Overnight proofing

[james]

Re: Overnight proofing

Is the theory that you are doing a long proofing in the refrigerator, and then bring the dough out before baking to shape the loaf and do the final proofing?

Or, do you store the shaped loaf that long. I will have to look up "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day." I've been the cover, but not read the book.

Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Bread Book is on my Xmas wish list.
James

[amber]

Re: Overnight proofing

Mmmm Peter Reinhart..... The basic premise is that you mix flour, water, yeast, and salt (I can't remember the ratio) into a wet dough in a sealable, but not airtight, container. You leave it to rise for 2+ hours at room temp, until it just begins to fall (the yeast begins to die) and then you can bake with it or keep it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. when you're ready to cook, bring some out and let 'rise' for 40 minutes while the oven heats. then the dough is placed in an oven with boiling water and the steam cooks the bread. It's good and nice to have dough in the fridge for whenever. I made it a lot when I first bought the book, but much less so now.

[Dutchoven]

Re: Overnight proofing

JW
Did you just put it in the fridge as a bulk fermentation or are they shaped loaves. If it was a bulk ferment you can probably leave it but you would want to cover it tightly expecially if it is in a regularly used fridge. If you have done the final shaping you could freeze them...then you could do like the average megamart bakers and thaw, proof and then bake!!!
Best
Dutch

Veering slightly back toward proofing, I have a dilemma. I mixed a batch of bread last night [Sunday] with the intent of baking Monday afternoon. It is sitting in the fridge, ready to go. It is now raining cats and dogs here with no end in sight.

As I will not have the time to bake until Friday or Saturday, what should I do? Can I leave it proofing in the frig that long?

J W

[Dutchoven]

Re: Overnight proofing

James
Excellent book! I ot it for Christmas last year. Some really interesting techniques.

Amber
The method of long cool fermentation does create a far more flavorful bread but, it is not necessarily the result of expired yeast. Most of the flavor in bread is the result of bacteria. When you mix dough, amylase enzymes break down the starches into complex sugars which are then converted into simpler sugars by maltase, which the yeasts are able to consume. The bacteria(most famous is lactobacillus sanfransciscencis) is then able to feed on the products of the yeasts. Depending on the particular bacteria in the atmosphere as well as in the flour different flavors can develop. As well as by manipulating the amount of moisture in the starter. Use of potato water or onion juice in the water start the misture out with more starches...adding malt powder gives the dough more maltase which converts the complex sugars into the simple sugars for the yeast to consume. Lots of different options!
All the best!
Dutch

Is the theory that you are doing a long proofing in the refrigerator, and then bring the dough out before baking to shape the loaf and do the final proofing?

Or, do you store the shaped loaf that long. I will have to look up "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day." I've been the cover, but not read the book.

Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Bread Book is on my Xmas wish list.
James

[amber]

Re: Overnight proofing

Dutch, thanks for correcting me. I'd always understood that when the bread dough stops rising and starts collapsing that the yeast was finished. One way or the other the ABin5 makes one tasty loaf!

[Dutchoven]

Re: Overnight proofing

Not so much correcting...rather clarifying. The yeasts do consume all available nutrients in their "neighbrohood" and more or less go dormant. Then when the bread is stretched and shaped those nutrients get redistributed. The amaylase enzymes don't really quit and neither does the maltase so that makes for plenty of available sugars for the yeasts. Deflating is more the result of the gluten being overstretched and breaking open...a bit underdeveloped...or other enzymes that are the result of the process break down the protein...in all those cases the gluten cannot hold on to the trapped carbon dioxide. An inportant consideration is that in a truly wild yeasted bread the bacterias outnumber the yeasts significantly creating a rather acidic environment which tends to make gluten development a bit more difficult and also creates more of the enzymes that break down the proteins...that is why many wild yeasted breads can be quite dense.
Good tasting bread is the goal...no matter how you bake it and slice it!
Best
Dutch

Dutch, thanks for correcting me. I'd always understood that when the bread dough stops rising and starts collapsing that the yeast was finished. One way or the other the ABin5 makes one tasty loaf!

[amber]

Re: Overnight proofing

Agreed! I heart carbs.

[jwnorris]

Re: Overnight proofing

[QUOTE=Dutchoven;47338<snip> If you have done the final shaping you could freeze them...then you could do like the average megamart bakers and thaw, proof and then bake!!!
Best
Dutch[/QUOTE]

That is exactly what I have done. Thank you all for your input.

J W

[Dutchoven]

Re: Overnight proofing

That is exactly what I have done. Thank you all for your input.

J W

My pleasure!
Dutch