I've made cinnamon rolls and other sweet doughs successfully for years now, but I've always had trouble refrigerating them.  If I make the rolls and bake them the same day, they are tall and soft; just perfect!  If I make the dough today, roll out the rolls, put them in the pan and let them rise (~1hr) then refrigerate them overnight to bake the next morning, I have problems.  I usually let them warm on the counter ~30 minutes before baking, and they usually fall and come out of the oven "short and dense".  They also often taste a bit off; almost alcoholic, like they've fermented.  (We tend to keep our refrigerator very cold.)

What can I do to keep them tall, soft and tasting good?  Should I not let them come to room temp before baking?  Should I be MORE patient after taking them out of the refrigerator and let them warm/rise an hour (or even more)?

This happened this past weekend with a monkey bread I made, and I'm getting frustrated.  It's so much more convenient to pre-make the rolls or monkey bread and then bake for breakfasts the next morning!  I really don't want to get up at 3am just so my in-laws can have fresh cinnamon rolls to start the day!

- Greg

Opening a wholesale bakery featuring my sourdough bread and was wondering if I could just put it in the oven right out of the frige.  I always bring it to room temp before baking and I am trying to streamline the operation for better/faster production.

Hello-

I've been trying a few baguette methods that call for a retardation in the refrigerator, and what confuses me is that many people say they get a bit of a rise out of their dough while it's in there. I get nada. The dough comes out pretty much exactly as it went in. Which leads me to ask, what's the point of the cold retardation? If yeast activity slows to the point of pretty much total inaction, the process isn't doing me much good, is it? 

My fridge seems to be at 3.5 degrees Celsius. (That's 38.3F for you old-school types.) I like it that way as my milk never goes off. Is your fridge warmer? Is a professional baker's fridge warmer?

Thanks, I really do appreciate everyone's expertise on this site. 

Need some advice here.  I've got my chef for my Pain de Seigle ready for 2nd refresher today.  The recipe states to feed it and put it aside for 8hours only. But I'm not available to work on the dough after 8 hours,  can I put it the chef into the fridge and take it out when I'm ready to add in the dough ingredients?

If I do that,  do I need to set it aside to bring it to room temperature first?

Looking forward to your suggestions.

Jenny

Hi all:

I am working on a sourdough rye right now.  It's on its second build, is proofing in the fridge, and due space and time issues has been there since Saturday afternoon.  By the time I bake it this evening, it will have been proofing for nearly 48 hours.  Am I still going to have bread, or will I likely just be baking a HUGE starter?

Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks,

Igwiz

I currently have a home-based specialty bakery based off my grandmother's bread recipe. I use a liquid starter and the result is a soft sweet bread with a thin crust on the top but the bottom is fairly soft. I'm working on a business plan to start a wholesale bakery (not in my home).

I had my bread tested and it has a water activity level between .92 and .94.  I understand that bread with water activity above .85 has to be sold refrigerated or with preservatives. Everything I've read says the standard water activity level for bread is .95. If this is so, how do bakeries or anyone sell fresh preservative-free, non-refrigerated bread? I am going to try to bake my bread at a lower temp for longer time to see if this lowers the water activity level. I don't want to use preservatives or refrigerate it because refrigeration causes staling. Can anyone PLEASE help???