Could someone suggest what the ideal temperature is in the fridge for an overnight sourdough retard please? I retard before baking for around 16 hours but the dough comes out really cold and has not risen much so I then put it in my Brod and Taylor proofer to finish the rise but this takes several hours. The temperature in the fridge is 5dC.
I have a small unused fridge and I was thinking yes I could set that at the ideal temperature and use it when I need to. I have searched around and found nothing specific.
Someone here on this wonderful site is bound to know.
thank you, Cynthia
At 36 F, my shaped SD dough has no problem proofing in the fridge to 85% -100% in 8-12 hours depending on what time of year it is and how much levain I use. At a colder 36-38 F the dough will do 2 things, take longer to proof which means more flavor and it becomes more sour than at other refrigeration temperatures.
It took me awhile to figure out the right amount of levain to use at different times of the year so that the dough didn't over proof while i was sleeping - never had a problem with it under proofing. I'm at 11% levain with a 72-75 F kitchen temperature in the fall.
I would think you might have a starter or levain that isn't at full strength and ready to do its work the way it should when it hits the dough. Before i started doing a 3 stage levain build I would have the same problem you do.
Happy baking
I started making sourdough bread about three months ago and all is going well. I use a La Cloche in the oven and treated myself to a Brod and Taylor Proofer last Christmas and it is a huge help with breadmaking here in UK with our weather.
It's a bit of a story really, but I will be brief. I have noticed that the sourdough is very digestible and I don't get a full feeling with it. Last week I googled ... Is sourdough bread good for you? I was surprised at the benefits and how it enables the nutrients in the bread. For the last two years my husband has had to be gluten free. Loads of tests for various stomach and renal cancers found nothing, he was losing weight rapidly. At our wits end I decided that he could be coeliac so we decided to remove the gluten from what he ate and amazingly within two days his symptoms of the past four months eased and recovery started. He has not been able to be diagnosed coeliac as you have to be eating gluten and he refused to do that again as he had been so very ill.
What I found when I googled about sourdough benefits is that a long fermentation process does in fact degrade the proteins in gluten to such a great extent that some gluten intolerent people can eat sourdough bread. I'm no scientist so I cannot explain what I read in scientific terms. My husband decided he would try the bread and he had no nasty effects. This last week he has eaten sourdough each lunchtime and he is fine.
I have been using the Vermont sourdough recipe, which I think is a variant of a Hamelman recipe. I should get the Tartine book delivered in Friday. Last night I started Chads method. I fed my starter a little last night, made the levain at 8am, and also put the rest of the water and flour together to autolyse. Both in the B&T at 25 dC. At 3pm I mixed the dough, added the salt and a splash of water, and left it four four hours doing 5 sets of turns 30 mins apart. I am now at 7.30pm going to shape and bench, and then into the banneton and I leave it in the fridge until tomorrow lunchtime. This is the method I have used previously but before I did not autolyse the flour and water. When I take the banneton from the fridge it is so cold, so I have been putting it into the B&T to rise which can take another four hours. I read that you should be able to put the dough into the oven straight from the fridge but mine isn't risen enough, hence the thought that my fridge is too cold and why I asked the question.
I am so excited that my husband is able to eat this bread, making bread has long been my baking love and it was awful to find he couldn't eat bread anymore. I've tried making many Gluten free breads, most were just not acceptable.
I don't know how you arrived at your percentage levain.
meanwhile I turned on the spare fridge and the warmest I can get it is 5dC, so I will try that, and now I need to go and shape the dough.
What is a three stage levain? I may be doing that for all I know. All I know is the bread is great, looks good and tastes really good. I added Stilton, hazelnuts and dried cranberries to the last one. I worked well.
Thank you for replying.
Cynthia
levain builds where each stage is 4 hours, nothing is thrown away and if the levain doesn'tt double 4 hours after the 2nd stage the 2nd stage amounts are throw away and the 2nd stage repeated. The amount of levain built for this sample 800 g bread has to do with how much time you have, if it going to be retarded for how long and the time of year. I keep a stiff rye starter in the fridge for up to 4 months without any feeding or maintenance. Rifght now it has been in there fr 10 weeks and the levain build from it today is going well.
I got to the 9-11% levain amount for the summer for a 12 hour retard using 50% whole grain flour and 20% of the whole grains sprouted flour. It was trail and error, The same amount also works in the summer for 50% whole grain flour breads where none of the flours are sprouted but the retard will be 18-24 hours. You just have to experiment to see what works for you, your recipes and, what time of year it is, how sour you want the bread to be and how long you want to retard to meet your baking schedule.
Thank you for the chart and explanation. I've read a lot these last couple of days and have a better understanding now thanks to your help.
It is so exciting to think l can now make sourdough pizza, stollen, fancy breads etc that my husband will be able to eat and enjoy.
I didn't do the fridge retard last night after all, as the garage was cold so I did the retard there, I'm just letting the dough finish proving in theB&T before cooking it.
Cynthia.
My fridge stays at about 34-36F and I find that my free-form boules proof about 80% of the way in 2 days, and finish up on the counter as I'm pre-heating the oven. My panned loafs are about the same, if they are in the fridge for less than that, they need to finish their proofing at room temp.
See if this helps:
http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=22649.0
Thank you for the website from the pizza site. Most interesting. I will be printing it out for reference.
Cynthia