February 15, 2019 - 9:24am
retarding = more blistering?
In my experience, cold retarding generally results in more blistering for a given dough. I think that this has to do with the dough temperature/consistency going in to the oven rather than how fermentation is effected by the lower temperatures.
I want to get nice blisters on a same-day bread. Has anyone tried RT bulk and final proof, and then dropped the temperature of the dough by putting it in the freezer right before going into the oven? I think I'm going to experiment with this concept a little.
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I Hinksey it may be txfarmer or trail runner -- swears by putting her loaves in the freezer for 15 minutes or so before baking. You might try the search box to see what turns up.
Keep on baking,
Carole
Thanks for the tip, Carole! I will look up txfarmer and trail runners posts.
The temperature probably plays a more critical role here. CO2 (and gases in general) are more soluble at lower temperatures. The higher the temperature, the less gas in retained with the dough. Colder surface temperature will contain more CO2, and likely result in more blistering.
If you're not already doing so (couldn't tell from your post), spritzing the dough and steam also aid in surface blister action. The moisture and starches on the surface literally trap the CO2 as it escapes.
Thanks, I've never thought about the solubility of C02 at lower temperatures. Today I baked some baguettes, spritzed them as you suggested, and tried to steam the oven well. They came out good, except for a scoring issue. I'll post a picture here once I finally get it nailed down.
The blistering is heavily effected by condensation build up on the surface of the dough. I can make the exact same loaf and proof one seam up and one seam down on a couche with a bag covering them (overnight in the fridge). the one proofed seam down will get the condensation build up from the bag and will blister heavily where as the one seam up will have significantly less blistering. I have attempted to quickly recreate the heavy blistering by putting water on the surface of the ready to bake loaf and putting it in the freezer briefly but haven't achieved the same type of blistering that occurs with an overnight cold ferment (seam down covered with a bag). I'll try to fish through some photos of the same recipe proofed differently for examples in the next day or two and post them for you to see.
That would be very interesting to see. Thanks!
Bottom picture was in a banneton, top picture on a couche seam down. Otherwise this is the same dough. There is still some blistering on the loaf in the banneton but it is far less pronounced and I believe that is due to the moisture accumulation on the surface of the loaf.
Hey Lyndon, I just learned the exact same technique in the last week from Brad, aka BreadForFun. Like you, he told me to retard the naked dough on a peice of parchment (no banneton or couche) in a tightly wrapped bag. The dough comes out of the retard humid and wet. Score and bake cold.
I have baked 3 or 4 loaves with this method and all have come out blistered. I also like the shiny mahogany crust.
Danny
Great looking loaf, Dan! I'll have to get around to baking the 5 grain Levain sometime soon. Right now I'm focusing on Baguettes.
Made without retarding
did you spray it with water before going in to the oven?
No. But I did use steam.
My oven has vents that let the steam out of the front. I'm thinking about how to block those up for the next bake.
you can certainly achieve some blistering same day but from my experience its not easy to to replicate the effect without retarding the loaf overnight. The same day blistered loaves don't have the same character of crust or the same amount of blistering. Here is another picture I managed to find that shows the blistering on my overnight a little better:
If you're trying to get that intense blistering effect and crust that has almost a leathery character I haven't found a way to get that same day...
Blistering is a good thing, but I want to know how FueledbyCoffee got that monstrous oven spring!
skills ;) Just kidding. It's a fairly stiff dough, my super secret sourdough recipe! Probably a combination of the formula I'm using, good shaping technique, maybe a touch on the under proofed side (but this recipe always comes out with some pretty nice oven spring and ears), scoring at the right angle :-D
I've never tried that. I do a modest room temp bulk ferment then shape and immediately retard for however many hours I decide based on schedule. I haven't tried for blisters...I am more about the flavor of the bread and the texture of the crumb. Good luck on your search for blisters ! c
These are the Baguette's I just made using a cold proof. 25% Kamut and 76% hydration. I don't get as much steam just baking on the stone as I do baking in the combo cooker, so maybe this is also part of this issue. The couche just makes the surface so dry, and that probably hinders the development of blisters. Maybe I will try with parchment or plastic wrap to retain some moisture.
Did you couche them seam up or seam down?
Upon magnification, it appears you do have some blisters.
Will this dough withstand freem form retarding?
Thanks. I'll get them right eventually. These were seam side up in the couche. I think I might need a better way to retain steam in my oven when I'm just baking on the stone.
They have some small blisters, but I want big ones! :)
I could try free form final proof, or some other method to retain the moisture.
If you can shape them and place them on a parchment covered board (free form), then retard them overnight in an air filled and tighly sealed bag, I think you will get your desired results.
Danny
The french would be in dismay that you are trying to achieve blistering on baguettes! A lot of traditional french bakers view blistering as an imperfection :)
We Americans are a sacrilegious lot. It’s in our DNA :-D
...and then there’s those giant holes.