August 23, 2010 - 8:21pm
Ice use in doughs
I spoke to a professional baker on making bagels and he told me he uses ice in his dough. This lowers the temperature of the dough allowing for a longer mix time with the large mixer. Has anyone else had experience with using ice? Can you do it with other sour doughs?
I am currently baking 7 types of sour dough,30-40 loaves a week, no rye yet.
Thanks,
Jon
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Hi Jon
On occasion I've had to use ice in a mix to keep the temp under control. Because I work in a supermarket bakery I have access to crushed ice from the produce and fish departments which I scale out at between 10 -15 % of the total hydration. I've never had any problems doing it this way and the doughs are much more tolerant when shop temps get too high. This method has no other advantage than keeping the dough temp in check and not one I use unless absolutely necessary when doing doughs in the 100+ kilo range .
I think your baker friend probably uses ice for his bagels because bagels dough is quite stiff normally and will build up heat quickly from friction in the mixer. The stiffer the dough the more friction heat is generated.
Franko
Hi all,
this is my first post on fresh loaf. Coincidentally i had just heard from a professional baker abt using ice and was intrigued, and there i see this post :) I'm interested in using ice cos i live in a tropical climate, so even if i were to refrigerate the flours and I already use ice-cold water, the dough gets far too warm for its own good.Believe me, i've tried various bizarre ways to keep the dough at "room temperature" (not my room temperature!).
I just wonder how long will the coolness keep, but guess i'll have to see for myself. i don't have acces to finely crushed ice but this is a good tip.
Thanks all for sharing.