October 19, 2023 - 6:56am
Under fermented sourdough
Is there a way to salvage a dough that has not fermented long enough at the bulk stage by proofing it longer in the banneton. I have searched everywhere for an answer to that question without results. Yesterday evening I shaped a dough that had not fermented long enough (I had to go to bed), let it proof at 78F for one hour and put it in the fridge overnight. This morning, I baked it anticipating that it would turn out a dense loaf. And it did. Had I left it proof at room temperature for longer, could I have salvaged that bread,
I thank you for your thoughts,
Michel
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No problem to proof it longer in the banneton. Some breads only have one rise and go straight into [final] proofing.
Yes, a longer time out of the refrigerator will allow for additional fermentation. It will probably take around an hour for enough of the dough to get warm enough to resume rising.
If you think it's seriously underfermented, you could let it ferment longer at room temperature before proofing, or roll the shaped underfermented loaf up into a ball and let it resume more bulk fermentation.
One caveat is that a very long fermentation can lead to a lack of sugars as the yeast will have eaten it all up. This will cause less browning and maybe a flatter loaf. Also a *really* excessively long fermentation can cause damage to the gluten structure. But it doesn't sound like you got anywhere near these situations.
If the dough rises too much in bulk fermentation but you want it to ferment longer anyway - say it tripled but you want 3 more hours fermentation anyway - you can gently degas the dough and let it continue its bulk fermentation. I did that earlier this week and it turned out an excellent loaf.
If it's your schedule causing difficulties, you can bring the bulk ferment into and out of the refrigerator more than once, anytime you like, to make things more convenient.
Thank you for your answers!
I never quite understood the reasons behind two stages of fermentation, the bulk and the proof. I was under the impression that what was not attained in the bulk was lost without redemption and could not be saved in the proofing stage. Would it be ok to say that the two stages are absolutely necessary in a bakery environement where many loaves are produced, but not as important when one only bakes one loaf at a time?
I was under the impression that what was not attained in the bulk was lost without redemption and could not be saved in the proofing stage.
Not at all. During bulk ferment, you want the gluten in the dough to develop and expand, and you want the yeast to become very active and producing gas. With sourdough bread, you also want to give the lactic acid bacteria time to produce lots of flavor.
By the time all this has happened, the dough will have changed its handling characteristics. It may have become more extensible, and it may even have risen about as much as it can tolerate. When you go to form a loaf, you generally want to deflate (degas) the dough so the finished loaf will be able to expand without over-stretching the dough. You also want to be able to form a strong package of dough by your shaping and handling techniques.
Once you have shaped a loaf, you need to give it time to fill up with gas again. That's the "proofing" stage, where the loaf shows you it's got what it takes to be baked into a loaf.
So in bulk ferment you are trying to do something different from the final proof. Now it's possible to do the entire ferment in a single stage, in which case your best bet would be to do it all in a loaf pan so you could bake it directly. But you probably won't get as good results as you would using the usual two stages.
TomP
I like to think think it's best to preferment a large percentage of the flour for many of these reasons. Wouldn't do a single proof bread with a small percentage of starter. I like to think whatever is not done in the preferment can be obtained in the bulk. The build of of yeast and flavour etc. But if one has already done it in the preferment it'll make for a better single rise bread.
If you preferment a large percentage of the flour, you could consider the prefermented dough to have undergone the bulk ferment.
It's technically a preferment but if I was to do a single rise bread i'd rather preferment a large percentage of flour. While it's not a bulk ferment in strictest terms it will have built up flavour and yeast thus shortening the time of the single rise. Stretching and folding through the bulk and/or doing a bulk and then shaping allows also for a better crumb with the folds allowing for a more even ferment. If one has already prefermented a large percentage of the flour and then mixes it into the final dough this would also help.
I rarely ever do a single rise bread but if I did it would make sense to me to build a larger percentage levain for these reasons.
Many thanks! Your replies have helped me better understand the relationship between the two stages of fermentation.
Michel