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tweaking with bread timeline

bauglir's picture
bauglir

tweaking with bread timeline

Hi all,

I've been making Reinhart's whole grain sandwich loaf for a while now and love it.  I've been closely following the recipe, but sometimes the timing/scheduling aspect is less-than-ideal for my purposes.  I would like to bake the bread the morning after I prepare it by leaving it in the fridge overnight, but I'm wondering if I change any aspects of how I make the bread if I want to do so.  This is a two-day bread, where a pre-ferment and soaker are made the night before, and then added to the final dough which is baked the next day.  The amount of yeast in the final dough is 2.25 t.  I have two thoughts on how I might go about this:

a) stick to the recipe/process, but for the final dough, decrease the amount of yeast (may to 1.5 t), and put the dough in the fridge right after it is shaped, so it would end up being a three-day process

b) stick to the formula, but make it as a straight dough and put it in the fridge after it is shaped.  I imagine I would still want to decrease the amount of yeast, but maybe not as much as if I did it the first way.  

What do you think would work best, or is there a better option?  I want to make sure that I still reap the benefits of the delayed fermentation and still get the subtly sweet flavor that comes from the sugars in the wheat being slowly broken down.

Thanks!

barryvabeach's picture
barryvabeach

I think  option a would work well, just keep notes on what you change and your timing.   I use his epoxy method, and have varied it quite a bit, and still have enjoyed the end results. 

BXMurphy's picture
BXMurphy

I struggle with timing, too.

My current experiment is to retard with reckless abandon. Whatever step I can't complete goes into the refrigerator. I mixed a levain and ingredients this morning to a shaggy mass. Rested for 30-40 minutes and popped into fridge. When I come home, I'm going to stretch and fold, rest, rise, pre-shape and back into the fridge. Tomorrow night is shape, proof, bake.

What's the worst that can happen; another brick in the wall? :) On the other hand, I'm going to learn "something."

Murph