What to do if bread dough became hard in the refrigerator

I kept bread dough in the refrigerator overnight covered with wet cloth. The next morning I noticed that my bread dough had become hard and caked up. Please help, what shall I do to soften it. What can I do with that dough? Will my bread be soft if I bake it?

bread

Best Answer

I presume that you meant a fridge, rather than a freezer.

Fridges are by design pretty dry, and the best is to cover the dough with some cling film or some other impermeable barrier. (The wet cloth will dry up pretty fast.)

The dry caked surface is just dried up dough, and can be worked back into the rest. (It may need a little bit more liquids, but not much.)

Pictures about "What to do if bread dough became hard in the refrigerator"

What to do if bread dough became hard in the refrigerator - Donuts and Bagel Display

What to do if bread dough became hard in the refrigerator - Dough and Flour Near Lemons and Rolling Pin

What to do if bread dough became hard in the refrigerator - Woman making pastry on table with flour

Quick Answer about "What to do if bread dough became hard in the refrigerator"

Fridges are by design pretty dry, and the best is to cover the dough with some cling film or some other impermeable barrier. (The wet cloth will dry up pretty fast.) The dry caked surface is just dried up dough, and can be worked back into the rest. (It may need a little bit more liquids, but not much.)

What to do if dough hardens in fridge?

Many cookie recipes call for long refrigeration times, but a finicky dough or a little extra chilling time can result in dough that's as hard as a rock, and nearly impossible to work with. Merrill recommends putting dough near a warm stove, and pounding it with a rolling pin once it starts to soften.

How do you fix hard bread dough?

If the dough contains too much flour compared to water, the result will be a dry, tough pizza dough that's hard to work with. The simple solution is therefore to add less flour. The higher the hydration (the more water the dough contains), the softer, stretchier, and more pliable it will be.

Why has my dough gone hard?

Whilst the refrigerator removes airflow to slow down moisture loss, cool temperatures accelerate starch retrogradation. This makes bread rock hard and dry in a few hours.

How to Make Stale Bread Soft

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

Images: Mariana Kurnyk, Igor Ovsyannykov, Daria Shevtsova, Klaus Nielsen