January 27, 2012 - 7:34am
Tartine Bulk Fermentation in the Refrigerator?
I have been making bread using the Tartine recipe for a while with very satisfactory results.
I am trying to adapt the baking schedule to my routine. Has anyone here tried doing the bulk fermentation overnight in the refrigerator?
Do you do that instead of the stretch and fold? Doesn't that affect the development of the dough?
I have tried doing the final rise in refrigerator overnight, which worked well and resulted in very flavorful bread, but I am now wondering about bulk fermentation in the refrigerator.
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I think you will still want to do some S&Fs before you refrigerate it.
And I think you will need to cut back on the starter proportion a bit to slow the bulk ferment. You will probably have to experiment and hone in on the right ratios. But it should work fine.
Good luck and let us know how it works!
Jay
Thanks
Our house thermostat sits at 55˚ this time of year (anything >55˚ comes from woodstove). Slows everything down. I have been preparing Tartine dough Friday night and yes, bulk fermenting chez fridge. Saturday: Robertsonian in-bucket turns periodically in ~60˚ kitchen (home on weekends so can feed woodstove), then back to fridge, still in bulk bucket, over Saturday night, believe it or don't. I bake midday Sunday after "room temp" (~60˚ in kitchen with woodstove support) proof in AM. I've always been an ardent slow food practitioner and taking 3 days to prepare a batch of bread comes naturally. Comes out great, despite banneton-sticking annoyances shared here earlier this week. I've also tried the opposite: bulk ferment on 55˚ bench over Fri nite then into fridge for Sat nite. Didn't make a difference. Maybe 40˚ (fridge) - 55˚ (house) range is well down into the flat of S. cerevisiae's doubling time x temp dependence curve (not to mention key extracellular enzymes' temp dependence curves). Of course, I'm going to have to change this with the seasons, esp. since our house is ~80˚ in summer. Buy a wine cooler? Dunno. The dough will call the shots, as always.
Thanks for the info.
Does your bread come out out sour at all?
....I'm still using storebought yeast -- if that makes a difference (I would think it might). I'm cultivating a starter, but it's still working its way through Deb Wink's fascinating little microbial version of ecological succession (in our furnace/hot water heater room, the only place in the house routinely >55˚ this time of year). Hopefully next week...
So no, flavor is terrific even at this stately pace of prep.
The Tartine formula is wet enough that it can border on unmanageable if the gluten is not well developed which is why I said you should probably plan to do some S&Fs. The extened proof will degrade the dough and exacerbate the stickiness issue which may favor doing the bulk first and the S&Fs after - or splitting before/after. It is impossible to know what is best for your flour/water/practices. I would suggest that the retard be in the bulk phase for there are those (search the TFL list) who believe that flavor is only (or at least best) generated in larger volumes of dough and that flavor development at the loaf level (unless very large) is minimal. Besides it should save refrigerator space.
The other big question will be how long you will need to warm the bread and get it going before final shaping and proofing. I would tend to let the dough warm but if it is nasty sticky it could be better to do it cold, while the dough is more manageable. In any event, you may want to flour the first loaves pretty generously to avoid sticking during what is likely to be an extended proof.
Good luck!
Jay
I'm curious about this as well. I usually put it in the fridge after the shape. 3 days?! I wonder how a wild yeast starter would affect flavor over that period of time? Might be really tasty!
The ABin5 duo prescribe essentially a week+ bulkF and it hasn't retarded their rise to boulangerific rock stardom (well, at least as far as publishing goes). My 36h fri pm to sun am chilly bulkF is way short of their report that ABin5 dough gets funky after a week at 4degC. Indeed, reading their site convinced me that my weekend long protocol might be viable, at least this time o' year.