I think it might be underproofed and/or underbaked; it’s very dense, but it still tastes good with butter 😋
I put sourdough in quotes because the recipe also called for yeast on top of starter which seems odd.
I’m definitely not an expert, but my mom and girlfriend both bake sourdough. Based on just overhearing conversations, I would lean towards it being underproofed
Looks a bit underproofed to me. A new sourdough starter is often a bit weak.
How do you count the age of the starter? I know it has probably a years long lineage. The friend who gave it to me had it for at least a year.
But I split this batch(? colony?) off only a few weeks ago and fed it a final time the night before the bake.
Some people will feed them several days before baking. Either way, ignore times given in recipes and go by how much volume it gains no matter how long it takes. You can do a process of feeding and then letting it rise for a fixed period of time before you discard and feed again. The yeast that’s fastest to feed and reproduce will become the majority in your starter and that will build strength.
Congratulations! You’ve made more sourdough bread than most people on the planet! Keep making more!
How long did you let it cool before slicing open?
Not very 🫣
I get it, those smells corrupt us all
Thanks for understanding…
…but seriously, did it mess up my loaf?
Cutting it before it cools can make it look like that. Still will taste great though. It might be underproofed, but its hard to say.
You diagnosed well.
Underproofing is the major factor though. Gotta go more by volume change than time. That’s true of packaged yeast as well, but that tends to overproof rather than under.
You said you cut too early as well, which I suspect is the under baked part, rather than not enough time in oven. The crust looks maybe a tad under, but a lot of that comes down to personal preferences, and it does look like the time in the oven was within the range to have gotten the job done. But the carryover heat is what finishes a bake inside. Well, usually.
Combo recipes like that aren’t unusual though. A lot of sourdough sandwich bread adds packaged yeast. Some desserts like cinnamon rolls as well. I don’t think it’s really necessary, as the results are essentially the same, they just take longer without the packaged yeast. You might see a tiny bit softer crumb with some recipes by adding regular yeast, but I’ve never noticed a difference there.
What you will get is a milder flavor. The longer proof of pure sourdough gives more development time, and more tanginess. I can’t say it’s a huge difference, but it’s more noticeable than the texture
