Eating Healthier in Today's World


Refrigerating Dough to Improve Texture Monday, August 17, 2009

REFRIGERATING THE BREAD DOUGH

Check out this scenerio!  It's 10 p.m. at night and you suddenly realize that there is no bread for the kid's sandwiches for school the next morning.  The grocery store is miles away and you don't have time to make any bread.  You certainly don't want to be up to the early hours doing it.  This happened to me more times than I want to count, in my former life as a mother of 6.  Thank goodness for the Bosch machine and the refrigerator.  I would make the bread in the Bosch Machine with cold water and shape the dough, let them rise really slowly in the fridge overnight and get up at 7 a.m. and put the loaves in the oven to bake before I did anything else.  I noticed immedietly the difference in the texture of the bread which was much closer (no large holes) and softer than our normal really fast rise with warm water. 

Needless to say, this same technique can be applied to all ways of making all kinds and types of bread.  The fridge retards the yeast so it rises much more slowly,  We have never had very good luck with bread when it has spent more than one rise in the cold but there are serveral possibilites that do work nicely for us. 

In general, whenever you keep dough in the refrigerator, seal its contariner to prevent it from absorbing stray flavours.  (This cannot be done if you are letting them rise in the pans in the fridge).  Since the dough need to cool evenly, and later will have to come to room temperature before you use it, help keep the yeast active as possible by forming the dough into a flat disc rather than a ball before you put it in the refrigerator.  Raisins and such have a tendency to become winey, by the way, and their limit in the refrigerator is about 1 day.

Knead up a normal recipe, using cold liquid (except for the dissolving yeast).  If your are using the Saf yeast that we use, it won't matter so much though.  Refrigerate for a day or two or three, deflating the dough from time to time if it rises.  When you want to make a loaf or rolls, take out what you need and let the dough warm through at room tempearature.  If it has risen once or more in the cold, and you have punched it down, the dough may be ripe by now, and ready to shape; or, it may require another rising period: gauge that by the feel of the dough.  Shape, proof, and bake as usual. 

A dough that ha risen in the normal way one time can go into the fridge afterward, to have its second rise there.  Deflate the dough, divide it into tow for loaves, or into smaller parts if you will e making rolls,  Press in a flat baking dish or some such container, and cover securely.,  When you are ready to resume, put the dough in a warm place, covered with a tea towel, until it has softened, warmed through and fully risen.  Round the dough, let it rest, and shape as usual.  For the final rise or proof, keep the loaf only just a little warmer than the dough.  If the dough is still cool, and is proofed in a warm place, there will be a dense core in the loaf when it is baked.

A normal warm dough can have it's final rise in the refrigerator, surprisingly: it will take about three hours, depending on how warm the dough is, and how quickly your fridge can chill it..  This is tricky, but the bread can be baked after about 3 hours, when it is fully risen, or as late as the next day if your refrigerator is cold enough to prevent the loaf from overproofing.  The cold loaf, fully risen, can go directly into a hot oven.  It will probably need a little more baking time than normal.  Watch carefully, and test for doneness by thumping the bottom of the loaf for a hollow sound.

These are mostly daredevil schemes, but you can make them work with a little experimentation.  An even more radical suggestion I have heard of is freezing the dough, but after some research and experimentation, I don't really recommend that for home bakers.  Happy Baking!

     

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posted by Carol or Pam Stiles at 9:09 am

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