The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

ideal retardation temperature?

Pablo's picture
Pablo

ideal retardation temperature?

A little bar 'fridge was getting thrown out and I grabbed it for a dedicated chilled compartment for retarding dough.  Any thoughts about the ideal temperature to try to achieve?  I'm thinking about 55 degrees F. 

gavinc's picture
gavinc

Jeff Hamelman's Bread page 151 suggests:

Up to 8 hours about 50 degrees F should suffice.  Breads retarding for 16 hours need close to 40 degrees F. 

Pablo's picture
Pablo

Terrific, thanks.  I can see I'd better expand my library.

Mike Avery's picture
Mike Avery

Different breads will be different, depending on their hydration and the amount of riser you are using.

 

Some will take longer, some less time.

 

So, try.  We tried to get our dough fully risen in the retarder so it could go straight into the oven, as Jeff Hammelman suggests.

 

Your points of control are the hydration of the dough, the amount of riser, the amount of time the dough sits at room temperature before it goes into the retarder, the temperature of the retarder, and how long the dough is retarded.

 

Play with the variables and you can make the bread come out when you want and the way you want.

 

Also, you might look into external thermostats.  Home brew shops have them.  Most refrigerators don't have very accurate temperature control, so an external thermostat helps a lot.

 

Good luck,

Mike

 

Pablo's picture
Pablo

What I found out today is that my oven is whacked.  With the control set to 525 a stand-alone oven thermometer was varying between 350 and 400. :-( The stove came with the house 3 years ago and was not very new then.  The house is from '83 and perhaps the stove is as well.  This is the excuse to replace it.  Actually it seems the 'fridge may not be getting down to an ideal temperature for storing food either, it's a contemporary of the stove.  Sears here we come.  I hope that helps to explain some of my less than stellar results.  I'm really into this whole deal though.  It was attempting artisan bread baking that got me to pick up an oven thermometer and an internal probe and start a journal of my efforts with more precise measuring and monitoring.

Shaping loaves is also very difficult for me.  I see these videos of people working very wet dough on unfloured surfaces and I think I should be able to do that.  I end up really traumatizing my dough and getting a rough approximation of shape.  My current plan is to get the Peter Reinhart books and so some careful reading and step by step following of instructions.  I thought I could just pick a hydration ratio and go for it.  But it hasn't panned out like that.  They've all been edible, and tasty even, but not the open crumb/crispy crust that I'm striving for.  But it sure is fun!  And I can much more fully appreciate some of the spectacular results people post photos of here.