August 10, 2011 - 6:22am
doughball in the water test - does it have any validity?
Hi,
there's a test that is often recommended here in italy: after the bulk fermentation, just before proofing, take away a small ball of dough and make it fall in a cup full of water at room temperature. When the ball comes afloat it's time to bake the bread.
I wonder if the test has any scientific validity, that I doubt. The bread dough proofs in the air, while the test ball proofs in the water. The environments are completely different, they simply can't compare IMO. At most the emersion of the ball indicates that the dough has a reasonable amount of gases in it...
Any opinion is welcome.