Generally I am not a fan of the Desired Dough Temperature concept, especially for home bakers. For one thing, how could one possibly establish such a temperature? Just because I baked a successful bread and the dough temperature after kneading was 74 deg F does not mean that 74 deg F is the best temperature, just as an example.
One thing we all know, though, is that the chemical and biological activity that we are interested slow down at lower temperatures, although not all at the same rate. Also, we can notice that dough gets stiffer and less sticky at lower temperatures.
If the dough starts at 74 deg F and the workspace temperature is 63 deg F, the dough's development is going to slow down as the temperature drops. A larger mass of dough will cool off more slowly than a small mass. If you can live with longer fermentation times, you will probably be just fine. You could have secondary effects such as a different flavor profile, or a different amount of oven spring, but chances are your bread will be perfectly good. You might even like it better...
[Disclaimer - I have made bread at higher temperatures (90 deg F in a proving oven), and I have refrigerated the dough, but I have never made bread in a kitchen much below 69 deg F]
Whenever I make bread, I keep track of two things (and include them in the notes that I keep and store on my computer) -- the temperature of the dough immediately after the initial mixing and the temperature of my kitchen. I don't aim for a specific dough temperature, although in winter I will use warmer water than in the summer. What I do is note the two temperatures and then as the dough is fermenting I check my computer to see about how long I let the dough ferment in the past with that combination of temperatures.
If you make a particular bread often enough, you will start to have a set of temperatures to use as a reference for what to expect. In the winter there is a dough that often takes over five or six hours until I am happy with it that in the summer might take only three hours or so and certainly less than four hours. Again, all I do with the temperature of the dough and the temperature of the kitchen is use the numbers as a rough guide for what to expect.
Lastly, the age-old advice to watch the dough and not the clock is so true. You can make great bread that ferments very slowly and you can make great bread that ferments somewhat quickly (although there probably is a practical minimum).
I do have a Brod & Taylor proofing box that I use for some breads. It is a bit expensive, but does work very nicely if you want to maintain a constant temperature throughout the fermentation.
I’m a believer in DDT calculations. I have the proofer that I set to 24 C (75 F) during the bulk fermentation. I live in Australia, where the seasonal temperatures vary greatly between winter and summer. I hand-mix on the bench that is cold during the winter, so I compensate by adding about 5 C (41 F) to the DDT calculation, less in summer. It works great. My dough is regularly 24 to 25 C, perfect for my sourdough and gives me schedule predictability. I use an instant-read thermometer to measure the room, flour, levain and water.
I didn't mean that I would ignore the dough temperature completely. I only meant that I doubt that many home bakers know what dough temperature would be best for some particular kind of bread. Rather, they know that they got a good loaf at a certain temperature (room or dough) and why not repeat that?
i regularly make bread at temps 58-65 degrees F. these are the nightime and daytime temps in my kitchen for the winter months. most of my breads bulk ferment for 10-12h because that was most convenient when i worked full time and wanted an overnight or all-day bulk. (these breads are all sourdough, if that matters.)
i bake some recipes from the Perfect Loaf (website and book) and that is the first place i heard of DDT. i’m not sure what recipe you’re working from, but in the Perfect Loaf recipes the ddt and the bulk temps are the same, iirc. since my bulk temp is never going to be 75F (i will not turn the oven on if my house is that warm, lol), i just ignore the ddt and have learned how to adjust the bulk time and/or the amount of levain to work for my room temps.
if your recipes also call for a bulk temp of 75F, i see two choices: buy a proofer or adjust as i do. tom has explained why.
happy to provide more details if you choose the adjust route. lots of clever “homemade” proofer ideas on this site, too, if you choose that route.
Generally I am not a fan of the Desired Dough Temperature concept, especially for home bakers. For one thing, how could one possibly establish such a temperature? Just because I baked a successful bread and the dough temperature after kneading was 74 deg F does not mean that 74 deg F is the best temperature, just as an example.
