February 26, 2015 - 9:38am
Long fermentation: Is long bulk or final better?
I have a general question. Many recipes I'm doing allow for a long final refrigerated fermentation, up to 18 hours. After reading various posts here, some folks seem do their long fermentation as the bulk one, in lieu of the final one. I'm not knowledgeable enough to know which is better if I have a choice.
I mostly do sd mixed breads (white, rye, whole wheat, with small %ages of the rye or whole wheat), including w grains/seeds. My favorite so far is a Hamelman Sourdough seed bread which has everything I like in a bread.: white flour, rye flour, toasted sesame and toasted sunflower seeds and also a cold soaker w flax (golden flax for me).
Thanks i advance for any responses.
hester
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Some call for a cold bulk ferment in the fridge and some call for a short bulk ferment on the counter and a long cold shaped proof in the fridge. My personal preference is the later but others like Ian Sandman like the former. I find that a long cold shaped proof provided for a more open crumb because it isn't handled an hour or two before baking. I don't notice a difference in taste between the two probably because both methods take about the same amount of time for ferment and proofing.
In my humble opinion, choose whichever one suits your schedule. The long retards will increase the acidity (sourness) of your bread and enhance other flavor notes. It is your choice; do whichever one suits you, or neither!
Ford
I've been guilty of using both methods and am happy to report that neither does any damage when done in the time frame you describe. There will be some differences in the flavor profile of the baked loaf results but you probably won't find anything distasteful from either choice.
Just be sure to take notes on your procedures, times, and the tastes of the finished loaves. Unless your waistline expands uncontrollably, chances are that you'll be happy with both. If need be, just look for tasting volunteers among family and friends. They'll probably be happy to help you out when there's fresh bread involved.
When I took the San Francisco Baking Institute sourdough baking workshop, the instructor told us that cold retardation in bulk was better for high hydration doughs and retardation of formed loaves was best for low hydration doughs.
The exact reasons for this were not stated, and I have never figured them out. However, considering the source, I trust the advice.
David
All the hard work is done. Shaped and ready to bake. Now all I have to do is put my feet up and lounge around till its ready :) Or get jobs done.
I also like the fact that it's difficult to overproof when retarding at this stage and normally comes out of the fridge ready to go straight in the oven.
David, so... what did SFBI consider high hydration? What's the cutoff? I'm curious. Thanks again everyone. I learn so much here.
My preference is that the final proof be the long one, but I like options, in case so was curious. I love this site.
The definition was not stated. I imagine the high/low border is fuzzy - somewhere around 70-75% or more.
David
Very interesting to know this. While I have your attention, can you link me to your favorite iteration of you SJSD recipe? Thanks so much.
hester
The formula can be found here:
San Joaquin Sourdough: Update
Notes
1. This same formula can be used for SJSD baguettes. Just divide the dough into 4 rather than 2 pieces, pre shape, rest, then shape as baguettes. I bake these at 480 dF for 12 minutes with steam, then 8 to 10 minutes more in a dry oven.
2. Sometimes, I boost the hydration even further by adding 370g water in the final dough. Don't do this unless you are very comfortable handling very high hydration, sticky dough.
Happy baking!
David
Printing it out. Very grateful.
is definitely better. Several reasons:
1. retarding bulk ferment takes up less space in the fridge.
2. refrigerator temp isn't as much of an issue. overfermenting during bulk ferment isn't a good thing, but its definitely preferable to overproofing at final proof.
3. retarding final proof results in bird's eyes on the crust.
4. retarding final proof leaves yeast can leave yeast in a dormant state if your fridge goes down to 40F. IME, this limits oven spring somewhat.
5. retarding final proof, especially for sourdoughs, will cause the formed loaves to relax too much and often collapse after scoring. Dunno if enzymatic activity is also a contributing factor.