August 6, 2012 - 3:08am
cold shape
Has anyone tried a long (overnight) cold fermentation followed by cold shaping and then room temp proofing ?
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Has anyone tried a long (overnight) cold fermentation followed by cold shaping and then room temp proofing ?
I've tried a cold shape, but the dough wasn't particularly co-operative at that temperature; I couldn't get much strenching without tearing the dough, and when it warms up it will slacken, losing some of the shaping.
I shape then retard, simply for the easier handling and scoring.
I was warried that it would be hard to shape a cold dough... But it's so much easier to retard dough than shaped bread when you have limted space...
I do this frequently because it is much harder to find room in the fridge for shaped dough. Your dough will warm up quickly if you remove from fridge, pat it out into a large, flat disc shape. Cover the dough with plastic wrap. Flip it over after awhile so the bottom can warm up. When it warms up enough to where you can easily work it, go ahead with your shaping. It doesn't need to be totally warm to room temperature.
If you can give it some time to warm up before the shaping, there should be no problems! I can certainly appreciate the space issue.
I remove cold bulk fermented dough from the refrigerator and let it warm up for about 3 hours. It is then scaled and preshaped, 20 minute rest, and then shaped and proofed. It works well this way.
Jeff