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What makes a gummy loaf? I get asked this a lot so I thought I’d share some answers and possibilities here, there can be a few reasons:
Slicing into a loaf before it’s cooled enough will give you a lovely warm slice of fresh bread, but it won’t be at its best, it will end up gummy from the steam; I leave my loaves for hours and hours before slicing into them. That way they’re light and dry and the texture I want them to be. If you can’t wait, go for it, but just do keep this in mind.
Over proving can produce a moist crumb, if your loaf is wide and flat and pale on the outside with small holes and a slightly damp interior, it may well be over.
Under baking can produce a gummy interior. Try baking for longer.
Is your pan big enough for your loaf? If the pan is too small and your loaf doesn’t have the space it needs to grow as it bakes it will hinder the bake and prevent it from being fully baked inside.
Too much water can also produce a damp loaf. Try less water with your flour.
Uneven heat in your oven can be the culprit – if you loaf is nicely golden on the outside but gummy or moist in the inside, it’s baking too quickly on the outside. Trying reducing the temperature you’re baking at and bake for a bit longer. Experiment until you find the sweet spot, and take notes along the way.
Consider if you’ve added any inclusions? Have they added liquid to the dough you didn’t account for?
If you live somewhere humid and you’ve baked your lovely loaf and left it out for several hours to cool, the humidity can soften the crust and damped the loaf, try to catch it whilst it’s still crisp on the outside and store it in something that will repel moisture.
A gummy loaf could be as a result of one, or more, of these. As always, the best way to find your solution is to go through an elimination process and change one thing at a time and make notes, always make notes.
If all else fails, make toast. Dry your slices of bread out in the toaster and enjoy!
I hope this helps!
For more tips and help check out my FAQ page and my Tips Index.
FAQs
Uneven heat in your oven can be the culprit – if you loaf is nicely golden on the outside but gummy or moist in the inside, it's baking too quickly on the outside. Trying reducing the temperature you're baking at and bake for a bit longer. Experiment until you find the sweet spot, and take notes along the way.
Why is my loaf gummy? ›
While a nice hot oven can produce a beautiful loaf with a crisp, golden crust, too hot of an oven will cause the crust to finish cooking long before the center of the bread. This will result in undercooked dough with a sticky, chewy texture rather than a fully risen crumb.
Is gummy bread overproofed? ›
The crumb structure of an under proofed loaf will be tight and gummy. Because it was not given enough time to develop and trap CO2 gasses, the crumb structure will be very dense, with uneven air bubbles.
Can I eat gummy sourdough? ›
It's not until you slice the sourdough and see the crumb structure that you realise it's under fermented. The great thing is that generally, unless it's completely raw inside, you can still eat an under fermented sourdough bread.
How do you prevent gummy bread? ›
Some strategies to avoid it include:
- Bake on a lower shelf to get heat into the bottom of the bread faster, to set the structure faster.
- Place a baking stone or steel on the lower shelf of your oven to act as a heat sink, and bake the tin directly on it. ...
- Remove the bread from the tin for the last 10 minutes of the bake.
Air circulating around the loaf allows the steam built up inside the bread to evaporate. If the bread is kept in its baking pan, it will become soggy and look and taste doughy. If the bread has not finished baking by the maximum time indicated in the recipe, the oven thermostat may be off.
How do you fix gooey bread? ›
In most situations, an undercooked loaf of bread can be fixed by returning it to the oven for a few more minutes. This is true for loaves where the outside of your bread may look fully set, but the inside of the bread is still gummy. Place the loaf back in a preheated oven at 350° F for 10-20 minutes.
Why is my bread dough gluey? ›
Your dough can become sticky when you add too much water or the flour isn't suitable for the type of dough you are making. Over proofing or fermenting the dough can also result in the gluten structure weakening causing sticky dough.
Why is my bread super chewy? ›
Why Is My Homemade Bread Chewy? Over-kneading has a tendency to result in chewy bread. Here's how to tell if you've kneaded enough. Another possibility—you used bread flour when all-purpose flour would do.
What happens if you bake Overproofed dough? ›
underproof dough will spring back completely correctly, proof will spring back slowly and only halfway, and overproof dough won't spring back at all. after baking, the underproof dough will be dense and deformed. while the dough that was ready will be fluffy and light. and the overproof dough will be flat and deflated.
As a general rule, you should throw out a loaf of sourdough bread when it shows visible signs of mold, when it has an unpleasant odor, or when it doesn't taste right. At this point, mold may be contaminating the bread below the surface, even if you can't see it.
Why is my bread gummy inside Reddit? ›
Your bread is "gummy" because that is the nature of high hydrated bread. If you lower your hydro it will be less gummy. Try going for 60-65% hydro.
What does overproofed sourdough look like? ›
Note: As loaves begin to overproof they lose their height and shape. The crumb becomes more dense. The holes become more ragged and irregular in shape. The crust begins to thin and separate from the crumb.
Why is my homemade bread so gummy? ›
Too much water can also produce a damp loaf. Try less water with your flour. Uneven heat in your oven can be the culprit – if you loaf is nicely golden on the outside but gummy or moist in the inside, it's baking too quickly on the outside. Trying reducing the temperature you're baking at and bake for a bit longer.
Why is my sourdough bread gummy and dense? ›
Bread too dense? It might be cold dough. One of the most common mistakes is having a dough temperature that's too low for the starter to feed on all the flour in the dough, resulting in a crumb that's dense, with fewer openings. "Starter is happiest and most active at around 75 degrees.
Why is the inside of my bread so gooey? ›
If you do not allow the bread to cool for at least two hours before slicing, it can appear soggy inside, even though it is cooked all the way through. This is because the steam that was trapped inside while baking still needs to escape.
Why does my loaf of bread feel sticky? ›
Using too much water relative to the flour. Over fermentation: letting the bulk fermentation (first rise) go too long. Using too much whole wheat flour, rye flour, or freshly milled flour.
Why did my cake come out gluey? ›
Why does my cake have a gummy streak in the center? Developing too much of the flour's gluten can make the cake rise beautifully in the oven, but sink as soon as you pull it out. The sinking part is what makes the dense and gluey streaks. This can be result of over-creaming the eggs, butter and sugar.
Why is my loaf chewy? ›
The flour you used may have contained too much protein. Protein is one of the ingredients that help yeast bread brown. Use bread flour that is purchased at a grocery store or a national brand of all-purpose flour.
