Pan al'ancienne dough temperature

[james]

Hey Jim,

I'm making pan al'ancienne tomorrow, and by luck had my infrared thermometer next to my stand mixer. I added the ice water, and mixed the dough until I had some glutin development (5-7 mintues) and the thermometer read 59F for the dough. It was cold at the bottom of the mixing bowl.

Does that sound right?

How do you balance getting a good dough development, with not heating up the dough too much?

I'm planning on firing my outdoor Scott oven tomorrow for the first time this spring. Should be interesting.
James

[arevalo53anos]

James:

It depends of what you are doing with it.
The normal recommended final dough temperature to bake bread after a couple hours rest will be near of the 80?s.
If you are using pre ferment in place of yeast, these temperatures could drop to the 70?s.
And, if you are thinking to give it a refrigerated rest (24 hours +) could be your range ok, depending on pre ferment versus yeast and quantities used.
The temperature of the dough is used to regulate the ?beasts appetite?
I hope your first season fire was an exit!

Luis

[james]

Luis,
Thanks for this. I was making the dough where you add ice water and put the dough in the refrigerator overnight. The dough is super hydrated (80%), where it is just a little more firm than a batter. It came out of the refrigerator at about 60F.

I left it all day on the counter, and it never really warmed up. I think next time I will either use the proof setting on my wall oven, or find a warmer spot. It definitely never reached 80F.

Still, I baked four baguettes and they can out nicely. Nice hole structure from the moist dough. I haven't fired my Scott oven for months and it was a wet season, so the oven took a while to dry out. But all's well that ends well.

James

[CanuckJim]

Dough Temps

James,

I've been a bit tied up for the last while, hence the delay in replying. The method I use for not heating the dough up too much is to divide the mixing time, say 4 minutes mix, 10 minutes rest, 4 minutes mix, although the temp you reached is fine. Also, the autolyse waiting time develops the gluten. I strongly suggest that you consult Peter Reinhart's pain a la ancienne recipe in The Bread Baker's Apprentice. This is the formula and method I've been using for quite a while now, and it works better than any other I've found. You don't want this kind of dough to reach 77-81 before you bake it. Just follow his recommendations.

Jim