March 23, 2011 - 11:55am
problems with retarded bread
I own a small Italian bakery. I recently installed a retarder. I am having problems with my bread and rolls. I mix my dough, rest it for 1 1/2 hours with a punch. I cut it, form it, stretch it then put it in the retarder with no proof. That night I take it out of the retarder, let it sit on the.floor for a few hours to rise, then in the oven it goes. The final product tastes very good, but does hardly get any oven spring. Also, the bread goes somewhat flat. Any suggestions?
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The retarder may be too warm, or you might be leaving the dough out too long afterwards
hi dig512,
are these breads & rolls made from lean or rich dough?
what % of yeast are you using? commercial yeast, or natural levain?
how long exactly is it being retarded and at what temp?
if it's lacking oven spring, it could be overproofed. Are you baking with or without steam?
if it's going a bit flat, it could be hydration, it could be shaping, it could be overproofing, it could be recipe...in other words, more info needed.
i use a 2% lean dough. salt, diastetic malt powder, margarine, and commercial compressed yeast. also use about 5% chef from previous dough.
steam is used while baking bread.
today, instead of putting dough into the retarder immediatly after production, i proofed it to about 80% and then put it in the retarder. cant wait to see the results tonight.
Also, i have a horizontal mixer. my mix goes as follows:
flour, water, chef, yeast, and margarine mixed low speed for 3 min.
rest 15 min.
add salt, mix 3 min low.
mix 6 min high.
ddt=78 degrees
Let us know about the results: I suspect you'll get better rise out of your breads. Generally you want to give your shaped loaves some floor time before retarding. What amount varies with the dough, but you should have a good degree of proofing before retarding.
Larry
The bread came out perfect!