multiple loaves and refrigeration, high(er) hydration doughs, pointy batards
Hi there:
I followed many recipes that suggested refrigeration during the bulk ferment when I first began to bake. This gave me a lot of trouble, especially with higher hydration doughs (65%+) due to the various challenges such as scoring, proofing with cold dough, timing oven temp with proof, etc.
Later, someone told me about refrigerating the proof itself, then taking the dough straight to oven. This was awesome and changed my results to a lot of consistency, because higher hydration does would keep their shape more, I wouldn't have to worry as much about coordinating timing, and breads were much easier to score. This is how I've been baking for the last year.
First question: this is fine, but what do you do when you want to bake several loaves, your fridge is too small, and you don't have enough proofing paraphernalia?
I have a largish bake coming up (for an occasional hobby, 6 loaves is a lot at one time) so tried to revisit refrigeration during bulk as practice. It doesn't work. My loaves come out oddly shaped, inconsistent, and quickly lead to overproofed results when I get to loaf #3.
This leads me to second question: is it possible to refrigerate several shaped pointy batards? How, when they are resting on folded up makeshift* couche thingy? Place on cookie sheet and plastic wrap? Ugh? I tried putting a pointy one into an oval banneton, but it didn't work for whatever reasons (the banneton is a wee bit short, so the points fold up and melt giving a rounded end instead).
Thanks.
*using folded flour-sack clothes, haven't gotten one of those fancy linen things yet
I've had similar patterns of success and failure before, and love to retard the final proof overnight and then score and bake in the morning (makes for a great baking schedule for me).
I'm also looking at similar refrigeration constraints and I'm looking at picking up an inexpensive second fridge for the basement off of craigslist.
And yes, you can retard pointy batards in a couche on a board, with at least a cloth over the top (and I will put a loose sheet of plastic draped over that - not tight at all. Or if the folds of the couche project up high enough, just the loose plastic.
I wonder if you really mean bulk ferment - because that really is your answer in my opinion. I think this sums it up pretty well: "We call it a bulk fermentation because we are letting our dough—the entire batch—ferment as one mass, before dividing and shaping it into loaves."
The beauty is you can have a big tub of dough that fits in your refrigerator and bulk ferments and pull out the amounts you can bake as needed. So maybe take out enough for 4 loaves, proof in bannetons, as they bake they next batch are proofing. It takes some figuring out the schedule, but it does allow quite a bit of production from a small oven.
Yes, EB, I did really mean bulk ferment :) It didn't occur to me I could take out what I need, that would help me stagger the baking, perfect! Duh!
Now I just need to practice timing, because all my bread baked this way is coming out a bit overproofed, and also scoring the lax wet dough; so much easier when it's cold from the fridge.
Hey bikeprof: I don't know your situation, but maybe this concept of "bulk fermentation" will help you, too :) I actually wanted a small fridge so I could age ribeye, however, when I finally found a reasonably clean one for a decent price, it didn't fit in my car. Talk about the drive home of shame.