Hurricane Irma recovery: Baking well-proved then refrigerated sourdough loaves.
Hurricane Irma interrupted my bake.
I had two sourdough loaves reaching the end of final proofing, had just turned the oven on to preheat, when the power went out.
The power went out much earlier (7:00 pm, when the worst of the hurricane didn’t arrive in our Centrsl Florida location until 2:00 am) than I hoped it would.
In retrospect I perhaps should have added some yeast (since I had cold-autolysed the non- dourdoughculture flour overnight, anyway). But that ship has sailed.
I was hoping to have fresh bread to get us through the power outages, when we’d be eating mostly cold food. Instead I had dough in bannetons that needed baking soon and no electricity.
So when the power went out I put the loaves, still in bannetons, inside oiled plastic 2-gallon ziplock bags, and put them in the small freezer above the refrigerator, alongside our bags and bottles of ice (to be used to keep the fridge cold).
They have been in the unpowered freezer with bags of ice (so more like very cold refrigerator temp) for 24 hours. They have risen only a very little further.
We still don’t have power, but everything else is okay. Some tree branches to clean up,but all we really lots is some sleep during a loud and scary-sounding night of rain and very strong winds. Compared to others with property damage we are very lucky.
A friend has power restored tonight. So tomorrow morning we will visit there for AC, to recharge phones, and to bake the bread.
How do I prepare well-proved well-refrigerated loaves for baking? I have only refrigerated formed loaves once before, and they were refrigerated in the early stages of their final rise. i let those warm up and rise for a few hours before baking. But these had already almost prooved enough when they got refrigerated.
Can they be baked from cold? They have proved enough that if they were at room temperature, I’d bake them immediately. Will this over-bake the crust while under-baking the center? If so,should I make the oven temperature a bit lower than normal?
Should I let them thaw to room temperature first? I’m worried that if the dough is cold inside but getting warm near the outside it will affect how it proves and rises.
At least they will probably taste good and sour, after all this time
be ready to put both cold loaves immediately into a hot oven. That would be the A plan.
If by out-turning the loaves a good deal of collapse is observed, I would reshape the loaves and be prepared for a very short final proof.
If a good deal of alcohol aroma is observed, perhaps mix up one loaf of dough with yeast, divide and mix half fresh dough into each loaf before shaping and going into a final proof.
I'd be more concerned the loaves will have stuck to the bannetons. If you check on them now and they smell very alcoholic, they may be well overproofed. Then a reshaping with additional dough will save them. Maybe just a reshape is needed to close up the dough if it sticks badly. It's a judgement call at baking time when you release the dough from the bannetons.
If everything comes out of the bannetons nicely and the dough doesn't collapse but seems puffy enough. Poke only very large bubbles and refrain from scoring. You don't have to score it if you think it will run sideways when you do.
If the power goes off again during the bake, start up the grill and shove the coals to one side as you bake in the other.
It is also possible to speed up proofing in the microwave, use 20% power as in thawing out delicate foods 30 seconds at a time rotating until proof is reached. (I'm a little foggy on the details) Then bake in a normal oven.
Good Luck,
Mini
has a lot to do with how progressive the fermentation is in the loaves. If you have the flour, mix up a straight batch of dough (Two loaves) right now and delay adding 2x the yeast taking all the doughs with you to the friends house. It can sit out overnight and be fine. That way you can blend 50/50 if the loaves are too over-proofed to bake. If the dough is not needed to save the sourdough, work in a double portion of yeast to hurry up the straight dough and bake them too before the power goes off again.
Having extra food will not be a problem.
Thanks Mini.
This is all very useful advice. I appreciate the advice on what to do if it’s overproofed. I will file that away for future use.
But today, If it’s too overproofed I probably won’t go to extreme measures to save the loaves. I have lots of other cleanup to do: there are lots of fallen branches and such to clean up (you can’t see any paving stones on the back patio; it’s all leaves and branches right now).
Plan A: bake immediately, if I can get it out of the bannetons.
Plan B: it’s only two loaves of bread. Disappointedly dump it and move on.
Thanks again.
I supposed everything looks a bit overwhelming right now with all the work around you. Take plenty of pictures. I've lived thru quite a few storms myself and the mind does a great job at helping you forget all this mess. It hurts too much to remember. Work in groups and protect your hands and feet at all times.
If the loaves are over proofed, remember it's just a lot of starter. You can still use it by adding more dough or elaborate for pancakes on the grill. You still might want to bake some bread as the next storm is coming along and it would be good to have it baked and frozen before the next storm hits. It seems to be a bad year for storms. My sister was born in a typhoon and so she sat out Harvey when it came thru and sat over Victoria on its way north. She's fine and like you, has a great mess to clean up. Wishing you all the strength and rays of hope I can offer. You will get thru this, you will.
Mini
Sine we live in Florida, we have been through this before. This is our fourth serious hurricane.
We are comparitively very lucky, though. No damage to anything except a few branches broken from our many trees.
The worst is working outside in mid-90s heat to clean up the yard, and having no power (so no AC to retreat to).
Many friends or colleagues have it far worse than us, with trees fallen on house or car.
If a loaf of bread is out of the question-don't dump the dough! Make flat bread or sandwich thins. Break off about 3 ounces of dough, work into a roll shape, cover and rest (don't let it dry out), flatten into a pita shape and "rise" for 15 min at most. Bake at 350. If they form a pocket you have pita. If they are a thin roll you have sandwich thins. Very versatile with any meal.
Alternatively-put raw doughball (small) on an oiled waffle iron. Put a filling in it or not. Use up any food on hand.
Fry the dough. Break off irregular pieces and fry till brown.
Don't toss the dough!
took a bit of gentle persuasion to get it out of the bannetons. But it smells and looks pretty good. About to bake it in my friend’s oven.
YAY! :)
Using an unfamiliar oven, didn’t bring my lame to slice it with, and used a baking sheet (didn’t want to totally geek out and bring my pizza stones as well) so the top cooked before the bottom was done.
I had to tent it with foil while the bottom browned up, and even so the top is a little over baked.
It is deliciously awesomely sour.
Thanks again for the advice. Much appreciated.
but certainly understand that changing ovens can be equated with pulling a rug out from under one's feet. Even more so going from stoned to non-stoned. in a normal sized oven I place the rack lower than middle. I try to imagine the top of the finished loaf as being in the middle line of the oven and after the bake, go from there.
Pat yourself on your back, you did very good dealing with the entire situation, improvising and all. Now enjoy!
Did you get any funny looks as you photographed the bake??? :)
I’ll remember that point about the top of the loaf being at the middle of the oven. I had it with the rack in the center.
The first photo was at friend’s house. No funny looks because the kitchen was behind everyone and I was quiet and surreptitious.
The second photo was slicing it (mostly) cooled at home. My family are used to me taking photos of bread.
Thanks again. I appreciate you taking the time to coach me through this.
well done!
Leslie