Back in the early spring when I was making sourdough bread I would mix the final dough and let it rise over night. Because of the weather it was ready 6 hours later or so to be shaped. Now the weather is hot and humid and the dough rises to fast for my liking. I am wondering if I can mix the final dough then put it in a refrigerator to rise overnight.

Thanks for your help

Ted

I am making the Soft Cheese Bread from P.Reiharts Artisan Bread Every Day.  It calls for quite a bit of yeast (1 1/2 T).  I made it two hours ago, and put it in the refrigerator, with the intention of using it on Sunday (Reinhart says I have up to 4 days to use it).  It has already more than doubled in two hours.  While I assume the rise will slow as the dough cools off, it seems like it will be quite large by evening.  Should I punch it down once it reaches a certain level?  I don't want it to overproof.  I can find no guidance on this when looking at slow fermentation recipes. 

Thanks for any help!

Hi everyone-

we're new to the obsession of breadmaking but since i got reinhart's book for christmas....its been experiment after experiment!  what a great site this is.

looking for a little advice-

we made the 100% whole wheat hearth bread (second try) last night and one of my loaves is rising to the top of the plastic wrap <in the fridge>.  what should i do?  pound it down and let it rise again?  transfer to another bowl?  let it be trapped?  not sure what will happen if i do either of these.  not in a rush to bake- last time we split the loaves and the second day bake was much much more flavorful.  didn't do too much different- not sure why this one is rising more...

any thoughts or comments very much appreciated!

Hi all,

After a long summer hiatus (no AC) I am back to bread baking.  Unfortunately I failed to maintain my starter and ended up throwing it out.  Fortunately a nearby bakery was kind enough to give a chunk of theirs, which turned out to be a firm levain.  I baked my first loaves of the season this past weekend and again the house was filled with the delicious smell of bread baking.

Next week at work there's a United Way bake sale, so I figured I'd contribute some delicious loaves.  I'm planning to make the following:

• Auvergne Rye Baguette w/Bacon
• Sourdough (BBA) w/Rosemary and Cracked Pepper
• Potato, Cheddar & Chive Torpedos (BBA)

Now I'd really like to bake these all the morning of, but also don't want to wake up at 2 AM.  So my plan is to do everything up to and including the shaping the night before, then stick them in the fridge.  Next morning I will take out one batch every 1/2 hour, give it a few minutes to warm up, then pop it into the oven. When one is done baking the next should be ready to go.

So does this sound like a good approach?  How long must loaves warm up before baking?  Does this change for the potato/cheddar/chive bread since it's leavened with instant yeast too?  Does the cheese spiral inside effect anything?

Thanks!

Jeff

I would appreciate any advice on the following bread recipe. With a moderate amount of baking experience over the past few years, I have begun a quest to develop an efficient method for baking four loaves of bread per week. I have three kids and a full-time job so my time is limited, but my family all enjoys home baked bread and when possible helping with the process. The recipe I have been using for the past few months was pieced together from a couple of recipies that I found in books.