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Hrm, am I doing this wrong?

Niashi's picture
Niashi

Hrm, am I doing this wrong?

I think I'm having some problems fridging my sourdough (not the starter, but actual dough). Some recipes have a single rise, some have a double rise. Double rise, it seems to be suggested that you fridge after the first rise and do the second rise after you pull it out. It seems some recipes think it'll come to temp and rise around 1.5 hours'ish, but I have to keep it out quite a while before it'll rise (3 hours).

 

Is my fridge temp too low? or is my room temp too low? Do I need to transfer it to a warm location, for example a location where I keep my starter? I'll watch it and watch it, then a lot of times when I go to cook it, it's showing signs of over proofing, but I'm not keeping it out extended times after it starts rising, I pretty much use it immediately after it's done it's rise.

 

Thank you for any help.

ZD's picture
ZD

I keep my fridge very cold and I get a slow  rise with commercial yeast but my strain of wild yeast has very low activity in the fridge.

Greg R

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Hi, Niashi.

I'm not clear whether you are cold retarding your dough before or after forming loaves.

If you retard the dough in bulk, you generally do so before it has doubled. Then, the next day, you form your loaves and let them proof. If you are retarding formed loaves, you let the dough double in bulk, form your loaves, then retard them before they have fully proofed.

In either case, the dough takes about an hour to come to room temperature after cold retardation and some hours to complete proofing.

For example, if I cold retard my loaves after I've shaped them, they will be ready to bake 3 to 4 hours after coming out of the fridge.

I hope this helps, but, if you are still confused, please tell us the procedure in the recipe you a are using so we can provide more specific advice.

David

Niashi's picture
Niashi

Tonight, I decided to try white sandwich bread from Artisan Breads Everyday. In this recipe, Reinhart has you mix and knead, then put it in the fridge for up to 4 days. I put it in for 1 day.

at 9:35PM PST I had someone at home pull it out. Reinhart says needs about 2.5 hours. I came home at 2.5 hours from work, formed and Reinhart says to proof another 2.5 hours. I did, but it really didn't rise to the suggested 1 inch over the rim.

 

For the sourdough example, I was trying the following recipe: http://www.wildyeastblog.com/2007/07/08/my-new-favorite-sourdough/

At step 9, I followed the suggestion of 1.5 hours at room temp then I fridged for almost exactly 16 hours as suggested.  When I cooked it, it was flat.. I mean quite flat.  I probably need to try some other recipes, but I am using her (Susan from Wildyeastblog) starter recipe and it was suggested for the first try. When I didn't fridge it, it wasn't flat.

ZD's picture
ZD

Is your sourdough working well with doughs that aren't retarded in the fridge? Your last sentence makes it sound that way. What temperature is your fridge? Have you tried the retarded recipes with commercial yeast?

Greg R

 

Niashi's picture
Niashi

For commerical yeast - It rises, but not much and it wasn't a sourdough recipe. The only attempt I've made with commerical yeast and retarding in the fridge was  Reinhart's White Sandwich Bread recipe.

as for the question about the temp of my fridge, I just looked and it was at 36F.

Yes, my sourdough (dough) works well without retarding it.

 

 

 

ZD's picture
ZD

I think you will need to adj time to your conditions. I am no expert on refrigerated doughs, but I have had some of the same issues with my doughs. This last winter I was putting doughs in my cold garage and had good luck but as it warmed up I started using my 34F fridge and I didn't like the results. IMO it is just to cold. Having said that it works great for my pizza dough, but I don't want it to do as much it the cold and it is a small piece of dough so in 2 hours it has warmed up OK and it is all about oven rise anyway. I considered warming up my fridge but never did. I bake mostly on weekends now without a cold phase. Sourdough has lots of flavor and doesn't need the cold to taste good.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Greg R

Niashi's picture
Niashi

I'll go ahead and do that, just afraid of overproofing, I'll make sure to watch it closely to prevent that when I fridge my dough. My weekend is soon and that's best time for me to bake.