The Fresh Loaf

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does tension pull remove existing air bubbles?

liming's picture
liming

does tension pull remove existing air bubbles?

dear bread masters,

 

           Can you tell me if doing tension pulls before the final shaping removes all air bubbles already generated? If I want to have sufficient tension pull and a good oven spring, and also keep big air bubbles, can these two be reconciled? 

           thanks!

 

Liming

Les Nightingill's picture
Les Nightingill

it's a good idea to be gentle in the handling during shaping, in order to preserve the bubbles. We hope to recover some during the proofing, so the shaping should not be too late in the bulk fermentation, otherwise the dough cannot recover.

Just to be clear on terminology... I'm not referring here to the stretch/fold that is typically done at the beginning of bulk fermentation, but instead to the shaping process at the end of bulk fermentation.

RoundhayBaker's picture
RoundhayBaker

I've not come across 'tension pull' before. What is the context? Do you mean a Hamelman-style envelope fold before shaping, or perhaps a stretch-and-fold? Maybe pre-shaping? Either way, you can relax, you won't remove all the air bubbles, not even if you overdo the S+F and end up tearing the dough (although that much damage will reduce your bubble count). As Les says, gentle handling is the key. I'd just add that applies at every stage.

liming's picture
liming

oh hi the kind of tension pull I'm worried about is illustrated in the following video, at 7:16 and 8:04 minute mark. 

The bread come out with big irregular holes despite the tension pull done to the dough, which is to my surprise! 

thanks

Liming

Les Nightingill's picture
Les Nightingill

Liming the video link doesn't seem to be showing up. Is it just me?

liming's picture
liming

oh sorry here is the link: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfWcs2k7oQ4

 

Les Nightingill's picture
Les Nightingill

OK from watching the video I understand that by "tension fold" you're referring to the shaping method of dragging the dough on the work surface and using the friction to pull tension into the ball of dough.

As with the other shaping methods (e.g. letter fold) this can be detrimental to the leavening achieved during bulk fermentation. This is why we have the proofing stage, for the dough to recover and regenerate some gas.

There are several unusual aspects of the method in the video... he uses 500g of starter and 500g of flour. This is a very high amount of starter (5x) compared to most recipes I've used. The flour in the starter is already fermented when it's added to the dough, and it cannot contribute much to the food source for the yeast.