The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Right proofing time.

username9's picture
username9

Right proofing time.

I am just getting started baking.  I have been reading many entries on this site and thanks to all of you folks who contribute so much so selflessly.

My question is how to determine the right amount of proof time for a loaf?  Does it all depend on the recipe or is there a way to find out from the texture of the bread.  Thanks so much

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suave's picture
suave

For a typical wheat bread you should have proof time about half as long as fermentation time if the tempreature is the same.

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

Yes, there is a way to tell.  Feel the loaf, the whole loaf with both hands on either side of it.  If you do this in all stages of fermentation from the time the dough is wet until it is ready for the oven and afterwards when it is over proofed you can teach your hands to feel when the dough has filled with enough gas to expand into a nice spring in the oven.

I actually go thru this with each and every loaf, trying to figure out when to bake it, so the Q never gets old.  Being familiar with a particular recipe will make it easier to guess.  The surest way is to cut open the dough quickly and sharply and take a good look at the bubble formation or gas actually being trapped inside the dough.  You can slap the dough back together or pinch the opening shut with with your fingers giving it a protective skin.  If you get carried away, it can make for some pretty decorative loaves.  

Look at the bubbles and their sizes and (very important) look at the dough between the larger bubbles.  You want to see lots of bubbles and no flat areas of solid dough.  Bubbles expand in the oven heat, but they have to be there first.

Another thing you want to look for is deterioration of your dough matrix or the structure that holds the gas inside the dough.  Without a good structure, gas will escape, first gas will pool together into odd shaped bubbles and then break into themselves forming larger ones to rise and escape on the surface.   From the moment water is added to dough, it starts to ferment.  This continues until we decide that the development of the dough and the amount of trapped gas is sufficient to raise and bake into a loaf of bread.  The dough will eventually ferment to the point of complete deterioration if we don't stop it with baking.  So determining the end of proof has to do with recognising the point where that particular dough mix can still trap gas yet expand, and the amount of existing trapped gas.  

They are two different concepts.  It can happen that you have a great dough but the gas has not formed and by the time it does, the dough has deteriorated to the point of not being able to trap it.

Most recipes give you a guideline but it can vary.  Recipes using commercial yeasts are more predictable than sourdoughs.  The room temp, dough temp, ingredients (substitutions) will all influence the rise time.  Sourdoughs are more aggressive on the dough matrix because of their pairing with bacteria which is also aggressive and generally sourdoughs take longer to rise which often gives us too long to watch and think about them so we worry more.  

The best way to judge most rises is simply to pinch off a little bit of dough about the size of a large marble or less than a ping pong ball (depends on the glass you use) you want it big enough to go across the bottom of a straight sided shot glass or something similar.  Pinch off the dough before you start your bulk rising and cram it flat into the bottom of your little vial (those skinny olive jars work great.)  Mark the top with tape, rubber band or sharpie and again the imaginary level should it double or whatever your recipe says to notice...   Keep it close to your dough so it maintains the same temp and conditions as the dough.  This is your rise gauge.  When you deflate the dough, do the same to this little sample.  :)  

Don't forget to mark on your recipe how long it took to rise, the temperature and date your note.  

username9's picture
username9

Mini oven,  Thank you so much for the detailed answer.  I will follow your instructions.

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dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

relevant.  It depends on what flours are used, how much whole grain, how much preferment and what kind, the hydration, the temperature the amount and type of enrichment, the amount and lengths of the the retards etc.  There is no one answer for all bread but each bread will let you know what the proof should be either visually or by touch.  Knowing when the bread is properly proofed is the most difficult thing to know in baking for sure - all because each bread is different..

Happy baking

username9's picture
username9

Thank you all for the wonderful answers

I was thinking of baking dmsnyder's San Joaquin Sourdough first.  I have only baked 2 loaves both of them from thewildyeast website.  They both turned out OK however after much reading I wanted to improve and hence my question. :)

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bikeprof's picture
bikeprof

has anyone found a decent video reference on signs of a well proofed loaf...this is clearly one of the most common questions, and ongoing challenges for home bakers, and it would be nice to have a handy go to illustration (along with Mini's great coaching)

suave's picture
suave

Well-proofed is too vague a term - for example, the same loaf could be slashed or docked, each approach would require different proof time.

barryvabeach's picture
barryvabeach

Bikeprof,  I have struggled with proofing, and looked for videos, and unfortunately, I agree with Mini oven, the best way is to pinch off some, and put it into a straight sided container and see how high it rises, and bake as directed.  Some are big fans of the poke test, others say that is not accurate for some recipes, especially sourdough. I looked for video's, and even saw one of Julia Child's show the other night where the guest showed her version of the poke test -  totally different than what I have seen with other videos, and didn't find any video that was all that helpful  - not sure if it was that the camera didn't capture it, or that different recipes look different. 

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.
username9's picture
username9

Thanks David.  Great info.

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