March 18, 2010 - 3:58am
Keeping Chef after 2nd refreshment in the fridge?
Need some advice here. I've got my chef for my Pain de Seigle ready for 2nd refresher today. The recipe states to feed it and put it aside for 8hours only. But I'm not available to work on the dough after 8 hours, can I put it the chef into the fridge and take it out when I'm ready to add in the dough ingredients?
If I do that, do I need to set it aside to bring it to room temperature first?
Looking forward to your suggestions.
Jenny
Share
I have left my chef in the fridge for up to five days, no more though. I was told by the Zingerman's instructors that five days in the fridge is about max for a chef.
I also have taken it out and let it rise till ready, and have used it directly from the fridge. I have noticed little difference in the out come of the bread. If anything you may have a bit longer bulk fermentation time due to the chef being cold.
Thanks for the tip. I probably will need to keep it in the fridge for about 24 hours before I bake.
Another clarification, as the recipe I got is for a bread making machine, I'm doing this solely by hand, it didn't state anything about 1st or 2nd rise or proofs For a Pain de Siegle recipe, do I have to do a bulk fermentation? I am I correct to say that I should let my dough rise and fall - probably 4 -6 hours? Do I need to do 2 rises or just 1 rise and final proofing will do?
It's hard to say from the information but given, but yes, I imagine there is a bulk fermentation to allow the dough to double in size, which may take two hours or even six hours. After that I would shape and allow to almost double again in size before placing in the oven.
I came here curious as to what the definition of this 'chef' you speak of is, and how exactly does it differ from a levain or poolish or starter?