October 4, 2009 - 9:23am
Sour dough rise
Hello again from hot AZ. I mixed 2 loaves of SD Bread yesterday. Had a perfect window pane test. Left over night 12-14 hours . Very hot in the room I would say close to about 90 - 95 degrees. This am the bread had rose perfectly except the out side crust was almost as if i had baked for a few minutes in the oven. Was this caused by the exreme heat ? Was a wasted of dough but I am well used to that. Bird did not get these two.
Have a nice day
Mr Bob
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When you left these to rise, how were you storing them? From your description I'm going to guess that you just had them sat in a bowl with no covering. If you do this, then the air currents in the room will wick away the moisture from the surface of your dough, leaving it with a papery crust... much like you describe.
I always cover my doughs... I used a dish towel, but found that even then I would get some drying. Now I use a split freezer bag, draped over the top of my bowl and secured with a large elastic band... works really well.
Hope this helps,
ben
Go to your local dollar store or the like and grab a bag of disposable shower caps, you will get around 8 - 12 per pack. Works great, can be thrown out when they've become too gummy. A little spritz of spray oil and a quick rinse afterwards keeps them going for quite a few uses. They will fit most any sized bowl. And heads.
And to Mr Bob: it sounds like you simply covered your dough with a tea towel. That's good for keeping dust and fluff off but isn't air tight or moisture proof; your dough will definitely dry under that.
You can try, if you've got your loaves on a baking sheet, putting the tea towel over them then laying a plastic bag over that to keep the moisture in. A normal trash bag will work fine. And no it doesn't need to be "food grade plastic" since it's being laid over a tea towel, not directly on the dough. The dough below is in a couche.
OR you can give the dough a quick oil spray and cover it directly with plastic cling wrap which is food safe, obviously. Although some people object to the fact the plastic wrap is "too disposable".
OR you can use a large plastic tub and overturn that on your dough, like this:
Those were some great ideas. I especially like the shower caps. Think I will give them a try. Thanks.
Thanks for waking this old old mind up. I should have known better as it is dry as H here this time of year. I had made 2 boule loaves and just covered them with a towel.
Thanks for the info that I should have thought of to start with. I have another post obout Micr/convection cooking that I am dealing with also. Seeing that this is just flour and starter nothing lost but little time and that is a blessing every day at my age.
Have a nice day if they bake well in a few days will post a pix anyway
Mr. Bob
www.siemann.us