Can I leave bread to rise in an enclosed space?
Greetings all,
I am living in rented accommodation for the next four months. All I have is my bedroom and a kitchenette plus bathroom. I come here every year in the winter.
This year I have rodents :-(
Last night I set my no-knead bread recipe to rise overnight, with as usual a wet teatowel on top. Horrified this morning to find a neat little hole chewed through the teatowel! No evidence that it ate anything (and, strangely, the teatowel was still flat across the top of the bowl -- a very tidy rodent) -- or left anything behind! -- and in any case, it's going into a very hot oven, so I won't be throwing out the batch. But I would like it not to happen again.
I'm wondering about putting something solid on top of the bowl. But would this cause problems for the rising process? Do gases need to escape from a dough, especially one that is rising for 12 hours or more? I don't like yeasty tasting or smelling bread -- would rising it in an enclosed space make this more likely?
Grateful for any advice folks :-)
Um, I don't think enclosing the rising dough should cause any problems if it can breathe a little bit. You could put it in a place with a bit of room, like the cool oven, an empty dishwasher, or a cupboard. That ought to keep it away from the rodents without changing the environment too much.
Best of luck!
Thanks Floydm. Unfortunately there's nowhere like you describe that would work. The cupboards had rodent turds in them when I arrived; we don't have a dishwasher, and the only oven is used by 14 other tenants. But the bowl is twice the size of the dough when fully risen; would this be enough room for it to "breathe"? (love that term!)
I don't see that it would be a problem. I regularly ferment bread dough in clear containers that have fitted lids, and there is no problem other than a little condensation on the top of the dough.
Oh, totally awesome!! The air here is very dry (being mountainous) so a bit of condensation might actually be a good thing. Thanks so much :-)
I've come across this problem and here are a few suggestions:
Let the dough rise in the mini oven or microwave. A normal oven still lets the creatures in if the venting holes are inside the baking chamber (look at the back under a burner.)
Hang the fermenting dough from a flat ceiling. Install a hook and make a hanging basket. You can also store some of your baking utensils there out of harms way.
Put the rising dough inside a large pot (metal or glass) with matching lid. A large bowl turned over on a flat surface over the rising dough also works and weigh it down so it doesn't slide or get pushed off the table or counter top. How big are your creatures?
There may be a very slight speeding up of fermentation due to lack of draft (depends on the mass of dough, however anything under 2kg is exempt.) Being under a bowl is nothing compared to dealing with paw prints across across the dough or worse yet... evidence of
snow"dough angels" (from the little beasts rolling around enjoying food & fun like it was their private playground/spa!)Gosh, to be that rodent would be fun, if not caught. Picture a swimming pool full of dough! I'd not pick a sticky rye flour, hey, wait... want to catch them? Would that solve the problem? How about a large jar with a little gushy ball of nice smelling fermenting dough at the bottom? This would be using the 'ol "drop into the vat and can't get out" trick. I've done it with mice making a ramp into a gallon jug. Just set it on the floor and use the oven door or open drawer or chair to support the narrow ramp to the jug. A large bucket with hole cut in lid might also work. Or better yet the same set up as the dough bowl "incident" only use a stiffer tighter cover with a hole and longer drop to prevent escape. The critters are rather smart and nibbling on the cloth was a test to see if it would become sick in the following days. I take it the rodent did not get sick and will return for a feast in the future. Then you have a chance to catch 'em.
Consider protecting the baked loaves too.
:-))))) I have a microwave!!! Why didn't I think of that???? Thank you so much, Mini Oven!! (The baked rolls go in the freezer -- love to see 'em get in there.....)
As for "catching them", I have mouse bait in strategic points in the room now -- hoping that in a few weeks' time the room will return to its normal (i.e. rodent-free) state. This is my fifth winter here, have never had problems in the past.
Awesome, awesome, awesome. You guys rock, as ever!!! :-)