[picture] bubbles only at the bottom?

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TheFreshestLoaf on 10 Mar 2018 at 15:03

Hey everyone, so sorry to bother everyone, but I have this problem that I can't seem to solve. Every time I make a brioche dough and it goes through a slow-ish rise (69-71 degrees, ~4hrs) it forms these beautiful bubbles at the bottom, but not on top? I'm attaching a picture that I photo edited just a bit to show a higher contrast between the two. Also it's hard to see but the bottom part where the bubbles are is that nice white colour meanwhile the non bubble part area has a hint of yellow.

Side note: it's not foggy, it's just the container.

 

Link: https://ibb.co/hTQ207

 

https://ibb.co/hTQ207https://ibb.co/hTQ207

I would venture to guess that there's a temperature gradient between the lower and upper portion of the dough. Yeast is really sensitive to temperature and it may be that the bench is warm enough to stimulate more activity at the bottom. Just a stab not too sure but perhaps you could try to test the dough to see if it's warmer or colder between the top and bottom ?

Here is another photo from the top as I pull it. This is after being in the fridge for 2hrs before it gets punched down. Seems like it dries out? Is it possible? I have a lid on it. Would that explain why the bottom part that is not affected by air gets bubbles and top part isn't? If that is he case, what box should I use for the rise of bread without it drying out? Also another question. The proofer/heater that I have has two knobs. Heat and Proof. Proofing goes from 1 to 10. 1 being 30% humidity and 10 being 90% iirc. Now... the manual says that most breads need about 70% humidity so the knob should be at 6. Problem is... when I turn the knob to 6... the temperature goes all the way to 85-95 ... which is very high for bread no? I did it once and the rise happened within 1.5 hours, while on 69-71f rise could take 4-5 hours

Sorry, what do you mean by percent?

 

Here is the recipe :)

 

 

 2.3g of instant yeast

50g of warm water at 41°C-43°C
200g of all-purpose flour
2 eggs 
28g of light brown sugar
3.8g of salt
10ml of vanilla extract
14.0g of honey
150g of butter (slightly cooler than room temperature)

very lightly oiled plastic wrap

or mist with water before putting down the lid

or cover with a warm damp tea towel.

or tapping the lid once in a while to make the condense water drip back onto the dough surface.

And/or fold the dough during the slow rise to distribute heat and moisture.  Since you know how long it takes to rise, you don't have to use volume as an indicator.  Keep eyes on the bubbles.  :)

Yes, it is possible that the surface is drying out even with a lid.  In the second photo, I can see water droplets condensing on the lid.  A simple letter folding might be the answer.  Also check dough temp, when warmer than the proof temp there will be more condensation. 

If sitting out and not in the proofer, wrap a bulky towel all around the dough container to even out the temperature variations.