Guidelines on how to extend rising times?

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lizz1155 on 22 Nov 2011 at 05:40

Hello, I'm trying to find some guidelines on how I can extend rising times in bread recipes, to achieve an 8-12 hour (overnight) rise at room temperature (UK).  (I.e a dough which I can make up, bulk prove for however long, then shape and let it rise for 8 - 12 hours overnight, ready to bake it in the morning).  I assume this would involve a combination of making the dough up with cold water/cutting down the yeast/using less sourdough leaven (depending on the recipe), but I'm at a loss to know in what ratios each element should be reduced, per extra hour of rising time required. Any ideas?

I appreciate this would be the simplest solution, but I share a fridge with eight others, leaving fridge space fairly limited.  Certainly there is no room to have loaves proving in the fridge, leaving a "room temperature" overnight rise the only option.

If it's not cold enough outside, maybe and ice chest? ;D

If you were trying to slow the bulk rise, changing starter amount and/or water temperature would work (after some experimentation).  For proofing, I can't really think of anything you could use (other than cold(or changing the time constant of the universe)) to achieve this.

I have seen every Star Trek, since the very start - at least once ;-)  One of the few advantages of age is one starts to forget enough that one can watch a mystery a second time and still be surprised by who did the deed LOL.  Thanks for the reminder.

Ron

  • You can combine ingredients and let them sit out covered overnight,  just don't add the yeast until the next day.  Spread the dough out flat, sprinkle with the correct amount of yeast and give it a light, ever so light misting of water.  Roll up the dough and knead it half a minute to blend in the yeast.  Then go on as usual.
  • Reduce the yeast to just a pinch when mixing and add the rest later, just like above.

Mini