Everyone gave good information and there are several possible reasons for the bread shredding on the side. A little shredding is acceptable, but not as much as shown in the picture. You had nice oven-spring and browning, on the positive side of things :-). My first thought was the pan size, as many others have suggested. The best judge of the size of pan needed is the weight of the dough. If the weight is around 2-pounds (or about 4-cups of flour in the recipe), then a 9x5-inch pan is the best choice. An 8-1/2x4-1/2-inch pan for 1-1/2-pounds of dough (or about 3 c. of flour). -The general rule-of-thumb for reducing salt in a yeast bread recipe is to reduce them by the same percentage - for example - if you reduce the salt by 50%, then you also reduce the amount of yeast by 50%. -Be sure to rest your dough after punching down and before shaping - this is an important step that is often left out - including the good folks at King Arthur Flour per recipe instructions. How to: After punching it down and scaling the dough (if necessary for determining pan size or if dividing into more than one loaf), place the dough on the oiled counter or Silpat and round the dough by pulling it down with your hands and turning it a quarter of a turn each time until you have a nice tight ball. This helps straighten the gluten strands and the tight surface of the dough ball will help hold in the gasses. Cover the dough (I flip a dough-rising bucket over it, but a bowl, sheet of plastic wrap, or a light cloth can also be used). Allow the dough to sit for 10-15 minutes before forming so the gluten has a chance to relax and makes the dough easier to shape properly. -How was the dough shaped? Use a rolling pin or pat the dough out with lightly oiled hands, then roll it back up and pinch the seam shut - placing the seam side down - and turn the ends under the loaf. Other possible reasons: -Over-mixing can cause shredding. This can happen when using a stand mixer, but not as likely if you use a bread machine or make the dough by hand. -Too much flour can cause shredding. Only add enough flour to make a nice soft dough. The amount suggested in the recipe is just a good (or bad) guess. It's better to err on the side of a slightly slack (or wet) dough than a stiff dough. -The dough may have been under-proofed for the first rise and/or the last rise after it was panned. Use a dough rising bucket so you'll know when the dough has doubled in bulk so you don't under- or over-proof the dough. Personally, I never proof dough in the bread machine, if you used a bread machine. I always take the dough out after it finished kneading and place it in a dough-rising bucket. Dough rises according to the amount and strength of the yeast, the moisture and ambient temperature - not according to the timed rise in a bread machine. It would also be best to let the dough rise outside of the bread machine due to the salt/yeast adjustment. A 2-quart plastic food storage container from a restaurant supply store will work for most recipes that make 1 or 2 loaves. Find one that is clear or opaque, round or square - your choice, and has a graduated measure on the side. You can also recycle a plastic ice cream bucket or a plastic canister with a lid - just make sure it has a straight side. If the dough in the dough-rising bucket comes up to the 1-quart line, it will be "double" in bulk when it reaches the 2-quart line. If the container doesn't have graduated markings, use a ruler. Take the measure of the dough in the container, double that amount and mark where that will be on the side of the container (use an erasable marker, grease pen, post-it-note, piece of masking tape, etc. - but be sure to mark which edge of the post-it-note or tape is the marking). A dough rising bucket takes all the guess-work out of proofing. With the lid on, it's the perfect environment providing it's own moisture, keeps drafts from hardening the dough surface, as well as being a straight-sided container which gives an accurate gauge for measuring. A slant-sided bowl leaves a lot of guess-work and is, at best, inaccurate and difficult to gauge "double". The "finger-tip test" is also an inaccurate test. Yeast bread is one of the most humbling foods we make in the kitchen!!! Hope your next attempt at this recipe is perfect! -Grainlady

Freezing dough is possible, but it has a very short storage time, much shorter than freezing baked breads, so be prepared to use it within 4-6 weeks. Some of the yeast dies from the extreme cold, so for some freezer dough recipes additional yeast is often indicated to compensate for the yeast that dies. Commercially-prepared freezer dough has a high ratio of yeast in it. You may want to make a recipe with additional yeast for the freezer ONLY (not bake one, freeze one as dough) in order to get a good rise after being stored in the freezer. You may find making 3-4 smaller loaves out of the recipe, rather than 2 large loaves, will work better. It will also depend on the type of bread you are making - lean or enriched loaves, bakers' yeast or sourdough, free-formed or panned, as to the results you get using frozen dough. If the dough is sourdough, you may need to add a small amount of bakers' yeast to the recipe (1/8 t. SAF-Instant Yeast per loaf) in order to get a good rise after the dough is frozen. Using honey, instead of sugar, in the recipe will also aid in keeping the dough quality better in the freezer. There's quite a bit of supporting science about honey and freezing yeast breads (baked and unbaked). The link below will give you great information on freezing bread dough. I also make all our breads and freeze the extra baked loaves using a method similar to althetrainers. It's also the freezer method I teach in my bread classes because of consistent results. A tight wrap, often called a butcher's wrap, is a MUST for both dough (after it's quick-frozen) or baked loaves. This will prevent migration of moisture from the dough/bread into the package, which forms ice crystals. I use one or two layers of plastic wrap, then a layer of foil. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Baking 911 - How to freeze bread dough.

