimum that sourdough should ferment/proof for is 4 hours. Less than 4 hours simply won't be enough time to develop enough of a gluten structure or flavor.
Overcooked sourdough bread will have a very hard, crunchy crust that is difficult to cut and bit through. The interior of overcooked sourdough bread will be drier than it should be.
Most recipes call for three or four rounds of stretch and folds, repeated every 20 minutes or so. What is this? By the last round, the dough should keep its shape, and not feel as sticky as it did at the start. It may also have small bubbles on the surface depending on the recipe.
After kneading, shape your loaf, cover it, and let it proof for 4-24 hours, depending on your specific sourdough starter and ambient temperature. You can manipulate the sourness of the bread with a longer rise time.
Dough appearance should no longer be rough after sourdough bulk fermentation. It should be smooth looking and even a bit shiny. If you lift up a section, it should move together.
Cover the bowl with wrap or a very damp kitchen cloth. Let rest in a warm spot to rise. The dough is ready when it no longer looks dense and has doubled in size. This can take anywhere from 3-12 hours depending on the temperature of your ingredients, the potency of your starter and surrounding environment.
You must discard some of your sourdough starter each time you feed it. You'll discover that discarding is necessary to build a healthy and thriving sourdough starter - but it's not actually as wasteful as you might think.
You don't have to waste flour on a daily basis if you want to maintain a sourdough starter. By adjusting how much you feed your starter and by choosing recipes that rely on discard, you don't have to throw your discard in the trash every day.
You can absolutely leave sourdough bread to rise overnight - but as always - there are some things you'll need to do to make sure that your bread is successful with an overnight ferment.
If the bread dough is over-kneaded, it will not rise in the oven because the stiff gluten prevents the gasses from inflating it.
If you just set your dough in a bowl, or even grease it, and leave it uncovered, the rise can be arrested. The drying effect of the air on the dough can cause it to thicken up, dry out, and keep the soft tender dough underneath it from rising.