How reliable is the fingertip test?
I'm trying to refine my bulk ferment phase and recently started trying the fingertip test but am questioning the result.
As I understand it, a quick bounce-back means under-proofed; a steady and somewhat halted bounce-back means just right, and no bounce back means under-proofed.
I'm getting no bounce back but it is hard to imagine it is over-proofed. I do 20% inclusion of very active starter, kept at 80F -- usually takes about 3.5 hours to get to 30-40% rise. In this case I am only 2.5 hours in and only just now starting its rise. Hard to see how it can be over-proofed without having peaked in its rise phase.
I'll stay with my normal formulas for time and temp, but I was hoping the fingertip test would offer some further reliability, but it seems pretty far off.
Anyone here rely fingertip method, and what has been your experience with the "right" proofing time based on the dough response?
The fingertip test is a very reliable test of proofing before baking. It is not used to test bulk ferment.
Bulk ferment ending is usually determined in three different ways
1) time at certain temperature, i.e. if the recipe says bulk ferment for 2 hours at 90F
2) volume, i.e. if the recipe says bulk ferment until the dough doubles, triples or quadruples in volume.
Alternatively, the recipe might say bulk ferment until it reaches maximum volume, punch it down (deflate, knead it for a few minutes) and let it rise to the maximum volume again.
3) acidity, i.e. if the recipe says, for example, bulk ferment until pH 3.9 and TTA 12H. Sometimes that acidity is determined simply by tasting the preferment or bread dough and sniffing it, i.e. we bulk ferment until it is acidic and fragrant enough to suit our preferences. Then we consider that the dough is ripe enough, ready to divide it and shape it into loaves.
Thanks, Ah, so....I did not realize that the finger poke was after final proofing. That makes more sense since there is more surface tension as well at that stage. Yes, I follow the same thinking on measuring bulk ferment, so I'll stay with that. I use a combination of time )(okay to do when I strictly control my starter inclusion and temperature), and the overall look and feel of the dough.
For bulk ferment (aka first rise) there's also the jiggle test as described by user Benito here:
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/67324/well-fermented-dough-jiggle
[insert joke about jiggle-vs-wiggle here]