February 20, 2010 - 6:13am
Shaping without degassing the dough- How?
In the last couple of weeks I've been trying to get to the right shaping technique. I tried several ways wich I took from books as well as from the net. I always run into the problem of degassing the dough during shaping wich usually leads to a denser crumb without any irruegular wholes. What is the best way of degassing as little as possible? I'm talking manly about batard but also about the boule (wich is even a bigger trouble for me as I always mess up the loaf while shaping it). Any tips or maybe videos?
Thanks and have a great weekend!
Jonathan.
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There are several videos available on this site-take a look at the top toolbar and use the search box for shaping a loaf.
An interesting thing to know (according to Emily Buehler's "Bread Science") is that it is the existing bubbles (from the fist doubling rise) that fill and inflate when a loaf is final proofed and also oven springs.New bubbles don't form.So the idea is that you want to handle the dough gently and only be somewhat forceful at forming the seams.This is after the final rise in the bowl and before shaping. SOme people do double rises and then shape.
If I had to describe what I do, I'd say I generaly use my fingertips more and also don't push on the dough or cause it to sag under its weight as these cause more de-gassing or bubble popping.Pretend you are handling a mass of soap bubbles.That's the feeling to start with.