beginner question why cover the rising dough, volume baffles me, and whats up with my temp?
Hello,
The Minnesota winter has me trapped and I can only bake so many pies. I also miss the old NY Italian delis of my childhood
I am now waiting my my fourth ever batch of dough to rise. i have it in nice mixing bowl and covered in plastic wrap. i want to keep lifting up the wrap in silly eagerness but i am afraid i might mess something up. Why do i need to cover it? does it need to be airtight?
Any tips on knowing how much volume has increased. Apart from a clear graduated bowl...
leaving dough to rise at room temp seems to be slow for me. What really is room temp? In my old house our kitchen tends to top out at about 67degrees unless i have the oven on. We have stone counters, which i suspect also run cool. Should i be setting my dough elsewhere.
dough in the bowl so it doesn't dry out and possibly form skin on the top, I personally cover mine to keep from escaping and having to send the apprentice out to find it when I need it :-)
Peaking is perfectly allowed, expected and no worries!
a doughcam?!! You have to peek in the bowl? ;-).
Seriously though, you can also mist the dough or mist the walls of the OFF oven, and this will also help to keep the dough from drying out or forming a skin.
i did take a picture with my phone so i knew where my dough had been. i promised it i wouldn't tell
that old saying 'do you know where your dough is, where it is going and where it has been?' I really don't want to know and why a baking apprentice is a must around here:-)
is 82 F.Nothing wrong with other temperatures - it just takes longer to rise as the reproductive rate of yeast is slowed. To speed things up I use a heating pad but have used the microwave as a proofing box with a cup full of hot water in there with it or use the electric oven too with the light turned on inside. All seem to work OK
I have considred the mictowave but it doubles as my exhaust fan. You can't imagine how cold a kitchen exhaust vent gets when it is ten below
has been a warm day in this Minnesota winter! I have also tried to fend off cabin fever by baking. A clear, graduated container is worth adding to your bread making tools….it will help you through many MN winters. Think spring! Embth
for warm spots near the water heater, above the refrigerator (doesn't work for me) the cupboard where the heating vent enters the kitchen (I got two of those, keep my towels over one) near your computer or you can bag the whole bowl and tuck it under the covers with you watching a movie.
We're getting a snow day tomorrow so I might join you in baking something. I have a cold 60°F cupboard too which is great for retarding doughs and storing pickles. My chicken soup is frozen solid on the porch. You can also double the yeast if you want to and that will also raise your dough faster. I prefer the slow rise but it is a possibility at anytime.
with the lid inverted, provides a warm spot to place a covered bowl of dough. Just add a folded towel or two on the inverted lid and place the bowl of dough on the towel. Set the slow cooker to LOW or HIGH as needed. It will keep the dough warm for hours.
slow cooker somewhere in the garage and put my web dough cam on that. What a great idea! No more apprentice needed...poor Lucy!
I place the dough bucket in the microwave, covered by an impeccably clean towel, and leave the door ajar with the light on. It seems to work quite well. It's pretty easy to peek, and my container has measurement lines on it, so I can see very clearly how much the dough has risen. The lines are not a necessity, but they make it interesting.