July 3, 2015 - 8:57pm
How Do Big Bakeries Do It?
Suppose I'm a big bakery making several hundred loaves of French bread per day. Let's say I turn my loaves out to proof on a canvas sheet (couche).
My question is, how does a big bakery cover the loaves while they are proofing to keep them from drying out/crusting over? I can't imagine them using lots and lots of cling film to cover all of those loaves. Or do they leave them uncovered and do something else?
When I make my boules at home I cover them with an inverted clear plastic bowl to keep them from drying out. The bowl becomes a big dome over the loaf and it works pretty well.
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One is to load the trays into a vertical stack rack then pull down what looks like a very large (blue) condom over the entire stack!
Another is to load them into a proofer/retarder which controls the humidity as well as temperature.
Or (as I do) have the couche much longer than needed so I have a lot of spare which I fold back over the proving loaves. I don't use cling film just linnen.
(actually I do use cling film sometime - right now I have a dozen mini brioches proving which would stick to cloth, so they're under film)
-Gordon
Thanks for the reply.
I've tried folding my flax linen couche over the loaf and it came out way too dry.
The big blue condom and the humidity-controlled proofer sound like the way to go.
When the first load comes out of my ovens (I often put 2-3 loads through them as they're not big deck ovens) the bakehouse becomes very humid! This morning it was 35C in there and humid enough to feel like a sauna when I left it and came back in..
(Note to self; leave reading glasses in the bakehouse else they take ages to de-fog!)
Just found a link to the plastic covers - this will help explain it - it's clear, but the ones I've seen have all been blue (presumably the same as blue plasters & the piping bags I use - to see if any enters the food products)
http://www.nisbets.co.uk/Disposable-Racking-Trolley-Cover./CC383/ProductDetail.raction
Picture of my linen couche here:
http://moorbakes.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/couche1.jpg
I'd take the spare roll to the left and over up the shaped doughs with it. Never noticed it drying out but they're only under there for 2 hours max.
-Gordon
Speed racks with plastic zip down covers are what many bakeries use. They generally maintain the ambient temperature and keep the moisture inside the cover.
For home use, you might consider plastic bags to cover your bowl or couche completely. Most of what I do these days is overnight retarding of shaped dough, couched and covered completely in plastic bags. They never really lose their moisture. However some of the moisture is transferred to the couche.
alan
I proof my boules for eight hours. A doubled-over couche makes them way too dry.
As a (failed) experiment I made a "sling" consisting of a doubled-over couche suspended from a hook. The idea was that the loaf would assume a cylindrical shape sitting at the bottom of this "sling". It did, but it still came out way too dry.
The couche on a flat surface with an inverted plastic bowl over it has worked best for me.
I ferment for 8 hours in a plastic tub with clip-on lid, and prove for no more than 2.. That'll account for them not drying out like you might be experiencing in a couche.
-Gordon