The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

I messed up my dough

Bread and Salt's picture
Bread and Salt

I messed up my dough

Today I woke up the wrong side of the bed and insisted on making bread since I already had my preferment ready. Everything went good until shaping time, I used a plastic round container, swiped it with olive oil and sprinkled plenty of flour. But the round dough stuck after rise and deflated.

In an effort to fix it and reshape it to a ball it stuck badly to my hands and in an angry hulk-like moment I slammed the damn dough on the table and took my anger on the side wall.

When I calmed down I put the all mushy ...thing... Back in the oiled proofing can and now I started my stretch and fold back from scratch. I don't know if this dough could be saved after all this mistreatment, it is rising during the 50 min intervals but its not elastic as it was the first time.

Any thoughts on how to salvage a mistreated dough?

Les Nightingill's picture
Les Nightingill

most likely you will end up with over-proofed dough, without the benefit of the fermentation gases as they were released in the handling.

I find a plastic bowl scraper to be a pretty good tool for gently removing risen dough from a bowl without deflating.

nmygarden's picture
nmygarden

and she was right. We've likely all encountered a similar event in our baking experience. Not to be deterred, however, we must do our best to find the finish line. Please let us know how things went.

A reshaped loaf may not be able to recover sufficient structure for a happy ending, but perhaps try Plan B, shape into rolls or breadsticks and proof briefly.

PS - my near disaster (okay, one of them) included 8 loaves proofed to the point of preheating the oven and stone. But the glow-plug (gas oven) gave out and refused to light. No oven! The available alternatives included:

trashing the dough...

bothering the neighbors...

how about the gas grill?

The grill worked remarkably well, with the loaves placed on improvised aluminum foil pans, but required that I pace close at hand to adjust the heat (I was the thermostat). And a glass of wine was summoned for medicinal purposes.

Cathy

Bread and Salt's picture
Bread and Salt

Wine is indeed the Elixir and medicine to everything. 

You guessed right, no recovery for a mistreated dough, I placed is in a Remy Olivier mold and baked it still and the end result was ... In the trash bin. The taste was awful, undeveloped, yeasty, salty and not quite risen.

Well I ordered some Brotform bannetons from China so that I won't face such a nightmare again.

Thank you for your comments, if we don't mess up we won't learn

baybakin's picture
baybakin

I'm wondering why you were using a oiled bowl as your post-shape proof container,  This could be part of the problem of sticking.  If you are going to use a bowl (or colander) as your shaped proofing container, line it with a heavily floured non-terry kitchen towel, or a piece of untreated canvas/linen (also floured).  This should help with your sticking problem.

PetraR's picture
PetraR

I do not understand why you oiled the bowl for final proofing your bread, the oil is not helpful and changes the structure of the dough * in my humble opinion *

You should, as baybakin alreayd said, line a none terry kitchen towel, flour it well and line your bowl with it for proofing your dough.

I used to slightly oil my bowl for bulk fermentation but I do not do that anymore either as with help of my dough scraper I get my dough out without deflating it to much so it needs to be deflatet a bit before shaping.

Bread and Salt's picture
Bread and Salt

Well I use an oiled then floured mold when I bake my cakes and during my YouTube searches I came across a guy who did it for his dough and I felt the need to try it.

I made a couple of round shaped breads successfully using as you mentioned a heavily floured kitchen towel, but I wanted the dough to have the bowl's exact texture.

 

PetraR's picture
PetraR

I would not advice to do it this way the flour and the oil will mix up and make the dough stick rather than helping it to come out in one piece.