Is there such thing as letting bread rest for too long?

I am pretty busy this week but I want to try making Augustweggli buns. The recipe says to rest the dough for 1 hour but does resting the dough a couple hours (eg. overnight) longer do anything to the dough?

Thank you

dough

Best Answer

If you take a “fast” recipe and let it rest overnight, you will get overproofed dough. After what’s effectively eight times or more the expected time, you will have a rather yeasty tasting dough that has lost its inner structure - think of the way foam collapses after a while. It may or may not be able to do a comeback when re-kneaded, that will depend on the type of yeast you used and a few other parameters, especially the actual timing.

But an overnight rest is nothing unheard of in baking - if you prepare your dough as usual but use cool ingredients instead of warm ones and significantly reduce the amount of yeast, you can let your dough rest in a cool place for hours, even longer in the fridge. If you have a very buttery dough, don’t cool it too much, or it won’t rise due to the hardened fat, choose “cool” (8-10 C) over “cold” (2-5 C)¹. For an overnight rest, the flavor will stay pretty much the same, possibly less yeasty, which is desirable in my opinion. It’s the two-to-three-day (or even longer) rest that contributes to the flavor of baguette or the famous “Artisan bread in five minutes a day”.

Have fun!

¹Yes, that means you will be storing it slightly in the danger zone, but it’s up to you whether you want to take the risk. Overnight on the counter is way worse, the way yeast grows faster in warm conditions is the same as for bad bacteria. Personally, I am fine with that, but for the sake of completeness, it’s worth mentioning.

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Quick Answer about "Is there such thing as letting bread rest for too long?"

Excess fermentation occurring in either the first or second rise can lead to a sour, unpleasant taste if the dough gets left for a long time. Over-proofed loaves have a gummy or dense texture.

How long can you rest bread dough?

Bread dough can be left to rise overnight if it's stored in the refrigerator. Storing dough in the refrigerator can slow the rise for 8-48 hours or longer, depending on the dough. Some dough can be left out at room temperature overnight, but this often leads to overfermentation.

How long should you rest your bread?

Let the bread rest between 20 and 45 minutes, depending on if your will is of bronze or of iron. If you can make it 45 minutes, you should have about as lovely of a loaf of bread as you can bake. Twenty will do well, and you won't be disappointed, but 45 is better.

Is it OK to over rest the dough?

An overproofed dough won't expand much during baking, and neither will an underproofed one. Overproofed doughs collapse due to a weakened gluten structure and excessive gas production, while underproofed doughs do not yet have quite enough carbon dioxide production to expand the dough significantly.

We Sent Garlic Bread to the Edge of Space, Then Ate It

Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: Dziana Hasanbekava, Uriel Mont, Uriel Mont, Kampus Production