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Please help me with my method for mid week baking

Solano's picture
Solano

Please help me with my method for mid week baking

Until this week I was making bread only on weekends, but now I'm trying to include a few batch during the week to be able to test and learn more.

My working day is as follows:

07:30 AM - 11:30 AM

1:00 PM - 5:00 PM

I tried the following method this week:

Recipe:

White flour - 100%

Water - 65.03%

Salt - 2.19%

Levain - 18.58% (100% hydration)

Final Hydration: 68%

Total mass: 1000g

Sunday 10-11 PM - I take some of my starter out of the refrigerator and start making the levain.

Monday 5-6 AM - I fed the levain. I mixed the flour, water and salt and put it in the refrigerator.

12:45 PM - I removed the mass from the refrigerator and left at room temperature. I fed the levain.

5:15 PM - I added the levain to the dough and mixed using the Rubaud method for about 10 minutes.

9:50 PM - After about an hour and a half of bulk fermentation in the oven with the light on, with stretching and folding every 30 minutes and 1 hour of rest, I pre-shaped, 20 min of rest covered, 5 minutes without cover, shape and put on the banneton. Oven temperature with the light on, approximately 27 ° C.

11:20 PM - After 1 hour of fermentation in the oven with the light on I placed in the refrigerator. Temperature 3.4 º C.

Tuesday 6:00 PM - I could not get home at the normal time, I preheated the oven and DO, which takes 45 minutes on average to reach 250 º C. I baked for 20 minutes with a lid, then another 15 minutes without a lid.

When I cut the dough, before baking, it deflated, it was clearly overproofed. Trouble is, it's a long time since I put it in the refrigerator until I get home the other day to bake. After putting in the refrigerator the dough had a bit of growth, I think while lowering the temperature of the dough and then did not grow more, but even so it became overproofed.

I do not think it would be any different if I were at home at normal times.

What could I change?

Abe's picture
Abe (not verified)

I'd just tweak the method a tad and put the dough in the fridge at the bulk ferment stage when you would normally be shaping it. Then the next day when you have a few hours spare take it out of the fridge, shape, final proof then bake.

franbaker's picture
franbaker

I'm pretty new at this, and don't know how to work out the details of your process, but can you figure out a way, with your schedule, to build your levain and do an AL or soak as stage one (start Sunday, retard in fridge); mix, knead and start bulk as stage two (sometime Monday, morning, noon or evening); and then pre-shape, shape, proof and bake when you have a block of a few hours at home (either Monday or Tuesday evening)?

hreik's picture
hreik

1. Keep the premixed dough in the fridge until  5:00 or so.  If you do that, when you are mixing it up, hold back some water (if you can) and leave the water at room temp so later when you are adding the levain, which is also at room temp. you'll warm things up.  Then you could bulk ferment, first at room temp and then in the fridge.  The next day, you shape for final loaves and then pop back into the fridge until you are home.  Take out dough, preheat oven and bake.

2. Use your normal schedule but bulk ferment at lower temps and don't use the oven... So at RT

3. Use your normal schedule and do not put shaped loaves into oven for that hour.

You'll have to cool down the dough in some way to fit your schedule.  There are several points where you can alter things, so you should be good to go.  If it were me, I would just stop using the oven as a proofer and see what happens.  Then you can flirt with longer times in the refrigerator.

Good luck

hester

Solano's picture
Solano

Thank you all, I have already given me much to think and several ideas, I think I will start with the simplest, try not to use the oven as proofer. Here is winter now, the temperature in my kitchen is about 20 º C during the day, other times I tried to make bread with this temperature without using the oven I had problems with the fermentation, which is strange since from what I read this would be an excellent temperature. I will try this and then see other changes suggested here to come up with an ideal method. Again, thanks!

mutantspace's picture
mutantspace

another alternative is to do a hybrid if you want to use sourdough.

in the morning make a poolish/levain with 50% flour + 50% water and about 1.5& - 2% sourdough and leave for 9 hours.

When you get back add remaining flour, water and 3/4 teaspoon instant yeast (just ot note if youre using wholegrain flours put them in your poolish as theyll soften over time and greatly add flavour to your bread without cutting gluten later on). 

knead and proof for 90 minutes with 2 x stretch and folds. Shape and proof for 30 - 40 minutes and bake.