January 1, 2024 - 1:30pm
Taste the dough during bulk fermentation?
Is it a good idea to taste the dough at various points (e.g. after initial mix, during bulk fermentation, etc.) to get a sense for how it develops?
I've noticed a couple bakers doing this in videos, but never tried tasting the raw dough myself. I suppose it makes sense to try, but I'm curious how common a practice it is.
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Raw dough can carry bacteria. If I want to taste it, for whatever reason, I put a little oil in a skillet and fry it up first.
Thanks for pointing that out! Glad I asked.
I do sometimes taste very well fermented starter, but by then it's become fairly acidic and the bad actors will have been suppressed. I've never tried tasting dough as it developed, partly for the bacteria reason.
In the US, at least some major brands of flour now have a warning label not to eat it raw.
Doing some reading about this, I've learned that some of the potentially bad, illness-causing varieties of e. coli, salmonella, etc. have developed ways to survive passage through the stomach's acidic environment, and that having some foods in the stomach at the same time (but not, apparently hydrocarbons like rice) can help their survival.
Maybe it would be better not to taste even old starter ...
seasidejess, I think that is an excellent idea!
I was a kid working in a small commercial bread bakery in the late 1950s and occasionally saw a baker taste the raw dough early in the mix. That was checking for salt, and this was with yeasted dough.
Simpler times, and no one ever heard of salmonella in the flour then.
Dave
The question is - how did it taste? Unless you know, it's senseless. There are other ways. Enjoy!
I’ve never tasted my starter or any other raw dough, I don’t think it is safe and I wouldn’t recommend it as a physician.
Benny