The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Pan de campagne

mazzidante's picture
mazzidante

Pan de campagne

Hi everybody ,i prepare the pand de campagne with my natural yeast ,that looks like a biga and i put in the refrigerator

the day after is not very devellop so i try to puch with finger and the hole stay,but anyway ,i leave out 3 hours but still there is not rising,so i divide and pre shape,the dough is very soft and playable after shaped usualy i should wait for the dough to double?Today i just wait 25 minutes and baked,not rising and not spring....any suggestion?

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Hi, Francesco.

As I understand your message, you are trying to make a sourdough (au levain) bread. You are cold retarding the dough right after mixing. The next day, you are bulk fermenting at room temperature for 3 hours then dividing and shaping. You are baking 25 minutes after shaping.

You are not giving the dough enough time in a warm temperature for the yeast to multiply and make carbon dioxide. Dough doubling in bulk fermentation is generally expected as the result. A naturally leavened dough takes longer to double than one using added yeast.

You are also not giving your formed loaves enough time to proof. They do not need to double, but should expand quite a bit. Again, this will take longer if the dough is au levain.

Usually, underproofed loaves have great oven spring, but, in your case, you didn't bulk ferment long enough either, so they didn't.

I think you are trying to speed things up too much. You will not get good bread this way. You need to let the dough tell you when it is ready to take the next step. I strongly encourage you to study some good baking books about bread making so you understand the process better.

David