February 4, 2016 - 9:37pm
proper and over - oxidation of dough
hi,
How can I tell a properly oxidated dough from over-oxidated dough? My no knead sourdough is usually made in a batch, with the unused portion frozen for up to 3-5 days before thawing, second proofing and baking. Often the thawed dough appears greyish, and not as soft as a newly made dough. I wonder if this is a sign of over oxidation? The dough is placed in a zip loc box, but to reduce the risk of overflowing from yeast producing CO2 even in the fridge, I left about more than half of the box size empty. If I reduce the empty space, would it reduce the oxidation of the frozen dough?
And are there any other easy solutions as well?
thanks!
Liming
Share
They greying is most likely a result of the freeze and thaw process not of over oxidation, the same can be said about the texture of the dough being different...When bakeries and retailer use frozen dough products they typically contain additives that help the dough survive the freezing process and perform better after the freezing process. This isn't to say your dough will not work without these additives but freezing is not ideal for artisan bread dough. Oxidation when it comes to dough rheology is typically talked about in the mixing stage and the size of your container and the air that is in it is not an issue.
My suggestion would be to make smaller batches more often instead of making one large batch and freezing...
P.S. I don't think it's really possible to have an over oxidized dough using the no knead process...maybe if you folded to rigorously too often? maybe? When you think of over oxidized think of over developed - It's not exactly the same thing but they typically go hand in hand. So if you mix a dough to full gluten development you have oxidized your dough in the process. For some doughs you want to do this...Pan de Mie, Brioche etc. An over oxidized dough will have a pale white crumb instead of the yellowish hue that you get from a lightly mixed dough...put a piece of wonderbread up against a nice loaf of artisan bread and look at the difference in crumb color. Oxidation bleaches the pigment of the wheat.
thanks, I agree that it's quite hard for no knead to be over oxidized. I didn't fold the dough before freezing them, all I did before freezing it is to mix and let it bulk ferment till doubled. I then divided the big dough into several smaller portions with hands, and that is the most contact my hands had with the dough.
My dough is 50% whole wheat and 50% white flour, and the crumbs of the baked product seems a bit brownish, or maybe a bit greyish? (but definitely not white). Sorry I'm really not experienced to tell from the clour.
If my only option is to produce a batch because my schedule is busy, can I add in apple cider vinegar to perhaps offset the freezing effect?
Actually can you tell me what are the bad effects from freezing and thawing? What is actually happening in the process?
thanks
Liming
Ice crystals are happening, skins are probably forming on your dough surface...I'd have to get out some text books if I wanted to get really specific because I didn't bother memorizing much about frozen dough because...well...because I never really freeze dough other than pizza dough...I don't think apple cider vinegar is going to help, but don't quote me on that because that's just my gut reaction and I don't really know. Bread can be a very flexible think if you know how to do it so I'd work at finding a way within your schedule to make your dough fresh...
I don't have his book to hand, but I'm fairly sure that in Pastry, Richard Bertinet suggests adding some lemon juice to pastry dough to stop it going grey when sitting in the fridge for a few days...
I have not really experimented with freezing sourdough - although as noted, commercial yeasted products are regularly frozen...
-Gordon