Watching the dough or watching the clock,
Looking for a (food) fight.
Here around these TFL parts there is an old and somewhat wise adage to fermentation/resting/proofing/ and even baking times. And that is 'watch the dough and not the clock'. Well, since I haven't picked a fight here in a long time, actually forever if my aging memory serves me correctly, I thought this would be a fine time to do so! Okay, so here goes...
Once you know the bread you are making there are minor variables that will always exist. However, in your own space you get to know your ingredients, your work environment, your ambient temperature, how your oven performs, and so on. And over a very very short time, how your dough performs in reference to all of these. We should hope and expect.
I'm here to tell you that once these are established as standards in your own kitchen/lab, you needn't watch the dough. It knows its job. And it knows it so well, that merely setting a timer as to how long it performs each step is sufficient. Checking, eyeballing, poking the dough doesn't make it do its job any better, even if it makes you feel better.
So...my nervy suggestion to you is that once you've established the standard at which your dough performs, just let it go to work, and whenever the timer goes off, do what your job is next.
Now just to be clear, if you are working on a new formula or in a changed environment, then you need to re-establish the parameters by attending to the dough. Once done, go back to setting the alarm and living by it.
As for myself, I abide by the clock.
I would bet dollars to donuts that professional baking environments could not operate their sophisticated schedules if they could not rely on a standard timetable of events completing by the clock. It would be continuous madness to work that way.
Okay, now that I've stated my plea, I will open it up to the masses to attempt to shoot holes in my statement.
alan
Baking Apprentice Dough Clock. It is the perfect gift for people who still don't have all of the necessary, well designed baking equipment required to make a decent loaf of bread. Plus it is good looking, Wi-Fi and Internet capable so that if you are out of town, or in a foreign country, you will know exactly when your bread project back home is in some kind of beaucoup deep rice paddies....... as we used to say in Nam.
It's even smart enough to audibly remind you that your last bread task is done and the next one is ready to begin in more than 178 languages including sign language, semaphore and Morse Code. Sadly, English isn't one of them. She says her BADC clock is way smarter, better functioning and way better looking than any master bakers she has ever met plus, unlike me, it always follows directions, never falls asleep or forgets to feed her. She might be right about that.
I don't watch the clock for any thong much less bread. Don't even own a watch. But my BA does and she is way smart for a dumb dog but she can't tell time but knows exactly when it it is time to get fed.... plus or minus an hour or so.
Happy Baking Alan
You are right they would but when you are making 50, 100 or 200 pound batches it is much easier to have smaller variations in measurement from batch to batch. For example if you have to weigh 20 grams of an ingredient or 20 kilos your measurement variation may be 2 grams in each case but the effect on the smaller batch is magnified while in the large batch it would not be noticeable. In that environment the clock would be more consistent from batch to batch.
Gerhard
Interesting idea, but I'm wondering if the "changed environment" thing is more prevalent in a home baking situation than it is in a large commercial establishment. I know the temperature of my kitchen and the humidity vary quite a bit. Also, I tend to vary formulas if I'm short of something, or if my starter doesn't seem to be as vigorous as usual, or something.
Sometimes I think we worry too much about our bread dough. Bread is sometimes very forgiving (I know, I've made some real stupid mistakes and still ended up with decent bread!).
I am in completely with you on this. Bread baking is something most of us are devoted to and get satisfaction out of. Why worry too much if the loaves,recipes and procedures are not quite the same each time. Just enjoy each bake for what it is .
A commercial kitchen is a much more controlled environment than my kitchen which can vary 25 degrees f. depending on external weather. Yes I can compensate for that if I want to but like Lazy Loafer I will adjust things. I guess that is the beauty of the home kitchen.
So when doing "home" breads or experimenting, I check the dough, but also keep an eye on the clock...
In the (micro) bakery it's more clock than dough, but there is a little leeway - this morning for example, it must have been a degree or 2 higher than usual (I did some baking yesterday evening), so the overnight dough is a little more lively than usual and will need less proving, but for the most part I have a schedulle which works well - but to get there I had to understand the dough proving in the first place which requred douch checking...
-Gordon
I watch the clock exclusively, but I also rigorously control the temperature with a heat lamp and thermostat. I know that 8 hours at 29C is what my dough needs to proof and I get very consistent results that way.
Without a doubt. They must schedule not only proofing times but also mixer and oven usage. In addition, they must make their personnel schedule work with the baking schedule, as well as delivery times if it's a wholesale bakery, or open times if it's a walk-in retail bakery or cafe.
Since I bake at home where room temp et al vary, just going by time isn't optimal, but the more I bake, the better I am at estimating how long it will be until my doughs are ready to bake. So I simply check a little sooner because the actual timing can be a litter faster than what I expect.
If one or the other exclusively works for some people, great. Just not seeing why either is better across the board.
I don't alan, you don't seem to be getting much of a fight.
Regarding commercial bakeries, it reminds of all those intricate (for me anyway) formulea of flour, water and room temperatures at mix, so that the dough will be made to the standard temperature and thus proof reliably within the time alloted. I agree with you there.
I also agree pretty well with what you say regarding home kitchens. If the temperature and humidity are constant and all things (recipe, process wise) being equal, you might as well watch the clock.
For myself, temperature and humidity swings can be so severely different one day, one week, one season to the next, that (coupled with probably 80% of what I'm doing is not of the tried and true) I can only use the clock as a general guide line (basically, to remind me to go check on it).
But again, I have no argument with what you say.
dobie
It goes pretty much without saying that your timer is a pretty reliable indicator whether a bread has proofed sufficiently - as long a you have made that particular bread often enough and the temperature in you kitchen doesn't vary too wildly.
But even with breads I bake every week for my customers there can be some variations, and I would be stupid not to check them to adjust the timing. My kitchen never has the same temperature, and I have to take into account whether it's a hot, humid day, or rather cold, like it is now.
Karin
I have been baking bread for a number of years using IDY, and Peter Reinhart's methods. Once I learned all the right techniques that led to a great bread, the clock was my friend.
Now four the past four months I have been rockin two healthy sourdough cultures (rye and white) I am having to learn the clock all over again. This morning will be another learning experiment..It was a long hard week, so I prepared a revenge loaf!, a 90% white boule' the other 10% being my rye starter, using a high moisture 80%+-, so it was hard to develop during S&F. Im gonna trust the clock on this one, ovens warming up right now!
Side note: for years I was intimidated by the sourdough process, it wasn't until I stumbled upon Francis-Olives take on Tartine and her so so simple method of culturing a starter, that I got the gumption to begin the journey.
http://tartine-bread.blogspot.com/2011/08/sourdough-starter-demystified.html
Can anyone direct me on the how to's for determining proper fermentation (bulk and proof)?
I've tried the dimple test but am just not sure how much is too much or not enough.