My life just doesn't seem to fit a bread making schedule! Can you share how you manage time and process to make bread happen?
Here's a loaf I baked this morning. Mixed up levain yesterday, proofed last night. Got up early to shape loaf, let rise and bake.
I think I'm getting better but lots of room for improvement!
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Exactly. To me it is more enjoyable breaking the cycle up into different times which fit my schedule. One period making the dough and doing all the associated cleanup and then a separate period of the actual baking days later when I have time and energy.
I guess to the total noob like me I know that time and temp are a tool but I don’t necessarily know how to use those tools so I’m hesitant to just throw a loaf in the fridge and hope it works out when I want it to.
I guess what I really need to do is ruin my fair share of loaves and learn from them, kinda like learning not to smack your finger with a hammer.
Andrrr I'm following the ruin until you learn approach as well. Trusting that it will be like the early days of learning to manage fire outdoors. Something that took so much time and attention at the beginning will become something you take for granted later.
I've found there are a couple of ways to go with bread making.
First - choose a recipe that fits your schedule. You can do a quick rise yeast bread in a couple hours, then bake and been done. I've even done a no-knead boulle and had it risen and in a dutch oven baking the same day, by letting it rise for 4-6 hours in a covered bowl in the oven with the light bulb on, which on my oven puts the ambient temp around 90ish when checked with my Thermoworks Dot.
The other way is to do the yeast or sour dough recipe, then put it in the fridge. I did this with a sourdough just this week. Made it on Friday evening, letting it rise for about an hour before bed, then into the fridge it went in a bowl with a lid. More than 48 hours later, on Monday morning actually, I pulled it out and baked it, letting it rest 2-3 hours at room temp. Came out great. I had meant to bake Saturday evening, but just let it slide another day and a half until it was convenient.
I know you can freeze pizza dough and thaw out and use. Wonder if you could do this with risen/fermented bread dough, and bake at your convenience?
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I agree with all the statements above. The Refrigerator proofing helps a lot but you still have to set aside time to get things done. It can be a challenge but a fun one and rewarding one. IMO generally most baking takes more patience than cooking. I have had both slap me around several times though! Lol.
Here's what I do which optionally does the proof/second rise in the fridge. Note that this is all sourdough.
1) Keep your starter fed at least weekly if you store it in the fridge. OK assuming you have a good active starter...
2) EITHER take the starter out and make a levain the night before you want to make the dough and leave it at cool room temp (70F) overnight OR remove the starter early in the morning of the bake, feed it and let the levain ripen for ~4 hours at warm temps (~80F).
3) If you want, autolyse the dough - this just means mix the flour and water together well and let it sit. IF not, you can skip this. Whole grains benefit more from this and can take longer autolyse times. Start with something like 30 minutes if you do this, 60 if you're doing mostly whole wheat (50% or more).
4) Mix everything together - flour, water, salt and levain. If you have a mixer, mix on low speed (2 on a kitchenaid) until the dough develops, usually ~ 5mins. Put in a bowl, cover and put somewhere warm. Every 30 minutes, do a set of stretch and folds for 2-4 sets. You have to judge when to stop this - 3 is usually enough for my doughs.
5) That's pretty much the end of the active period. So, you need about 2 hours where you can be around and occasionally do something, though the active time is a few minutes, maybe 15 in total.
6) When bulk is done, you preshape and shape the dough, put it in a banneton, pan etc cover and either refrigerate or let it proof on the counter. This is where you have a lot of flexibility. Can' be around to watch it? Pop it in the fridge, bake the next day. Got some time and you want bread ASAP? Let it proof on the counter.
I've done bulk fermentation in the fridge and it works, but I find it harder to judge when it's done if the dough is cold, so.... I mostly don't do this. I usually do the proofing/second rise in the fridge, though. It's convenient, means I can split the more active part and the baking into two parts and it develops flavor.
PS: Bulk time can vary a lot by temp. If everything starts in the mid 70s, the time given in a recipe is usually close. If it's much cooler, it will take longer and vice versa. The short recipe I give below usually has a bulk fermentation time of 3-5 hours at 78F.
Last edited by rickgregory; January 19, 2023, 12:54 PM.
My general recipe, btw, is about 75% hydration and 10-15% levain inoculation. So if I'm doing a loaf with 500g flour, it's 375g water, 50-75g levain, 10g salt (2%). levain is 100% (equal weights flour and water). Drop the hydration a little if you're not using any whole grains (or very little, like 10%). You can move it up with mostly whole grains if you want
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