Bread retardation

[forever_young_ca]

I am baking some bread for a Saturday night dinner party. One of the breads is a walnut/raisin that is to be served with the cheese course.

The usual process with this bread is mix, rise until doubled, form into loaves, rise again, and bake.

Because of time constraints I would like to mix the bread Friday night and put it in the fridge.

I am assuming that this can be successfully done.

My question is:

1) Should I let it rise in the fridge for the first or the second rise?

2) If I shape it into loaves and rise in the fridge in the pans, do I bake it "cold" from the fridge, or let it come to room temp before baking?

I think I remember reading - maybe in Jackal's bread baking class - that cold dough increases oven spring?

Suggestions would be most welcome.

[eatrustic]

Are you using a sourdough/levain starter or store bought yeast? I believe that Jackal was referring to a sourdough benefitting from an overnight in the fridge.

You can refrigerate a yeasted dough like the raisin walnut as well, the walnuts will turn the dough a sort of purple color which translates into an interesting darker crumb when baked.

I would not preshape the loaves (in a baking pan) but put the dough- covered- in the fridge after about 30 minutes.

It will still rise and it helps to punch it down a couple of times to keep the "strength" of your dough going and not exhaust the yeast.

The next morning take the dough out and let it warm up for awhile before shaping and final rise.

[forever_young_ca]

Are you using a sourdough/levain starter or store bought yeast?

I am using a store bought yeast for this particular bread.

[jackal10]

I'd take it all the way, and put the formed loaves in the fridge. They will need some support, like a banneton or a tin. They will sit there happily for 24 hours or so.

Personally I bake from cold. I think it does increase the oven spring You need to slash well to cope with the oven spring.

Others let the dough warm up, but I think that tends to overprove the outside,

You could bake the bread the previous day, and then just warm it though before service

[Gary]

Can I do the overnight refrigeration thing with French bread dough? I like to make the fat round loaves. Can I just store it in the fridge after the second rise and do the shaping and third rise in the morning?

[jackal10]

Yes you can.

You may need to proof them less, as they will contiue to rise, although slowly in the fridge

Try it and let us know how you get on

[boulak]

Oven spring is prolonged in refrigerated doughs allowing for a more dynamic expansion. The thermal death point of yeast is 138 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. More time is needed for the heat of the oven to overcome the cold of the loaf, which enables the yeast to continue carbon dioxide production for a slightly longer period of time. Also, the build up of organic acids due to the low temperature of the refrigerator and the long, slow fermentation, strengthen the dough.

[jackal10]

I'm not sure if its more gas production, or just straight physics.

PV=RT, so going from roughly 4C instead of 20C to 100C gives and extra 20% or so expansion

[forever_young_ca]

Thanks all for your help.

I'd take it all the way, and put the formed loaves in the fridge. They will need some support, like a banneton or a tin. They will sit there happily for 24 hours or so.

It will help my timing issues immensely if I can take it all the way to loaf formation. That is what I will do!

Now I just have to find the fridge space. The garage is about 10 degrees at night, so maybe that has possibilities as well - or is that too warm? I don't want to open the garage door in the morning and see live dough crawling across hubby's work bench!

[arc]

Excellent thread! The necessity of paid employment has truly unfortunate effects on my ability to bake complex breads. Thanks all!

[jackal10]

Just to re-iterate, you will need some suppport for the dough, or they will spread out.

10C is a bit hot, 10F a bit cold. Can you improvise with a bucket of ice, a large cadboard box and some insulation, like a spare duvet or towels and blankets? Cooling the dough first in the real fridge for an hour or two before putting in the makeshift cool box helps as well.

[forever_young_ca]

Just to re-iterate, you will need some suppport for the dough, or they will spread out.

10C is a bit hot, 10F a bit cold. Can you improvise with a bucket of ice, a large cadboard box and some insulation, like a spare duvet or towels and blankets? Cooling the dough first in the real fridge for an hour or two before putting in the makeshift cool box helps as well.

Yes, I will give them support - I can improvise some bannetons - cloth lined wicker baskets.

I am in Canada - so it is 10C , but I can improvise with a bucket of ice I think. I will try for fridge space, but now that I can do them the night before I may do two different kinds, so fridge space will be at a premium.

[forever_young_ca]

The overnight retardation worked fantastic. I mixed the bread, proofed, shaped and put into the fridge Friday night. They rose slowly overnight in bannetons. I did two types of bread - focaccia and walnut/raisin - and baked around noon on Saturday.

I did find that having a thermometer was very important to know when they were baked completely. I took them out of the fridge and put them cold into the hot oven. The result was that the actual baking time was longer than normal.

I was very pleased with the results. It is a easy way to do fresh bread for a dinner party without having "same day" pressures. I am a convert!

Thanks to all for the help.