Bulk fermentation when using a preferment
Hi TFL's
In a two stage dough making process (preferment then bulk ferment) should a dough need to to double in size if the preferment is used when its ripe?
If so, then I must be doing something else wrong. Today I made a standard white tinned loaf, with a sponge hydrated at 60%. My sponge deatails were as followed:
400g Strong white flour (100%) (33.3% of total dough flour)
240g Cold refridgerated water (60%)
2g Fresh yeast (0.5%)
So I made the sponge this morning at 11:30am, and took a temperature reading after mixing, it was 21 degrees C. With 0.5% yeast I expected it to take around about 8 hours to ripen, but I was wrong as it was ripe by 5pm (5.5 hours). So I made my final dough at this stage with the following ingredients:
800g Strong white flour
480g Cold refridgerated water
20.4g Fresh yeast (1.7%)
21.6g Salt (1.8%)
21.6g White fat (1.8%)
My dough was hand kneaded until it passed the window pane test, then left in a lighltly greased jug until it had doubled in volume. I then knocked back the dough, pre-shaped and left to rest 10 minutes, and then shaped and panned.
I proofed my two loaves at room temperature until they passed the finger poke test (at which point i was not satisfied with how much the loaves had risen, suggesting lack of strength in the dough?) procceded to bake at 240 degrees C with steam, for 15 mins, turning heat down to 200c and baking for a further 18 minutes. My loaves lacked oven spring, the crumb was dense, and the texture chewy.
So am I bulk fermenting too long, OR is there something else wrong?
Any help appreciated....
Many thanks
Matt