March 15, 2022 - 2:01pm
ready to bake testing - poke or ....
gone over a bazillion times I know.
me included.
but .....
my sponge is slow to rise. 100% hydration AP flour. Takes usually 2 or 3 feeds, 35g each.
1st one takes about 6 hrs to move.
2nd about 4 hrs. 3rd about 1 - 2 hrs.
Mostly, I suspect, coz I don't bake that often. Once every couple weeks.
should I expect my dough to take extra long coz of the slow rise of the sponge?
2.5c whole grain flours
5tbsp cooked whole grain (berries)
2c AP
2c sponge
rise to poke ready varies from 45 mins to 1.5 hrs.
I rise it in a styro cooler on top of 16z of boiled water.
Sometimes the poke is right, sometimes the bread splits.
is there another method of testing that might be better for mutligrain bread?
Share
The poke test is usually a reliable way to check if fermentation is complete. Depending on the container you are using to do the bulk rise you can hopefully mark the container with the dough level and then another mark for a 25-50% rise before shaping. Hard to estimate how long your final dough will take to rise as that will be dependent on temperature, inoculation percentage (commercial yeast/sourdough levain), and potentially other factors such as water temp.
You mentioned feedings of your sponge. I'm assuming you are doing some kind of sourdough? If so you might want to add a little bit of your whole grain flour to your feeding mixture. As far as I know AP flour is missing a lot of the enzymes etc that the yeast and bacteria really love to feed on. It will also help your starter to be more vigorous in general. My "white" starter is 10% rye flour for example.
If you are poking your bread and your finger is busting it open there could also be an issue with a lack of gluten development. Does the dough pass a windowpane test? Are you doing enough kneading, slap and fold, stretch and fold, etc?
I use a mostly, but not 100% AP starter. It is 100% hydration.
There is so much whole grain in it, don't think I've ever seen it pass a windowpane. But I have turned out many nicely risen breads. Just so inconsistent. I just think my timing is off as to when to bake.
Sometime 45 mins of 2nd rise, sometimes 90.
Given that you are doing a natural leaven and not commercial yeast have you considered an overnight rise in your fridge? This would allow your dough to also develop more flavor. It just might need you to adjust your baking schedule. For me, my usual schedule looks like this:
Day 1: Friday AM take some starter from the fridge and feed it before work.
Friday PM feed starter again to get the total amount I need for the recipe. Leave it to rise overnight.
Day 2: Staurday AM - make coffee and mix the dough. Autolyse for an hour (sometimes longer). Do a series of stretch and folds every 30 min to build up the dough strength.
Saturday around Noon the stretch and fold is done. Move it to a container for bulk fermentation (mark a container so I know when it has risen 50%)
Saturday early afternoon (when the dough reached the 50% mark) - Turn the dough out onto a board and shape it. Transfer it to a banneton. Put it in a plastic bag and put it in the fridge overnight.
Day 3 - sunday morning - Bake the bread directly from the fridge (poke test first. If it needs to prove more let it come up to room temp for an hour or so).
sure this takes 3 days...but honestly it's not that bad and just takes a bit of planning. The actual active time of doing things is minimal and the overnight rest in the fridge has been spectacular for flavor.
it's a pretty hearty bread. Usually autolyse for about 45, but could certainly take it longer.
Dunno that stretch and folds would get me anything because of it's heft. But I'll try next time out.
Never thought of a banneton. I bake it as a samich loaf.
The last one I did fridge the dough overnight as I ran out of time. I let it rise in a steamed cooler for an hour and seemed like ti passed the poke. But it was a slow rise in the oven even with water spray 3 or 4 times in 15 minutes.
Years ago I was more consistent when the starter was made Silverton grape method. But I killed it and haven't been able to source organic unwashed grapes again.