May 25, 2020 - 8:32pm
Am I doing the finger poke test wrong?
Quick question to clarify. I understand the finger poke test in principle that you poke the dough and if it springs back slowly and not quite all the way, then it is finished proofing. But I don't understand how one does this if the dough is sticky and wet? My finger just sticks to the surface and pulls it apart so it's impossible for me to tell how much is indented and bouncing back since the dough just gets pulled by by my finger? Am I doing something wrong? Are there other simple ways to tell if the dough is finished proofing?
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wet finger, short nails? Wet sticky dough will still tear sometimes, but this works for me.
if you like even softer wetter doughs than that, I think you have to get used to jiggling it and judging how soft it is.
If you have developed the gluten well, and have managed to get to the point where you cannot fold it again, and it will not stretch any more without ripping, and the surface is still tight but soft (as opposed to flabby), it is ready for the oven. If you wait until you can make an indentation, it is most likely over-proofed. But the best way to learn where that point is requires that you actually over-proof a loaf and watch it fall either on the way to the oven or just after you put it into the oven. Make a batch of dough and divide it into three parts, form each into a boule and start the proof clock. When you think the first one is ready, put it in the oven and start your timer. When the first loaf comes out, reheat the oven and bake the second loaf, then repeat with the third loaf. If none of them fell, repeat and wait until the time you baked the last loaf from the previous trial to bake the first loaf from the new batch, then repeat the sequence of three loaves. It is possible that you may need to repeat again to actually see one fall, but if you don't force yourself to run it to the point of failure, you will never have a true sense of what the limit is. You may have one loaf that doesn't fall but looks like it should have when you take it out of the oven. You still have to do the next one. In this case, failure is mandatory or you don't get to check off the lesson as completed.
i flour my finger or just wet my finger
the hard part is i still don't get it because sometimes it bounces back quickly but not all the way so does it mean it's not ready? sometimes it bounces back slowly but not all the way but it's hard to judge if it springs back slowly or quickly sometimes. and if you poke a different part of the dough it behaves differently. i think as long as the dent isn't filling up completely right away, it's ready to bake. but i've never had it bounce back all the way. and technically it should bounce back all the way if you've just started final proof. but it doesn't!!!