Hey JoAnn! I've had this recipe for Jewish Rye for quite a while. Don't remember where I got it, nor have I ever tried it. If you do, please post the results. ABM JEWISH RYE BREAD 1-1/8 cup water 1-1/2 tsp. salt 1 Tblsp. sugar 2 cups white flour (for darker rye, substitute whole wheat flour for up to 3/4 cup) 1 cup rye flour (for lighter rye, substitute white flour for up to half the rye) 1 Tblsp. olive oil (optional -- it seems to make the bread stay fresh longer and some people prefer the texture) 1 Tblsp. caraway seeds 1/4 cup chopped onions (optional) 2 tsp. yeast Place all ingredients in bread machine in recommended order on the dough cycle. After first rise, remove dough, place on a bread board and punch down. If dough is too sticky, covering your hands or the bread board with corn meal or white flour usually is enough to bring it to the right consistency. If using a bread pan, shape loaf and place it in oiled bread pan. If you have a pizza stone, don't use a bread pan; shape the dough into a loaf or a ball or as you like and place it on a floured board (or the pizza peel). In either case, slash top with a sharp knife, cover the dough with a tea towel and leave it to rise for 1 hour. Preheat oven (preferably with pizza stone) to 450° F. The stone makes the bread crustier and gives a better contrast between the crust and the interior crumb. Spritz walls of oven with water twice before putting loaf in. (Omit for a less crusty bread). Bake thirty minutes at 450° F., spritzing the oven walls once more after five minutes, or, alternatively, bake fifteen minutes at 450° F., then reduce heat to 350° F. and bake thirty minutes more. Remove and allow to cool on rack.

When dough has good structure before proofing and poor/no structure after proofing, it is over proofed. The yeast has multiplied and produced gas so much that the gluten structure has broken down. Why was an overnight proof okay in the video and recipe that you used but too long for the bread you made? Several factors occur to me - biggest influence first: Your bread had a 1/2 tsp of commercial yeast, the other two had only starter. I've made rye bread and regular sour dough bread both ways: starter only or starter plus a 1/4 to 1/2 tsp commercial yeast. Even that small amount of commercial yeast decreases rising time a lot. 8 or more hours warm rise was probably too much for dough with a 1/2 tsp yeast. You started the bread in a bread machine which warmed it for two rises (an hour) while the video and recipe just did a half hour rest on the counter (possibly in a fairly cool room. So the yeastie beasties in your bread had a head start on multiplying. Possibly your kitchen and oven-light warmed oven were warmer than the environments in the video and recipe you followed. Another factor I'm not sure about. I've not made no-knead sourdough bread in the bread machine. Generally, the sourdough recipes I've used emphasize gentle handling of the dough after the initial mixing - no knock down, just stretch and fold. Possibly the knock down and second knead in the bread machine reduced it's structure. I'm not convinced of that, but it is different from the recipes. Even for sourdough starter only, 8 hours for a warm environment rise seems long. I've done counter rising that long, not rising with additional warmth. With commercial yeast added I would only do an overnight rise in the fridge. To avoid over-proofing, either find a recipe that uses starter plus yeast to use for the timings or do the rise during the day when you can check on progress to figure how long it needs or put it in the fridge to do the overnight rise in the cold. Over-proofed dough collapses very easily. When the dough is properly proofed, you will find it easier to slash without deflating. On the other hand, over-proofed dough isn't going to have oven spring so it shouldn't benefit from slashing. I slash either with a safety razor blade or with a double edged razor blade threaded onto a thin bamboo skewer to give the blade a curve like most lames. You want a thin, very sharp blade for slashing. A razor blade can be replaced when it's edge dulls.