One thing we all know, though, is that the chemical and biological activity that we are interested slow down at lower temperatures, although not all at the same rate. Also, we can notice that dough gets stiffer and less sticky at lower temperatures.
If the dough starts at 74 deg F and the workspace temperature is 63 deg F, the dough's development is going to slow down as the temperature drops. A larger mass of dough will cool off more slowly than a small mass. If you can live with longer fermentation times, you will probably be just fine. You could have secondary effects such as a different flavor profile, or a different amount of oven spring, but chances are your bread will be perfectly good. You might even like it better...
[Disclaimer - I have made bread at higher temperatures (90 deg F in a proving oven), and I have refrigerated the dough, but I have never made bread in a kitchen much below 69 deg F]
TomP
Cold will slow things down. Adjust - somehow - for the temp. I use a small lamp to raise temp. I don't use cool temps so cannot say more. Enjoy!
Whenever I make bread, I keep track of two things (and include them in the notes that I keep and store on my computer) -- the temperature of the dough immediately after the initial mixing and the temperature of my kitchen. I don't aim for a specific dough temperature, although in winter I will use warmer water than in the summer. What I do is note the two temperatures and then as the dough is fermenting I check my computer to see about how long I let the dough ferment in the past with that combination of temperatures.
If you make a particular bread often enough, you will start to have a set of temperatures to use as a reference for what to expect. In the winter there is a dough that often takes over five or six hours until I am happy with it that in the summer might take only three hours or so and certainly less than four hours. Again, all I do with the temperature of the dough and the temperature of the kitchen is use the numbers as a rough guide for what to expect.
Lastly, the age-old advice to watch the dough and not the clock is so true. You can make great bread that ferments very slowly and you can make great bread that ferments somewhat quickly (although there probably is a practical minimum).
I do have a Brod & Taylor proofing box that I use for some breads. It is a bit expensive, but does work very nicely if you want to maintain a constant temperature throughout the fermentation.
Happy baking.
Ted
I’m a believer in DDT calculations. I have the proofer that I set to 24 C (75 F) during the bulk fermentation. I live in Australia, where the seasonal temperatures vary greatly between winter and summer. I hand-mix on the bench that is cold during the winter, so I compensate by adding about 5 C (41 F) to the DDT calculation, less in summer. It works great. My dough is regularly 24 to 25 C, perfect for my sourdough and gives me schedule predictability. I use an instant-read thermometer to measure the room, flour, levain and water.
Gavin
I didn't mean that I would ignore the dough temperature completely. I only meant that I doubt that many home bakers know what dough temperature would be best for some particular kind of bread. Rather, they know that they got a good loaf at a certain temperature (room or dough) and why not repeat that?
[BTW, a change of 5C is 9 deg F, not 41(!)]
Hi Tom,
I didn't mean to be critical of your post, just saying what I do.
I don't think my math is that bad. I still get 5C = 41F and 9F = -12.7C
I always enjoy reading your posts as they are very informative based on years of experience.
Regards,
Gavin
i regularly make bread at temps 58-65 degrees F. these are the nightime and daytime temps in my kitchen for the winter months. most of my breads bulk ferment for 10-12h because that was most convenient when i worked full time and wanted an overnight or all-day bulk. (these breads are all sourdough, if that matters.)
i bake some recipes from the Perfect Loaf (website and book) and that is the first place i heard of DDT. i’m not sure what recipe you’re working from, but in the Perfect Loaf recipes the ddt and the bulk temps are the same, iirc. since my bulk temp is never going to be 75F (i will not turn the oven on if my house is that warm, lol), i just ignore the ddt and have learned how to adjust the bulk time and/or the amount of levain to work for my room temps.
if your recipes also call for a bulk temp of 75F, i see two choices: buy a proofer or adjust as i do. tom has explained why.
happy to provide more details if you choose the adjust route. lots of clever “homemade” proofer ideas on this site, too, if you choose that route.
-c