Bulk fermenting temperature
There are a couple of recipes I'm interested in that look good. However, the time from the beginning of the process until dinner time is about 12+ hours, including the room temperature bulk ferment. I was thinking I'd like to bake a loaf and eat it for dinner, immediately after it cools down, but 12+ hours means getting out of bed early and banging around the kitchen and waking the wife, which is A Bad Thing (TM).
I have a heating pad for use with seedlings, and I find that if I put it into my large cooler, the internal temperature stays at a very constant 92F. This warm temperature should speed up the bulk ferment. My question is: All other things being equal, does a warm bulk ferment result in an inferior loaf? I've read several threads where people discuss cold ferment vs RT, but I'm not going the cold route, and I'm just curious about the warm ferment's affect on quality.
Perhaps we could rearrange it? Can you give us the recipe and a simple breakdown of method with timings?
Thanks, but I'm thinking in general terms. There are a couple of recipes I'm interested in, and as I try things, I'm sure I'll come across others. I'm mostly trying to learn the affect that changes will make to any recipe.
1. Use the refrigerator to make the timings fit your schedule. Increases flavour.
2. Speed it up by keeping it warm. Again will effect the flavour profile. Won't be flavourless, just different.
3. Reduce the amount of starter.
4. Increase the amount of starter.
5. If you have increased the amount of starter but still want more tang then use a lower hydration starter.
If it won't necessarily be worse, I might try the warm ferment. I'm just trying to gain an hour or so. On my long experiment to-do list is to see the effects of longer and cold fermenting.
And once again... thanks for the good info, Lechem.