to fit around what is happening I decided to do the bulk ferment overnight in the fridge. I mixed the dough, did 4 slap and fold/stretch and fold sets 30 minutes apart then put dough in the fridge. Now, this morning I will shape, proof at room temperature and bake.
My question - should I warm dough on bench and wait for it to double in size (not there yet but it has risen) or do I just shape straight from fridge? Normally I do the final proof in the fridge so I am not familiar with this way of doing it.
Leslie
If it helps when i have done it this way it always seems to help if i pre shape the loaf then wait a while before a final shaping. If shaped straight from the fridge in my humble experience it seems to fight you a little but allowing maybe half an hour to an hour in a rough state then tidying up it works nicely. However I'm no expert and I'm sure someone else will be along with more experience. Hope all goes well.
so will make it a bit longer. thanks
Leslie
For a bulk ferment in the fridge it's probably better to do a higher % Levain. If you've done 40+% it'll probably be fine to shape and final proof. If you've done a low % Levain and bulk fermented in the fridge then you'll probably want to finish it off at room temperature if it needs it.
- thought only 1 had about doubled but having a close look now, both are pretty close. I am using 15% prefermented dough with 10% ww and 10% rye for one and the other is 1:2:3 with 15% ww spelt. this one is not not quite doubled but close..
I think I will do a longish preshape, and then shape & proof. all ideas help, thanks Abe, you are always so helpful.
Leslie
They're doing well. I agree with you! I think retarding at the final proof stage is easier and one which i prefer. I've done a bulk ferment stage but very rarely and try to give it room temp time, to get the yeasts nice n lively, before going into the fridge.
I try :)
it sure is a different beast doing a cold preshape! will leave it for a while 30-40 mins then shape and proof. will watch the proof carefully. like you I prefer the predictability of baking straight from the fridge, as I can preheat then bake.
fingers crossed it all works as it should. :)
And I'll see it come morning. Best of luck but I'm sure you don't need it. Bet it turns out wonderful.
We have the most beautiful sunny day here, after a week of very heavy rains (tail end of Australia's Cyclone Debbie) we have a town cut off (about 1 hour and a half from where I live) and evacuated, others small places isolated. although water level is dropping now it has been quite a storm and many folks badly affected. Luckily, our place and our town has gotten off quite lightly albeit with nearly 180 mm rain, 2 weeks after a similar deluge. We are fortunate.
Sleep tight Abe
Leslie
left hand one hubby wanted scored differently, happy how it came out :)
having real issues posting photos tonight! will finish this later.....
these are 20% ww spelt, the righthand one baked under a disposable heavy aluminium roaster, but it doesn't work as well as my DO - they were baked side by side.
lots of lessons learned from this bake - handling the dough, shaping and judging when each stage reached. The loaves all turned out pretty well imo....
Leslie
Hi, I'm in the same situation. Could you help me? How long was the final proof? Thank you for any advice
the final proof was about one and a half to 2 hours. Hope that helps - just picked up your query (it is early morning here). you will learn to read the dough and it will also depend on room temperature. it was 23°c durinh final proof.
Perfect! Thank you for these precious details! I hope I'm not disturbed you
good luck with your bake
Leslie
Great bake.. I don't think there's a perfect science to this stuff.. I think I'm coming to the belief that the two most important elements of how the bread plays out is chemistry and time.. meaning get the proportions of flour, water, salt, yeast mix right.. and time.. not too much, not too little.. but with those variables there's so much play in how you want to make it work for your life or palate.. your breads turned out very well! Enjoy..
I reckon. My starter seems to be getting better and better, and I enjoy being able to try different timings to fit around what else is happening. it surely sharpens the focus when you realise there is only 1 days bread left in the freezer! and yes I could go to the store but I stopped buying bread about 5 years ago so it has to work. Its fun too and thats perhaps more important.
thanks, enjoyed your posts yesterday too - big :)
Leslie
As Lechem said to me once - dough smells fear. I keep that in mind and it's helped! And as to the fun - absolutely. And I think it's meditative too!
Cyclones and bread sometimes don't go together with the power usually out when using an electric oven. For you, All the wind and rain and flooding seems to be a good thing when it comes to bread. I don't do many breads with a cold bulk ferment but, when I do, I let the dough sit out for 10 minutes then do an easy pre-shape while still very cold and then do the final shape an hour later. Your method looks to work very well so I wouldn't change a thing.
Well done and happy baking
it was good to try doing a cold ferment, I was surprised at the crumb, much better than I anticipated...
Happy baking and keep an eye on Lucy... she is quite a trick!
Leslie
Looks perfect to me in every way. Looks like the cold ferment did not throw you off in any way. Perhaps I should start trying them.
Glad you fared well in the storm.
I had good advice...
I will probably do this method more often too, just makes it easier to fit things in.
On another note, I have just ordered some hopefully fine semolina flour, the supplier will mill it again for me if it isn't fine when it arrives. they have a Zentofan? mill and will mill small quantities for customers. I want to have a go at Pane di Altamura... it will be a week or two till I get it, and can bake with it but thats ok. can I build the levain using the coaser semolina or should I use the fine ground?
your barley bread is intriging! happy baking
Leslie
The ideal flour is Rimacinata which is semolina re-milled. You're getting fine semolina and re-milling it. That sounds just fine. The next best option is fine semolina. Ok to use but the hydration should be dropped a tad and the results, while good, won't be exactly Rimacinata. Coarse semolina is not really something I'd go for. Actually it's not something I've even tried. There's no point starting to build, or convert, now if the real deal isn't coming for another two weeks. I'd say wait but if you happen to have some coarse semolina in the house and just out of curiosity wish to do a build then do a Levain feed of 1:3:5, knead into a dough and leave for 12-14 hours. If all goes well then repeat twice more and refrigerate till you're ready to try Altamura bread. You'll still need to repeat the process (and this time you can use the Rimacinata) but atleast you'll have already built a 100% semolina starter.
Thanks. The barley bread is interesting and very nice indeed. Needs some work though.
Hi, I'm in the same situation. Could you help me? How long was the final proof? Thank you for any advice