October 29, 2012 - 3:28am
retarding dough
Can i retard dough at the final proofing stage? I want to do all the hard work the day before and bake the loaves before I go to work. I take bread into the hospital where I work I want to provide bread baking that day rather than the day before without being up half the night. can anyone help?
Ian
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Indeed you can, and I'd say it's the most common point to retard. Most of mine are proofed and then retarded, they bake straight out of the fridge.
do you still get good oven spring from cold dough?
Ian
The spring is just as decent - the temperature difference is't much compared to the roasting oven. I also favour it for ease of handling and scoring.
Sometimes I let it proof on the counter for an hour and a half and then retard and let it warm up before baking. Sometimes after bulk ferment and shaping in the fridge it goes for 2 days until it proofs up. Sometimes I let it bulk ferment and just leave it in bowl and retard it and shape the next day after it warm up some.
All work out fine and like you I am hard pressed to tell the difference in looks. Same with cold or hot dutch ovens or cold DO going into cold or hot ovens too. Can't tell the difference in any of them either. It is nice that bread is so flexible and can conform to just about anyone's schedule.
I like the idea of putting in the oven from the fridge. I think i will give it a go. I plan to take it out of the fridge while the oven heats up then pop them in. Whole process should take me an hour
thanks
Ian.
I DO RETARD MY DOUGH OVERNIGHT IN THE FRIDGE, BUT THE NEXT DAY, I TAKE IT OUT OF THE FRIDGE, AND LET IT PROOF AGAIN, FOR ABOUT TWO AND A HALF HOURS, DEPENDING ON MY ROOM TEMPERATURE. AND I HAVE HAD SUCCESS ON MY BAKING. I DO FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS OF NANCY SILVERTON'S LA BREA BAKERY BREADS BOOK, BUT I AM OPEN TO ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS. GREAT SUBJECT
CARLOS BARAJAS
At my local grocery store they actually sell dough thats been retarded and flash-frozen - I've bought them before and had maybe 50/50 success with them reaching full rise. I would say they are flash frozen before proofing though based on their size / the amount of air present in them when frozen.