Proving dough

thriftlady_2

Swan wrote: »

I also think that's one of the reasons a lot modern commercial bread can be so tasteless, they use that accelerated way of making it
the proper name for it escapes me right now though :rolleyes:

The Chorleywood Bread Process -speed, speed speed at the expense of flavour. Bread needs time

Swan_2

ceridwen wrote: »

aaaaahhh ... the answer to a question I asked on the "Any Questions" thread. Thanks for that. Sometimes I only have time to make the bread dough at that point and need to cook it the following day. Sounds like that WOULD be possible then? How long does dough take to rise in the fridge? - am thinking 10-12 hours might be about right?

As a secondary question - am wondering whether its possible to make bread dough and stick it in the freezer and bring out for rising and baking subsequently?

hi ceridwin
I usually find bread rises nicely if left in the fridge overnight, so your estimate's probably about right
you'll likely find it takes a bit of trial & error at first, but you'll eventually work out what's right for you
I've only ever done the first part of the proving in the fridge though, I''ve always felt you wouldn't get a good result having the dough in the tins & putting it straight from fridge to oven*


freezing's fine, I do it when I've made too much dough, I don't like working with less than 3lbs of flour so I've often got extra pizza dough or naan dough, & it works perfectly well after freezing
just remember it'll need time to get to a 'viable' temperature & start rising again
again, trial & error

you'll not ruin your dough doing either of those things, it might just take you a little longer to get it ready for baking


*I'd be interested to hear if anyone's tried that?

ceridwen

hmmm..... my standard bread recipe has one "proving" anyway....thinks....maybe if I just left it be in a warm room for 10 minutes to "warm up" in between taking out of fridge and putting it in the oven??

lovelyjubbly

This sounds brilliant! I have always thought my kitchen was too cold to make bread, so I will make the dough tonight and cook tomorrow, I have a quick question for swan, or any other slow bread makers, if I let the dough rise slowly overnight, in the morning when I knock it back, do I have to let it rise for hours again, or not?

Swan_2

ceridwen wrote: »

hmmm..... my standard bread recipe has one "proving" anyway....thinks....maybe if I just left it be in a warm room for 10 minutes to "warm up" in between taking out of fridge and putting it in the oven??

give it a go, leave it in the warm place while the oven heats up

I might try it myself tonight & we can compare notes

Swan_2

lovelyjubbly wrote: »

This sounds brilliant! I have always thought my kitchen was too cold to make bread, so I will make the dough tonight and cook tomorrow, I have a quick question for swan, or any other slow bread makers, if I let the dough rise slowly overnight, in the morning when I knock it back, do I have to let it rise for hours again, or not?

hi lovely,
the second proving is usually quicker than the first

but how fast it'll be after cold, or refrigerated proving will depend on how warm you get it after/during the second kneading


:eek: shock tactic ... you could always knock it back, give it a quick re-knead, give it a 15 second jolt in the microwave (I mentioned that in a post above, it is a kinda emergency measure, but does work) then finish kneading & shaping it

moanymoany

I just let my dough rise in the kitchen. I only let it rise once then cook it. It always works.

lovelyjubbly

Thanks Swan and moanymoany I will try one loaf with a microwaved 2nd proving and one loaf straight in the oven and see what happens.

Swan_2

lovelyjubbly wrote: »

Thanks Swan and moanymoany I will try one loaf with a microwaved 2nd proving and one loaf straight in the oven and see what happens.

great please keep us posted, I'm really interested to see what works best

I'm planning an experiment too, but have delayed it due to getting caught up in Hogmanay shenanigans

lovelyjubbly

Well I have made my first loaf in about 25 years thanks to the tip by swan about leaving the breaad overnight to prove in my cold kitchen, it worked fantastically well, I used a recipe with 450grams hovis granary bread flour as I like all the crunchy bits, I added a sachet of yeast, teasp salt, two tbsp sunflour oil, 2 tbsp honey, 225ml warm water and I added some sunflower seeds and chopped some pumpkin seeds as well! I kneeded it for 10 minutes and left it on a greased tin on the worktop covered in oiled clingfilm and a clean tea towel. The next morning it had risen really really well so I just stuck it in a hot oven (without a second proving) for 20 minutes and it came out perfect! it is the most delicious bread I have ever ever tasted, :T I just couldn't wait to eat it and cut a slice off with butter and it was fantastic, (I won't bother now with the other experiment and a microwave as this seems to work so well). So thanks again to swan and moanymoany for the tips, I will never buy another loaf again, it even agrees with my digestion, I used to find that shop bought bread gave me stomach ache, so had just about stopped eating bread.