February 24, 2010 - 5:59pm
pleas e verify what "room temp" could be
i have read several recipe that call for things to be room temp..
my question is there a standerd for this..? when i read this today i went to my thermostat an looked at the room temp...it was 60 degree F. someone elese maybe 78 degrees F so that made me wonder..whats "room temp"?
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According to the U.S. Metric Association.
In my humble opinion, for bread making with commercial yeast, or wild yeast, mid-seventies is better than low seventies, or high sixties (re °F).
My house, like yours runs in the low sixties on cold nights. I've got two things I do to keep my developing starters or proofing doughs at about 76°F.
I Put the developing starter or proofing dough in the microwave, and prop the door barely ajar. This keeps the oven's light on, and the oven's temperature stabalizes at 77°F.
If the proofing dough, or shaped dough won't fit in the microwave, I put it in the oven with the light on. I have to monitor the oven's temperature, because it can climb into the nineties, which is ok for bacteria, but not for yeast. Also, I've got to pull final proofing loaves when it's time to preheat the oven. That's why I prefer the microwave whenever possible.
Some home bakers, put a bowl of hot water in the microwave, instead of relying on the light. And, of course, you could do the same thing in a range's oven.
Or, you could build a proofing box with a thermostat control and a reptile terrarium heater, or a light bulb in an insulated container, e.g., a large cooler; but that's really obsessive.
I just bought the thermostat.;-)
David G.
...Reinhart's BBA (p. 88). He favors cooler rather than warmer proofing temps for flavor development. My kitchen is about 68 now, and I proof at that room temp if I'm not in a hurry, otherwise I put the dough in a warm cupboard above the fridge where it is a steady 80 degrees, if I'm in a hurry, or if the dough is enriched and doesn't need the slow proofing time to enhance the flavor.
When I read "room temperature" I take that to mean that the temperature is not critical. Otherwise, the recipe would say "proof at 77 degrees", which some do, or "place in a warm place" , which I take to mean warmer than room temperature, or 77 to 80 degrees.
Bottom line, when you want to speed things up, go warmer, or to slow things down, go cooler.
I normally go for fairly cool if not in a hurry, I think it's better for the flavour. 68F is about 20C which is what I normally think of if someone says room temperature. I would say my sourdoughs are normally risen/proved a few degrees lower than that, around 16-18C. Also if the dough is rising more slowly, I think it will rise a little more evenly (not a huge concern though) and you don't have to check so frequently to see if is proved.
we learned that Mercury (Hg) is mostly a liquid at STP...That stands for Standard Temperature and Pressure.
The standard temp was always 'room temp', ie, 76°F and the standard pressure was air pressure at sea-level [Zero feet elevation]
Has this changed since we (most of us) went metric, or since I got old?
thanks all..
@ steven tho true and funny...not very helpfull to my thought..haha
actually there is no such thing as "heat" only absence of "cold" even tho water freezes at 32F there is a a point at 32F that it isnt freezing...id have to back to my a/c book to remember exact number but only when it looses that etra small amount of cold (what we generally term as heat) the water begins to freeze at 32F..
i said all that cause room temp to one may not always be for another..so thanks for the standerds to go by...
haha in an igloo room temp mite be 29F thatd be some cool butter at room temp..haha
If you perform the calculations to achieve the desired dough temperature, you'll have more control over fermentation regardless of the room temperature.
Presuming that your original question related to fermentation.