The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Basic loaf -retarding process

skandan's picture
skandan

Basic loaf -retarding process

Hello,

I recently started baking bread at home following some of basic reciepes from Lahey's My Bread book, I've had fair success following the instructions but i still feel the flavor is off, I feel this could be because of the fermentation stage. The basic reciepe with 75% hydration and 0.3% yeast, Most of the my breads end up at 24-26 celcius after mixing but my kitchen is usally at 28-30 celcius during this time of year so the dough reaches its peaks sooner than expected. While i've tried bringing down the temp at dough at the end of mix to 21-22 celcius, this certianly imrpoves the flavor profile but my post here is get some advice on retarding process. I would like to retard the loaves in the refrigerator after kneading at 5 degree celcius upto 18-24 hrs before shaping/second rise so if i have to follow this process when should the put the dough in the refrigerator, should it be immediately after kneading or do i wait for 45min to an hour to get head start on the fermentation and than put the dough in fridge. 

 

 

foodforthought's picture
foodforthought

I regularly make bread in 2.5-3 kg batches. I always refrigerate dough for at least 12 hours and often for 3-4 days. (BTW, 5 days is pretty much the limit as gluten starts breaking down at this point.) This allows me to make a fresh loaf every other day or so without having to mix dough as often.

I generally bulk ferment for 2-3 hours (or to 25-30% expansion whichever comes first) with 30 minutely stretch and folds before retarding. Your kitchen is easily 5-10 dC warmer than mine so less time in bulk is probably a necessity. A word of caution…large batches keep fermenting and growing for some time so provide for expansion if you go down this path.

Out of fridge, I pre-shape and bench rest for 30 minutes, then final shape and rest for 45 minutes before baking.

Hope this helps.

Phil

wally's picture
wally

You have two choices with respect to refrigeration: You can bulk ferment the dough up to 24 hrs, and then shape and allow to proof at room temp. Or, you can shape the dough, allow it 30-45 minutes proof at room temp, then retard/refrigerate up to 24 hrs. In the latter case, the dough is loaded into the oven directly from refrigeration.

skandan's picture
skandan

Thanks Phil / Wally for your inputs. I going make some test batches over the weeked and see how it goes. BTW can i just retard the dough immediately at the end of mixing or should give it 30-45 mins for fermentation to kick start and then retard the dough.

skandan's picture
skandan

I have been working on few schedules and i think i have figured out what works for me given the warmer temperatures.

 

I mix the batch in the evening when room temperature is still 25-27 celcius , At the end of mix i try to get target dough temperature of 21-22 celcius and with reduced yeast, it gives me enough time to make 2-3 folds before retarding the dough,  Next day (after 20-22 hrs) , i shape the dough and proof, Bake the same night. 

 

Thanks guys again for your inputs.