August 25, 2015 - 12:08am
Ideal Humidity for Retarding
Im about to head into a micro sourdough bakery from home on a shoe string :) Im going to use a big fridge as a retarder as I cant afford a proper retarder.
My question is, what is the ideal humidity for retarding??? Ive seen anywhere between 70 and 90 percent.
Does anyone have any experience? Any help would be great!
Thanks, Amber
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As far as I know, the humidity of the refrigerator is not critical for retarding the dough. I suspect most are at about 100% humidity. I just cover the dough and place it in my home refrigerator.
Ford
70 % is recommended for croissants and many other use 85%, apparently it can also affect the flavour.
Im aiming at doing 50 or so breads in the one fridge and so I'll be putting a couple of humidity units in the bottom like cheese makers do. If that doesnt work I'll bag them. Because Im using the one fridge I was thinking to go for about 80%.
If anyone has any experience with bulk retarding, it would be great to hear :)
If your fridge is a frost free model which most modern ones are, it will not keep the humidity at the correct level. Best thing is to get some polypropylene food containers that have a top that seals. This will insure the humidity is maintained. These come in a variety of sizes and you should be able to find one that fits the space you have. I have two of different sizes depending on how much dough I'm making and have never had any issues during the 21 hour cold retard.
Alan
Thanks, Alan.
Id like to try using humidifiers first, with a controller to gauge % humidity. Im not doing a bulk retard, but rather, final proof already in bannetons. Containers could work well provided I find them well sealed and big enough. Im thinking 50 or so breads to start and then building it up from there.
What temp do you use for your 21 hrs?? I want to do a 12 hr run with bulk rise @ ambient temp, which I'll have to watch coz it gets warm here.
so that's what I use. I use David Snyder's San Joaquin Sourdough approach which negates the need to retard individual bannetons overnight. I wouldn't have enough room to do individual loaves unless I got rid of all the food we need for everyday use! :-O
The only concern I would have about your approach is whether this excess humidity would eventually damage the refrigerator if it is a frost free model. The sensors will detect the vapor content and seek to get it down to whatever the normal level is. this is only conjecture on my part.
No I think you have a point, I had thought about that too. But I think theres a special component in the fridge that might be able to be removed to stop it working over time. I'll have to figure it out as I go :)