The Fresh Loaf

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How can I tell if my bulk ferment is done?

You'syourloaf's picture
You'syourloaf

How can I tell if my bulk ferment is done?

I'm trying the Ken Fortish Saturday White Bread recipe and have had my dough on its bulk ferment since 09:30hr (UK). We are now just after 14:00hr here and the five-hour bulk ferment given in the recipe should be coming to a close, with my dough having risen by about three times.  It has possibly gained one and a half or possibly double its volume.  Can I check the bulk ferment in some way?  Should I just go for it, or maybe leave it longer?

My kitchen is at about 19C (66F) today.

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

advice is to ignore them.  If he says it needs to triple in volume that then that is what you shoot for.

Postal Grunt's picture
Postal Grunt

While using time as basis for judgement is a good thing in many tasks, it doesn't necessarily work well with dough. My own misadventures in baking have taught me the wisdom of the advice to pay attention to the dough and not the clock.

One of the easiest ways to eliminate the guesswork in your situation is to use a container that is already marked with volume levels. I found my bulk fermentation container at a restaurant supply store in KC, MO.

You should also keep in mind that most yeast works best around 76F. If your kitchen is 66F, the yeast is still working but at a leisurely pace. So just relax, have a cup of tea, and let the dough continue to work. Time is often the friend of flavor in dough.

 

 

You'syourloaf's picture
You'syourloaf

Thanks for your replies and advice dabrownman and Postal Grunt,

I let my bulk ferment run-on another thirty minutes and there appeared to be no real change in the size of the dough. It was certainly bigger than when it started!  The volume had increased but I find it hard to gauge if the volume of a boule shape has increased by what particular factor, certainly not height. 

A good reminder about "the dough not the clock", as the rate of change of my dough had slowed right down so I think it had done most of what it was going to.

A proofing for an hour, checked by the poke test, and a bake for a total of forty-five minutes gave me a loaf that Ken Forkish would have been proud of,  holes big enough to lose most of your honey through!  The crumb was light and moist and the crust, really crunchy.

Thanks again.

P.S. Is it a long way to "KC, MO" from Devon, England?!! :)

kendalm's picture
kendalm

MO is is the postal abbreviation for Missouri and there's not many other cities there other than Kansas city which is not in Kansas !

You'syourloaf's picture
You'syourloaf

Thanks kendalm.  Pleased to see that there is as much logic to your place names as ours!

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

taught school in KCKS ( Kansas City, Kansas) which is just across the Missouri river from KCMO.  That should thoroughly confuse those from Devonshire or from anywhere else for that matter:-)

Postal Grunt's picture
Postal Grunt

I use a 5L Cambro container for my efforts and it appears that they should be available in the UK. I found a few listed on Amazon UK. If you find the prices ridiculous, find a similar shaped, food safe container and then proceed to mark off suitable volumes, such as 250ml, 500ml and so on, with a permanent marker such as a "Sharpie" or "Magic Marker". That ought to do the job for you at a more reasonable price.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=node%3D3313555031&field-keywords=cambro+storage+containers&rh=n%3A11052681%2Cn%3A392546011%2Cn%3A10707...

You'syourloaf's picture
You'syourloaf

Thanks for your post Postal Grunt,

Yes, "ouch" on the Cambro prices!  Cellarvie's post gives a link to a UK catering company that does much more affordable prices so I'm going to check them out and get one on order.  Thanks for your advice.

Cellarvie's picture
Cellarvie

I had the same challenge You'syourloaf until I started using a vertical sided container "marked" with an elastic band indicating the starting dough height.  It worked so well that I eventually graduated to the kind of container Postal Grunt recommends, found them in the UK at http://www.nextdaycatering.co.uk/xsearch?CombinationType=And&searchterm=Polycarbonate%20Round%20Storage%20Container.  I bought the 6L with lid but the 4L might have fitted my fridge better when retarding overnight. Now if I could find a way of ensuring the oven's up to temperature when the dough says it's ready I'd be one happy baker.  

Happy baking, bet Devon's looking lovely right now.

You'syourloaf's picture
You'syourloaf

Thanks for the link Cellarvie.  These seem to be much more sensibly priced than Cambro products.  I've just come off the phone from Next Day Catering and found out the height and diameter of the various sizes so it's off to the fridge with a tape measure next!  Thanks for the tip.  It has probably saved me the hassle of ordering the wrong one!

Devon is beautiful at the moment, with all the Spring flowers out.  I hope the cows are OK in Milton Keynes?!  I used to live not far from them.

estherc's picture
estherc

I use 2 quart batter glass batter bowls for my first proofing. They're the ones made by pyrex or corning that look like huge measuring cups. Easy to see when its doubled and I find the glass more to my liking than plastic.

Works great for one or two loaves. 

You'syourloaf's picture
You'syourloaf

Thanks for the reply estherc.  

I've used my 24cm (9.5 inches) Pyrex cast iron casserole http://www.pyrexuk.com/round-casserole-1291.html as my Dutch oven and it works really well.  They do a range of sizes. The "batter bowl" didn't come up on the Pyrex UK web site.  They have similar things called measuring jugs, marked with metric volumes but not anywhere near the two-quart size. The biggest seems to be 1L. Must it be a US sales line? 

HPoirot's picture
HPoirot

Will choosing too narrow a container be detrimental to my dough if i BF in it? Due to space constraint i would rather buy smaller cambro.

That means i can't do S&F right? And should i be oiling the container?

Danni3ll3's picture
Danni3ll3

I use a 6 quart Cambro for all my recipes including Forkish's. It is a bit more awkward to do stretches and folds because the container is higher than the 12 quart, but not impossible. And I do not oil the container. I find the dough releases nicely from the plastic unlike when I was using a big glass punch bowl. Now that was a nightmare to clean!

You'syourloaf's picture
You'syourloaf

I bought from http://www.nextdaycatering.co.uk/xsearch?CombinationType=And&searchterm=Polycarbonate%20Round%20Storage%20Container on Cellarvie's advice. The brand name is "Vogue". I've a six litre, ten-pint (4.5 quarts) container, which is straight sided, graduated and working very well for my 800g (flour weight) dough mix. I bought a lid with it as well. I can stretch and fold using it; I use it for the bulk ferment and it washes easily.  

The graduations help with assessing the progress of the bulk ferment but truth to tell, I find this all a bit of a mystery as I've never achieved a tripling of volume but nonetheless have had some bread that I'm really pleased with, which has the desired crumb and crust qualities.