Delaying Fermentation in Refrigerator
Yesterday, I was on the cusp of baking my bread (I had just begun the final shaping process of the dough, putting it in banettons to rest at room temp. for 3-4 hours) when I had to leave for work. I remembered that my recipe said I could delay or "retard" the process by putting the banettons filled with the dough, in the refrigerator for up to twelve hours. Well, when I arrived home seven hours later, I took the dough-filled banettons out of the refrigerator, heated up my oven, filled pans with water and put them on the lowest shelf of the oven, tossed the dough into the Dutch Ovens, scored the tops of the dough and put the lids on the pots and waited twenty minutes. After twenty minutes, I took the lids off the Dutch Ovens and let the bread bake for another twenty five minutes.
I never got the "oven spring" out of these loaves and the crumb is rather dense. Should I have let the dough warm up after removing it from the refrigerator? How long should I wait in this situation?
Best Answer
Yes, you should have let the dough come to room temperature before baking. Also, you might try pre-heating the Dutch oven so that it is really hot before adding in your loaves.
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Quick Answer about "Delaying Fermentation in Refrigerator"
Basically, make your dough and let it do it's first three-hour rise. You can do this after you get home from work. After three hours, either make your cinnamon rolls or bread or whatever you want and then cover and stick it all in the fridge! In the morning bake them up!How do you delay fermentation?
Many bakers opt to retard, or slow down, fermentation by refrigerating the dough after mixing (and/or after shaping). This allows for a slower, controlled fermentation without a high risk of overproofing.How long can you ferment dough in fridge?
The typical bread recipe calls for fermenting the dough on the counter. But we often let the dough ferment in the refrigerator\u2014usually for at least 24 to 48 hours and sometimes up to 72 hours\u2014because we've found that we get more flavorful results.Does the fridge slow fermentation?
If you want to go really slow, use both a small amount of yeast and the fridge. How long can you leave pizza dough to rise? Anything from a few hours to many days. As the lower temperatures slow yeast activity, in the fridge the yeast becomes almost inactive.Can I pause bulk ferment in the fridge?
Yes, you can skip the cold ferment. You cannot skip the bulk ferment. If you bulk ferment your dough and then shape it - you do not have to put it in the fridge. You could let it rest while you preheat the oven, score it and then bake it.Kefir: Refrigeration or Fermentation?
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Answer 2
Properly proofed retarded loaves should not need to be brought to room temperature before baking. In commercial bakeries, this is not common practice as it would result in condensation forming on the outside of the loaves, time, and space.
Since you let your loaves proof for 3 hours, then placed them in the fridge, they were over-proofed by the time you baked 12 hours later. When retarding, it takes about 1 hour for the temperature of the loaf to reach temperatures to really slow down yeast, so really, it was like you proofed for 4-5 hours at room temperature. For levain breads, total final proof time should take between 2-3 hours, depending on temperature, formula, etc. Unless your dough is in a cool environment (below 76 degrees F), then it should not proof longer than 3 hours.
Try following the same procedure, but put in the fridge after 30 mins-1 hour of proofing at room temperature. This should time up with baking at about 12 hours retarding. You may have to play with these times, depending on the temperature of your dough, temperature of the room, and activity of your levain.
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