The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Help! I need somebody Help! (pre-ferment question)

YYZnewbie's picture
YYZnewbie

Help! I need somebody Help! (pre-ferment question)

Hey, first time posting something on this website. 

 

Last night i started a pre-ferment and im 9 hours into the 12-14 that "Wiley Hamelman's country bread recipe" calls for and i know its not right. (its still a ball of dough that has risen an inch) 

 

I mixed it by hand and i was nervous it wasnt mixed enough so i kneeded it a bit.....now that i have looked into it i know it was wrong but the "extra"gluten shouldnt have this dramatic of a result. 

 

From what i have read it should be like a sourdough starter at this point. And it is a long way off from that. 

 

Is it the tempture in the room? Was it the mixing and kneeding of it? (if so to what point do i mix). If there is anyone in the toronto area ill buy you a coffee and you can have a free loaf of my first batch. :) 

THE IMAGE IS OF THE DOUGH BEFORE I LET IT SIT 

FrugalBaker's picture
FrugalBaker

of the dough, I assumed it was not mixed properly....well, it's just my assumption. Even though, the dough should have risen a bit. Perhaps your preferment was sluggish???

It would be more helpful if you could provide more details on your entire bread making process, including how you fed your levain and such so that one of us here will have better picture on what actually went wrong. 

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

If it is of the preferment, don't worry about it and carry on with the recipe. It looks a tad dry to me, though. Did you have it covered? You may want to see what the dough is like once you mix it with the rest of the flour and water. If too dry, add a touch more water. 

If it is of the dough, Frugal has good advice for you. 

YYZnewbie's picture
YYZnewbie

The picture is of the preferment (in this recipe its half of the overall ingredients). I put a plastic sheet right on the dough and then put the whole bag in a plastic bag. Since i changed the temperature of the environment 3 hours ago it has risen almost double so im going to give it at least a few more hours to see whats what. 

FrugalBaker's picture
FrugalBaker

I have been asking myself too, Danni, after seeing the title of the post and the picture. And if I am not wrong again, the 'mixture' was in a stainless bowl....which it shouldn't be at the first place (for preferment especially) and with that, leading me into thinking it was a dough actually. You're right danni....it looks dry. 

P/s: I don't have many good advice but rather, made so many mistakes in the past that I vowed not to repeat : ) . Just hope to help one another whenever possible. 

 

Regards,

Sandy

FrugalBaker's picture
FrugalBaker

I have been asking myself too, Danni, after seeing the title of the post and the picture. And if I am not wrong again, the 'mixture' was in a stainless bowl....which it shouldn't be at the first place (for preferment especially) and with that, leading me into thinking it was a dough actually. You're right danni....it looks dry. 

P/s: I don't have many good advice but rather, made so many mistakes in the past that I vowed not to repeat : ) . Just hope to help one another whenever possible. 

 

Regards,

Sandy

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

in a stainless steel bowl without negative repercussions. Where did you hear that we shouldn't?

clazar123's picture
clazar123

Welcome to The Fresh Loaf! All of us were new to breadbaking at some point. Most of us have many questions no matter where we are on the learning curve.

Before any intelligent solutions can be offered, more info is needed.

Please briefly describe how you made your preferement-not all of us have every book out there.

Also important is the temp of the room where the preferment is sitting for this time. A small difference in room temp can make a difference in the activity of yeast. Is this made with a sourdough starter or commercial yeast? Is there any salt in the preferment?

Metal bowls are generally thought to be too reactive to contain acidic food (such as sourdough) for any period of time but I believe stainless is not reactive and is often used.

Since the dough in the pic looks rather shaggy (not very well mixed to smoothness) I am assuming this is a pic of the preferment. Since you knocked it down, it just makes it a bit harder to judge if it is ready. You can try taking a small (marble size maybe?) piece and see if it will float in water. If it does, it may be ready to use. I have never done that but it has been talked about on this forum. I believe there is an area of the world where the bread dough is routinely put in a bucket of water and is deemed "ready" for baking (fully proofed) when it floats.

Let us know how everything comes out-success or failure. Every loaf is a learning experience. We ALL learn from the postings here.

 

 

YYZnewbie's picture
YYZnewbie

The pre-ferment is as follows: 

1lb flour 

1&1/4 cups water 

0.3oz salt

1/8 tsp instant dry yeast 

Method (copied from book): 

1. Disperse the yeast in the water addbthe flour salt and mix until just smooth. At 60 percent hydration it will be atiff and dense. Add a few drops of water if the preferment seams to stiff to move. Cover the bowl with plastic and let stand for 12- 14 hours at about 70°f. When ripe the preferment will be will be domed and just beginning to recede in the center. 

 

 

I mixed by hand wand was worried about mixing it too much. The picture is actually of it after i mixed it....it has risen a lot in the last 3 hours since i put it above the fridge and cranked the heat (almost double).

 

Thanks for your help i think it was the temperature and from now on i will do plastic bowls. As per the mixing do you think it should be mixed until smooth like the recipe says? Im just worried that by hand ill mix it to much. As per the dryness i did add almost 1/4 cup because it wasnt absorbing all the of flour.

 

It has a nice stickyness to it now and i think im going to leave it for 5-6 hours so that it can get more ferment in it. 

 

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

It sounds like things are going just fine. 

clazar123's picture
clazar123

For the preferment you can mix as much as you want. Just important to get all the flour wet. This allows the yeast to use the flour as food.

Important to make sure you use unbleached flour when you make bread. Bleached flour behaves differently and not in a favorable way for bread.

Also, don't be too quick to add extra flour. Over time, the dough (or preferment) will become drier as the small flour particles fully absorb the water. I used to describe the mix initially as sticky-the flour/water would cling to the finger when lightly touched but when the water was fully absorbed, it was tacky like a post-it note and your finger would come away clean. You can always add more flour to the final dough.

Keep going! The best ingredient in bread is tincture of time!