January 28, 2008 - 2:33pm
How to cover for final rise?
My every week bread is a basic white bread in a bread pan.
For the final rise I usually just spray plastic wrap and stick on top but sometimes it sticks to the sides and prevents a full rise. I've tried parchment, doesn't stick to the sides but does the top. I never seem to have a clean towel around but wouldn't that be too heavy?
So what does everyone else do?
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I usually just mist mine with some water and then put them into the oven with the light on and let them rise. Sometimes I use a wet light linen towel, but I prefer not to cover them. Some people here put their pans of dough into a very large plastic bag.
For breads that I really want to rise up higher on the final proof, I use a similar technique as Ramona. However, I blip my oven on for about 30 seconds to warm it up, shut it off, then put my pans in the oven. On the lowest rack I have a pie tin that I fill with about a cup of water that I just nuked in the microwave. It provides the humidity. If my house is cold (like now), I do all of my fermentations in the oven in this manner.
-Mark
http://thebackhomebakery.com
Get some good quality ziplock bags and cut them apart to make plastic rectangles; use them (sprayed) instead of the lighter plastic wrap; I find a heavier plastic is less likely to stick to a wet dough as compared to plastic wrap. Have a light hand when removing the covering from the dough. These can be used over and over.
I've had this struggle before as well, and found that using a clear plastic (Rubbermaid type) storage container turned upside down (without the lid :) over my pan of dough works excellent. These plastic containers seem to do a great job of retaining the dough moisture without interfering with its surface while it rises.
I use a large, shallow tub over my sheet pans of rolls, or a taller, bigger container will cover 2 or 3 loaf pans.
Someone suggested this a while back, and it's definitely my favorite method. I put my loaves, whether in pan, banneton, or couches, into a "Ziploc Big Bag", which are gigantic Ziploc bags. They come in Large and X-Large and are almost as big as a lawn bag. I put in a bowl of warm water, and then seal the bag. The bag can be used over and over. I've used one bag for over a year now. I've washed it a few times to remove any flour, but most of the time I manage to get the loaves in and out without leaving any flour in the bag. I place it over a chair back to dry it out after a proofing session.
A large cooler can be good used in a similar way.
Bill
I hate dealing with and buying plastic wrap, so what I've taken to doing is:
Thank you for the suggestions.
The tupperware/empty bread pan seems like the most simple way to go.
JMonkey I would think the risen dough would stick, even sprayed, to all the sides of the inverted bread pan.
I use the plastic dome/top thingy from my cake carrier. I just set it over the loaf pan and let it rise. But I only make 1 loaf at a time. I also dislike putting plastic wrap on the dough for the final rise.
I use that top as a cover for first rise of ciabatta or french bread, too.